# What's the best book on history of the Vietnam War?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-book-on-history-of-the-vietnam-war/211588>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [November 5, 2003, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-book-on-history-of-the-vietnam-war/211588 "2003-11-05T18:22:14Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![jebert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ec9cab/32.png) [@jebert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jebert)\
**Post date:** [November 5, 2003, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-book-on-history-of-the-vietnam-war/211588/1 "2003-11-05T18:22:14Z")

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I’d like to read just one book on the Vietnam War - a history, not a political diatribe for or against it or an analysis of how it changed our society, just a history of that period.

What is the one book that does this best?

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**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\
**Post date:** [November 5, 2003, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-book-on-history-of-the-vietnam-war/211588/2 "2003-11-05T19:33:09Z")

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Try “Vietnam at War: The History, 1946-1975” by Phillip Davidson

For a really brief overview, there is always “Vietnam For Dummies.” It is actually a fairly comprehensive overview, with pretty balanced documentation.

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**Author:** ![Baby\_Fish\_Mouth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a8b319/32.png) [@Baby\_Fish\_Mouth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baby_Fish_Mouth)\
**Post date:** [November 5, 2003, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-book-on-history-of-the-vietnam-war/211588/3 "2003-11-05T21:31:04Z")

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_Vietnam: A History_, by Stanley Karnow. This book covers the whole span of the war in a relatively manageable size. If you only have time for one book, I recommend this one.

Also worth reading is _America’s Longest War: The United States and Vietnam_, by George Herring. It is also a general history with a great bibliography.

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**Author:** ![radar\_ralf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b2d939/32.png) [@radar\_ralf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/radar_ralf)\
**Post date:** [November 9, 2003, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-book-on-history-of-the-vietnam-war/211588/4 "2003-11-09T12:56:59Z")

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I agree with **Baby Fish Mouth** - there is even a companion series of videos available for the work by Stanley Karnow.