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"Unmatched in its striking juxtaposition of the Vietnamese revolution with American Cold War policy and ideology, and in its sensitivity to the human dimension of the conflict on both sides."--Michael H. Hunt, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
In august 1945, most Americans believed their country victorious over the unjust imperialist ambitions of two oppressive nations: Germany and Japan. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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"Vietnam Wars" covers the Vietnamese struggle for independence from France, the war with the US, and the war with China, naturally focusing on the American war. The substance of the book is a mix of details of the actual war and the politics concerning it, with ample, though not exhaustive, footnotes and plenty of fascinating anecdotes. The level of detail is perfect for a popular history.
The tone of the book is distinctly anti-American, partly because of the author's own bias, but also partly because of the information available. The details of North Vietnam's motivations, actions, etc. are lacking, I imagine because there are so few sources. As a result, the viewpoint is American, and the mistakes made by the US are on full display; I found these to be the most interesting aspects of the war, e.g., the astounding naiveness of Psy Ops.
The author's bias is irritating, though thankfully clear. While she does not engage in outright revisionism (her facts are supported by references), she does selectively emphasize information. For example, while civilian deaths inflicted by US firepower are mentioned repeatedly, over many pages, atrocities commited by the North are downplayed, in oneliners along the lines of "Only 15-thousand Vietnamese civilians were executed by the VC, not 500-thousand, as claimed in US propaganda!". Despite this selectivity, sufficient facts are presented to convey the moral ambiguity that surrounds the conflict.
Read skeptically, Marilyn Young's "Vietnam Wars" is an excellent starting point for understanding Vietnam.
There is a famous saying in Vietnam, "At no time has Vietnam lacked heroes." The unsaid, but implicit understanding is that at no time has Vietnam lacked aggressors. What America at the time could not realize was that she was following in the footsteps of previous conquerors in Vietnam's past. America, though filled with good intentions, was simply another in a long line of overwhelming enemies like China, the Mongols, France, and Japan. In all honesty, at certain points I could not help laughing out loud. Not in amusement, but at the sheer, overwhelming stupidity and arrogance that compounded mistake after mistake by the foreign powers and every chance for peace was dashed because of Cold War politics and ignorance. France, the once mighty empire, was now an impotent, senile power that still clung to the trappings of imperial might. And the U.S., caught up in the Red Scare, failed to realize that the growth of Communism in Vietnam was an outgrowth of nationalism against imperialistic powers like France. To the U.S., it was a fight against Communism. To the average Vietnamese peasant, it was a war, in a long line of wars, for freedom.
I think that this is definitely a good book to read to familiarize oneself with the wars that Vietnam has fought. Though it covers all three of the Indochina wars, it only moderate covers the first, glosses over the last, and mostly details the second from the American perspective. In this area, I find the book is lacking because while it accurately describes what, how, and why the Americans did what they did, she did not pay enough attention to the first half of the equation, the Vietnamese. A fuller appreciation and understanding of the events would require us to have an accounting from the Vietnamese perspective, from Hanoi, to the average bo dai (grunt), and the peasant. It also is rather lacking in details and events that occurred during World War II and the Japanese occupation. Still, the harsh and unrelenting look that it gives us of American policy, practice, and presidents coupled with an easy to read yet grippingly eloquent prose makes this a book a must have for anyone wanting to better understand Vietnam and her wars for freedom.
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