A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam
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Amazon.co.uk Review
This passionate, epic account of the Vietnam War centres on Lt Col John Paul Vann, whose story illuminates America's failures and disillusionment in Southeast Asia. Vann was a field adviser to the army when American involvement was just beginning. He quickly became appalled at the corruption of the South Vietnamese regime, their incompetence in fighting the Communists and their brutal alienation of their own people. Finding his superiors too blinded by political lies to understand that the war was being thrown away, he secretly briefed reporters on what was really happening. One of those reporters was Neil Sheehan. This definitive exposé on why America lost the war won the Pulitzer Prize for nonfiction in 1989.
Book Description
'Superb. If you ever read just one history of the Vietnam war, read and admire and celebrate this one. ' John le Carre
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First Sentence
IT WAS a funeral to which they all came. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
IT WAS a funeral to which they all came. Read the first page
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Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
18 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Sheehans book is a huge work not to be contemplated by the light hearted. As an accesible history of Vietnam it has little competition. It is the story of John Vann, a US military officer who enters the war full of belief in the way it is run yet quickly becomes cynical about his superiors and their tactic. He leaks the truth to the press and is vilified as a result.
As a biography one would expect support for the main character. However Sheehan presents a harsh portrait of his "hero." He is portrayed as a deeply flawed man beset by depression, cynicism and a womaniser. We are not made to like Vann but Sheehan presents the facts and lets the reader decide how they feel. This book does not leave the reader feeling warm and comfortable; if anything we are left more confused about the whole war than before opening the book. Questions are asked but not answered, moral issues raised but not resolved. Maybe this sums up the whole war?
The book also acts a comprehensive work of history with accessible descriptions of the key battles and political intrigues that made up Vietnam.
This book is not pretty or fluffy. At the end I did not feel happy or pleased with its closure-it however is about reality and reflects this well. Sheehan has written a powerful book which should be read by anyone wanting to understand Vietnam and more widely the impacts of war on people.
As a biography one would expect support for the main character. However Sheehan presents a harsh portrait of his "hero." He is portrayed as a deeply flawed man beset by depression, cynicism and a womaniser. We are not made to like Vann but Sheehan presents the facts and lets the reader decide how they feel. This book does not leave the reader feeling warm and comfortable; if anything we are left more confused about the whole war than before opening the book. Questions are asked but not answered, moral issues raised but not resolved. Maybe this sums up the whole war?
The book also acts a comprehensive work of history with accessible descriptions of the key battles and political intrigues that made up Vietnam.
This book is not pretty or fluffy. At the end I did not feel happy or pleased with its closure-it however is about reality and reflects this well. Sheehan has written a powerful book which should be read by anyone wanting to understand Vietnam and more widely the impacts of war on people.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is an incredible book that deservedly won the Pulitzer Prize. It charts the progress of the Vietnam War by following one man, John Paul Vann, in his attempts to turn the tide of war that was flowing very strongly against the Americans. Vann was a maverick, but he saw clearly that the tactics adopted by the American Military High Command were inappropriate for the Vietnamese theatre and would lead to disaster.
Reading this book it is clear that America could never have beaten the Vietnamese Communists; all of the gross excesses of the war, the tragic waste and the American fascination with body counts and superior technology are laid bare for examination. It seemed only one man was trying to change the mind-set, but Vann's voice was the voice in the wilderness and it went unheeded.
I suspect that Vann would have been a very difficult man to like but his bravery, tenacity, far-sightedness and leadership could never be doubted.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The history of the middle part of the Vietnam war using the life and experiences of John Vann, a senior military adviser, as a vehicle for the narrative. This does make the book more accessible but it also, necessarily, introduces material about Vann's personal life that I was not interested in.
I see that other reviews have described 'A Bright Shining Lie' as 'comprehensive', which is perhaps a strange description for a title that does not cover the French conflict in any detail and makes no mention at all of 'Nixon's war'.
On the whole though, this is a detailed, incisive and well-constructed analysis of US military policy and tactics during the period covered. Worthy of its Pulitzer.
I see that other reviews have described 'A Bright Shining Lie' as 'comprehensive', which is perhaps a strange description for a title that does not cover the French conflict in any detail and makes no mention at all of 'Nixon's war'.
On the whole though, this is a detailed, incisive and well-constructed analysis of US military policy and tactics during the period covered. Worthy of its Pulitzer.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Splendid book on the US war of aggression against Vietnam and why it...
Too many accounts of this war (and some other reviews on Amazon's pages) call the war an American disaster or an American tragedy. Read more
Published 11 days ago by William Podmore
The Fiasco, again...
An absolutely essential book to read, and even with its length, to re-read again, since so many of the lessons that should have been learned were not, and the mistakes are being... Read more
Published 16 months ago by John P. Jones III
A Bright Shining Lie; John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam by Neil...
A lengthy but involving account of the career of John Paul Vann, a US Army officer and latterly a civilian adviser with the Agency for International Development (AID), who died in... Read more
Published 19 months ago by J. Southworth
It's all so familiar!
Other than being an excellent work in its own right, this book has the kind of depths that allows fruitful comparisons to modern conflict in Afghanistan. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Jeremy Ray
Remember the war. Read this book
Former United Press International and New York Times journalist Neil Sheehan (who, apart from writing this spectacular volume, also obtained the Pentagon Papers via Daniel... Read more
Published on 29 Oct 2007 by Mr. Tristan Martin
Novel approach to the history of the conflict
The history of the middle part of the Vietnam war using the life and experiences of John Vann, a senior military adviser, as a vehicle for the narrative. Read more
Published on 15 Aug 2006 by Overseas Reviewer
An in-depth analysis of how and why the US lost the war
Neil Sheehan has given us probably the most analytical book on the Vietnam War. There have been scores of books by Marines, pilots and Special Forces soldiers but this book is a... Read more
Published on 28 July 2003 by Mr. K. Papas
Epic account of the folly of Vietnam
At 800 pages + you have to have some patience. However, if you stick with it this book will give you the most detailed history of the Vietnam conflict imaginable. Read more
Published on 26 Sep 2002 by Spencer
If You Read Just One Book About Vietnam, Make It This One...
This is a truly excellent book in every respect, and without doubt the only single volume that comes close to giving an overall "feel" for the situation in Vietnam at the... Read more
Published on 1 Mar 2002 by M. Barrett
Outstanding Treatment Of America's Disaster In Vietnam
Sociologist C.Wright Mills once wrote that the key to meaningful social analysis was to understand the actions of an individual in the context of his or her social situation, to... Read more
Published on 4 Nov 2000
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