Can anyone recommend a good history of the Vietnam War?

Cafe Society
1

In print, of course.

Thanks in advance.

2

I don’t believe it covers the whole war, but I have had A Bright and Shining Lie on my Must Read list for quite some time…

3

Hmm…I probably should have said other than A Bright Shining Lie, as I (a) already own a copy and (b) can’t find it. It’s good, though.

4

Barbara Tuchman’s The March of Folly: From Troy to Vietnam deals with more than just Vietnam, although the Vietnam portions are the real focus of the book. It’s not a general history – Tuchman deals narrowly with the convoluted decisionmaking of the US government – but as a supplement to military histories, it (IMHO) sheds a great deal of light in dark, dark areas.

Sailboat

5

Are you looking for general histories or histories specific to a certain era (pre-American involvement, say)?

If you’re interested in a narrative, I’d go with Marilyn Young or Stanley Karnow (better yet, both)

If you’re not interested in a narrative of the war, I can’t recommend the following two oral histories highly enough:

Bloods by Wallace Terry
Bloods

A Life in a Year by James Ebert

6

I’m thinking narratives about American military involvement.

7

I usually recommend Stanley Karnow’s Vietnam: A History.