The book looks at unformed men through a manmade hell, following along with their journey until eventually, they face their fate. The vietnam war pictures that moved them most while the vietnam war raged roughly two decades worth of bloody and worldchanging years. Though i would highly recommend before reading anything on the vietnam war to do a bit of reading on the historiographical nature of the war. The things they carried by tim obrien, we were soldiers once. A slew of war memoirs stand with the best writing of that genre. The ten best memoirs of the vietnam war council on. Among the most positive is an abundance of topnotch books, many written by veterans of the conflict. Jun 14, 2018 covering world war i, world war ii, and the vietnam war, this book does an exceptional job illuminating the psychological aspects of wartime on those who do the killing. There was a time when all i knew of vietnam war books was tim obriens, the things they carried, a book that prompted the laconic entry in my book journal, this book destroyed me. A civilian in the vietnam war is not a story about war, nor is it a story of a soldier. The vietnam war or american war, as it is called in vietnam was long and bloody.
Find the top 100 most popular items in amazon books best sellers. A true story of adaptation, survival and the life perspective war can bring, good afternoon vietnam. Vietnam war marked an important event in the history of the united states hence essays on vietnam war are inescapable. Jan 17, 20 when people talk about the vietnam war, they often cant decide if the war was a good thing or a bad thing for america to become involved in. Hunts a vietnam war reader is a very different text to onans.
The coldest winter by david halberstam has good background on the war and its early. Expendable wariors is good for the battle of khe sanh. The violence, tragedy, bravery, and loss of the vietnam war has been memorialized in countless novels and works of nonfiction. The vietnam war has scarred, transformed and inspired countless writers and art practitioners. Despite how one may feel about the war, the universal themes bourke exposes re. Two years later, in 1975, north vietnam invaded the south and, while the last american military advisers hastily left, took control of the whole country, which became the socialist republic of vietnam. Tell me about the first book on your list, a rumor of war 1977. The vietnam era was marked by protests, not just about war, but also for social change. Mar 02, 2015 the best histories of the vietnam war. May 26, 2016 the violence, tragedy, bravery, and loss of the vietnam war has been memorialized in countless novels and works of nonfiction. The definitive collection of fiction and nonfiction on the war 1998. This is a story about a young man in a blue suit, white shirt, and tie who has left academia and is beginning his venture into the real world as an engineer. Booktopia buy vietnam war books online from australias leading online bookstore. Your next book is a classic of vietnam war books, the things they carried 1990 by tim obrien.
During the war years, americas leaders insisted that military force was necessary to defend a sovereign nation south vietnam from external communist aggression. While the list of books about this conflict includes hundreds of enlightening works, we pick ten of the best texts offering illuminating perspectives on the war, its context and the effects it had on vietnam. How a bible may have saved a young infantrymans life in vietnam. Apr 05, 2017 for just one book, i recommend the korean war by max hastings.
Not only one of the best books about the vietnam war, but one of the best nonfiction books written by an american. In 1965, an unorthodox and irreverent dj named adrian cronauer begins to shake up things when he is assigned to the u. The best histories of the vietnam war council on foreign. There she meets and begins an affair with a paraplegic vietnam vet who struggles to reconcile his experience in the warand his reintroduction to a country in which he feels unwelcome. In good faith is the first book of a highly detailed yet accessible, twovolume narrative history of americas involvement in vietnam, from the end of world war ii to the fall of saigon in 1975. American and vietnamese perspectives 2010 by michael h. Us soldiers, communist leaders, saigon loyalists, vietnamese peasants and even nixon himself. Mar 03, 2015 here are my picks for the ten best memoirs of the vietnam war. This is a good, broad overview of the conflict from beginning to end.
Ia drang the battle that changed the war in vietnam by harold g. For just one book, i recommend the korean war by max hastings. Drawing on the latest research and recently declassified nsa material, sergio miller has been able to chronicle the entire conflict with resources. The controversy over the spread of communism, which is covered in our history books, says this war was important to the u. A civilian in the vietnam war is the personal account of a civilian technology engineer who worked with the marines in danang, vietnam, in 1968 and. Perhaps more targeted at the scholarly minded, this book collects official documents and private letters from a sea of sources. The myth of the good war geoffrey wheatcroft news the. Now in its fourth updated edition, based on new declassified information, its known to vietnam scholars. The united states and vietnam is a pretty good starter.
I like this book because it was his second book about vietnam. Any argument that the great war was uniquely wicked and wasteful is plainly false in statistical terms, and the idea that the good war was uniquely noble is absurd in view of its moral ambiguities. Discover the best vietnam war history in best sellers. Vietnamese a north vietnamese soldier laments how the war pitted vietnamese against each other. The book includes first hand accounts of the pilots, the officers, and the soldiers in the field.
They made a movie about it, but the book is more detailed. This rare account of the american aka vietnam war by a north vietnamese army veteran, although fiction, revealed truths to many people inside and outside vietnam. Dec 09, 2014 any argument that the great war was uniquely wicked and wasteful is plainly false in statistical terms, and the idea that the good war was uniquely noble is absurd in view of its moral ambiguities. The ten best memoirs of the vietnam war council on foreign. Writing an introduction for your vietnam war essay can be harder than you think given that the scope of. The first one, going after cacciato, was very surreal.
Michael medved wrote a pretty good book about the vietnam war called the three big lies about the vietnam war. The vietnam war lasted about 40 years and involved several countries. One of the things i loved so muchand that broke my heart so cleanlyabout the things they carried was that it reminded me of another beloved war book, slaughterhouse. A lot of survivors are still alive and so you must be very sensitive when choosing a topic to avoid offending some readers. You can get a copy of the book at most used book stores for a couple. Essays on vietnam war examples of research paper topics. During the four years following passage of the tonkin gulf resolution aug. Joy about the french experience in indochina, was killed in 1967 by a mine planted on the very street he used as a book title. These are the books i tell people to read if theyre at all interested. The one and only book i own on the vietnam war is stanley karnows vietnam.
A rumor of war by philip kaputo is a story which tells more than one side of the war. The book includes some great observations and agonizing human truths about the nonstop combat of the war. Childrens and middle grade year of the jungle by suzanne collins. Even the 20% of the book that isnt directly about the war is providing the framework for the war. The ultimate 2020 list of best vietnam books to read. It also talks about the impact of the war on the families back home. This book happens to be one of the best novels about vietnam and will give you some great insight into what it was like to be in this war. Vietnam warfrench indochinese war, military history, nook. Here are my picks for the ten best memoirs of the vietnam war. Drawing on the latest research and recently declassified nsa material, sergio miller has been able to.
Vietnam warfrench indochinese war, military history. Learn about vietnam war protests, the tet offensive, the my lai massacre, the pentagon papers and more. In my mind its one of the first really wellwritten books that describe the moral ambiguities and difficulties faced by a young marine officer in this particular war. These include winners of national book awards and pulitzer prizes, both fiction and nonfiction. However, despite the good intentions, i believe that this was an unsuccessful war. The best vietnam war books five books expert recommendations. The vietnam war this is a wikipedia book, a collection of wikipedia articles that can be easily saved, imported by an external electronic rendering service, and ordered as a printed book. To shed new light on such a complicated and unsettled time in our history, to struggle to comprehend the special dissonance that is the vietnam war, we needed to look beyond the familiar stories. These 10 books, in addition to the ones below, were recommended multiple times. The best books about the vietnam war the vietnam reader.
The casualties of the vietnam war were just too high and too senseless. The vietnam war was a long, costly and divisive conflict that pitted the communist government of north vietnam against south vietnam and its principal ally, the united states. Hi, im jason aaron, writer of the other side, a new miniseries from vertigo about the vietnam war, and im here to enlighten you on some of the highlights and lowlights of that wars portrayal in comic book form. The vietnam war pictures that moved them most while the vietnam war raged roughly two decades worth of bloody and worldchanging years compelling images made their way out of the combat. An interactive modern history adventure by michael burgan. A civilian in the vietnam war is the personal account of a civilian technology engineer who worked with the marines in danang, vietnam, in 1968 and 1969. An epic year with an elite airborne rifle company of the 101st airborne divisions wandering warriors, during the height of the vietnam war. Dec, 2017 this book happens to be one of the best novels about vietnam and will give you some great insight into what it was like to be in this war. Fields of fire is a brilliant book about the vietnam war. Philip caputo was a marine who later became a very wellknown journalist.