FINALLY DONE

A long long book but surprisingly gripping. Max Hastings is an excellent writer and I have read him several times before. This ranks with his very best. He pulls you into the situation gradually via the 'French Experience' and then develops things until the cavalry arrive in the form of the US States Of America.
He pulls off something that is difficult to do well - he personalises the history skilfully. Individuals appear in the progressive rollout in a seamless and gripping way - and they come from all sides and factions. He pulls no punches in his analysis of the conflict. This is no 'Plucky David and Nasty Goliath' story as often portrayed in books written on the subject. He hammers both sides relentlessly and deservedly for the horrendous excesses carried out. Politicians do not come out well on either side. The analysis behind their reasoning and decisions amazes you - the degree of brutality and disregard for human life is horrendous.
It held me to the end. It was an excellent book which, unfortunately, highlighted the darkest side of the human condition.

Excellent read, it is a stark reminder of how the pursuit of political power can cost us all so much.

While certainly an epic undertaking to cover thirty years of fighting in Vietnam in a single volume I believe there is an overall anti-US sentiment throughout Hastings work. The Battle of Ia Drang (November 14-18, 1965) is mentioned in five brief paragraphs. Col. Hal Moore, commander of 1/7th Calvary, is not referenced in the book's index. The "Hill Fights" that took place near the combat base Khe Sanh ( 24 April - 11 May 1967) are covered in a few brief sentences, the actual Tet Offensive assault on Khe Sanh is covered in three and one-half pages. In comparison, the lesser known Battle of Daido, accurately described as an "act of sustained folly", garners its own subchapter heading "Dying" and 21 pages while an account of a successful sapper attack on Fire Base Mary Ann earns a subchapter heading under "Collateral Damage" and nine pages of text. There are other numerous instances of accounts that support my belief that Hastings overall coverage of the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War is somewhat skewed and unbalanced. Having said all this, what do I know? I just read a review of this book by Jonathan Steele in The Guardian who claims the thread that runs through this book "is Hasting's effort to exonerate the US military, arguing that they had a better war than most other authors admit." Go figure. All-in-all I still rate this book highly and can only suggest you read it and form your own opinion.

This was so long and I'm so confused still

Really cool, comprehensive look at the vietnam war, through the eyes of the people that fought there. Hastings does a great job capturing the American experience from the top down, utilizing the Nixon tapes super well in my opinion (who knew Nixon and Kissinger were such creeps), as well as interviews with soldiers black and white.

His Vietnamese perspective was good on the surface, but I found to be incredibly biased against the Communists. It's a bit rich to say that the North Vietnamese system, that has lifted millions out of poverty, "failed completely". The few sources that he does have that (a NVA Doctor), who do disagree with his take are labeled as "blinded by ideology".

However, I'll give Hastings a pass on this. What I will not give him a pass on are his hot takes on US Army race relations (that he claims were instigated by blacks), and his whataboutism about US atrocities in a four countries they had no business ever being in.

The front cover of my book is: Vietnam: An Epic Tragedy ... which is more accurate. A great book with a 1000 individual stories.