Vietnam: A History (Stanley Karnow)
Though it originated as a companion piece to the PBS television series,
this is IMHO the best all-around history of America's misadventures in
Southeast Asia. At
Amazon.com and elsewhere.
I bought this book in the spring of 1964, along with a round-trip ticket
to Saigon. The author was a French-born American scholar who would die on
a jungle trail before the war ended. He wrote about the French struggle
in "Indochina" in terms that should have been heeded by the United States.
At
Amazon.com and elsewhere.
The Battle of
Dienbienphu (Jules Roy)
Translated from the French, it tells of the impossible gallantry of the
"paras" and Legionnaires trapped in a valley of death. It haunted me for
years, especially during the siege of Khe Sanh. At
Amazon.com and elsewhere.
The Only War We've
Got: Early Days in South Vietnam (Daniel Ford)
My notes from three months in the field with Rangers, Armored Cavalry,
Special Forces, and helicopter crews, as I typed them whenever I was
reunited with my kit. At
Amazon.com and elsewhere.
Incident at Muc Wa
(Go Tell the Spartans): A Story of the Vietnam War (Daniel Ford)
And this is the novel that came out of that experience. It was
filmed, unforgettably, with a screenplay by Wendell Mayes and a starring
role by Burt Lancaster. At
Amazon.com and elsewhere.
When Thunder Rolled:
An F-105 Pilot over North Vietnam (Ed Rasimus)
When I reviewed this book, I called it "one of the finest combat
memoirs I have ever read, from any air force in any war."
It's also a story of incredible waste, of skilled Americans
and their sophisticated machines put at risk against targets of little
or no value. At
Amazon.com and elsewhere.
Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War (Karl Marlantes)
A completely believable account of warfare in tough terrain, as told
by a Marine who was there. Like much great fiction, it was written
long after Lieutenant Marlantes mustered out and returned to his
studies at Oxford. At
Amazon.com and elsewhere.
The Things They
Carried (Tim O'Brien)
Though set in Vietnam, and describing American soldiers there, it's
not really about that war, but about the burden of fear and memory and
friendship carried by every soldier throughout history. A magnificent book. At
Amazon.com and elsewhere.
The Sorrow of War: A
Novel of North Vietnam (Bao Ninh)
Well, it's about a North Vietnamese soldier, but it's set in South
Vietnam, in what the Vietnamese know as "the American War." However bad
things were for the Americans and their allies, things were much worse
for the men who fought them. At
Amazon.com and elsewhere.
The Fall of Saigon:
Scenes from the Sudden End of a Long War (David Butler)
If my novel was a bookend for the beginning, this is the bookend for the
final days of America's invovlement in South Vietnam. It's a superb account,
tragically overlooked (but that means you can sometimes get the
first edition hardcover for a dollar or two). At
Amazon.com and elsewhere.
Question? Comment? Newsletter? Send me an email. Blue skies! -- Dan Ford
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