Karnow, Stanley.
Vietnam: A History. New York: Viking, 1983; revised
edition, New York: Penguin USA, 1991.
*CORE* A massive history by a journalist written as a companion
to the PBS series (Vietnam : A Television History). Much of the
volume concentrates on the American involvement, although there is a
useful discussion of earlier history and the First Indochina War. The
work is generally unbiased, and reflects Karnow's access to many of
the major figures involved. The original edition (1983) contains some
errors which were corrected in the 1984 paperback edition.
Pratt, John Clark, comp.
Vietnam Voices: Perspectives on the War Years,
1941-1982. New York: Penguin, 1984.
This is a highly recommended and somewhat usual work. Pratt has
collected everything from official documents to oral history to
fiction to wall graffiti in order to shed some light on the cultural
impact of the American involvement in the Vietnam War.
Sheehan, Neil.
A Shining Bright Lie: John Paul Vann and America in
Vietnam. New York: Random House, 1988; Vintage, 1989.
*CORE* Major study of the US involvement in Vietnam, traced
through the actions of a man who became both one of the most senior
advisors and strategist and critics of the way the war was waged, John
Paul Vann. Sheehan was an Army journalist prior to the war, and
covered Vietnam first for UPI, then for the NY Times.
Westmoreland, General William. A Soldier Reports. New York: Doubleday,
1976; reprint, New York: Da Capo Press, 1989.
Young, Marilyn B. The Vietnam Wars, 1945-1990. New York: Harper Collins,
1991.
Compelling account of the climatic battle of the First Indochina
War, the long and deadly seige of the French stronghold at Dien Bien
Phu by the Viet Minh.
Fall, Bernard.
Street Without Joy. With an Introduction by George C.
Herring and a Foreword by Marshall Andrews. Harrisburg, PA:
Stackpole, 1961; reprint, Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 1994.
*CORE* Reprint by the original publisher of the classic account
of the First Indochina War against the French. This edition contains
a new introduction by Geoge Herring. The title is derived from the
nickname for Highway 1 which runs north-south the lenght of Vietnam
along the coastal plain.
Marr, David G. Vietnam 1945 : The Quest For Power. Berkeley: University
of California Press, 1995.
*CORE* A key study by one of the top writers in English about
the pivotal period at the end of the Second World War and the struggle
for political ascendency.
Patti, Archimedes. Why Vietnam: Prelude to America's Albatross.
Berkeley: University of California Press, 1980.
*CORE* Patti served as the head of the Office of Stragetic
Services French Indochina mission during WWII. His account deals with
the US - Viet Minh cooperation during the war against the Japanese,
the relationships with the KMT, and the aftermath of the change in US
policies under Truman with regard to Vietnam.
Rotter, Andrew J. The Path to Vietnam: Origins of the American Commitment
to Southeast Asia. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1987.
Spector, Ronald. Advice and Support: The Early Years, 1941-1960. The
United States Army in Vietnam. Washington: Center of Military History,
1983.
Race, Jeffrey.
War Comes to Long An: Revolutionary Conflict in a
Vietnamese Province. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1972.
*CORE* The author served in the US Army as a district advisor,
and later return as a private citizen to attempt to analyse the
political and social processes that he believed were not explained by
the conventional military analysis of the conflict. The resultant
work is a deeply insightful analysis into the contested social
realities of the war and the success of the VCP in Long An Province
(just southwest of Saigon in the Mekong Delta). This is an extreme
important study which focuses on the war as a social revolution as
well as a military contest.
Thayer, Carlyle A. War by Other Means : National Liberation and Revolution
in Viet-Nam, 1954-60. Boston: Allen & Unwin, 1989.
*CORE* Thayer presents a systematic and precise account of the
formation and implementation of communist policy in Vietnam between
the Geneva Accords and the establishment of the National Liberation
Front (NLF) in 1960, the transtional period between the First and
Second Indochina Wars.
Clarke, Jeffrey J. Advice and Support : The Final Years, 1965- 1973. The
United States Army in Vietnam. Washington: Center of Military
History, 1988.
Cutler, Lt. Cdr. Thomas J. Brown Water, Black Berets: Coastal and Riverine
Warfare in Vietnam. Annapolis, The Naval Institute Press, 1988; New
York: Pocket Books, 1996.
Ford, Ronnie E. Tet 1968: Understanding the Surprise. Cass Series -
Studies in Intelligence. London: Frank Cass & Co, 1995.
Herrington, Stuart. Silence was a Weapon: The Vietnam War in the
Villages. Novato, CA: Presidio, 1982.
Krepinevich, Andrew F., Jr. The Army in Vietnam. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins
University Press, 1986.
Mangold, Tom and John Penycate. The Tunnels of Cu Chi: The Untold Story
of Vietnam. New York: Random House, 1985; Berkley Pub Group: 1994.
Spector, Ronald. After Tet: The Bloodiest Year in Vietnam
. New York: The
Free Press, 1993; Vintage, 1994.
Stanton, Shelby L. The Rise and Fall of an American Army: U.S. Ground
Forces in Vietnam, 1965-1973. Novato, CA: Presidio, 1985; reprint
paper, Presideo, 1995.
Turley, Col. Gerald H.
The Easter Offensive. Novato, CA: Presidio, 1985;
Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1995.
