Often compared to joseph conrad and ernest hemingway, and largely considered one of the best vietnam novels, stone focuses on two characters, one of whom is a sailor traveling home from vietnam. By the early 1990s, when i began studying the vietnam war, the american public had largely lost interest in the history of that conflict. Australian history is usually covered in primary school but the other topics are not required subjects in primary school. Americas wars have inspired some of the world s best literature, and the vietnam war is no exception. To have been present as they bore witness to their experiences remains for us one of.
Adaptation and survival among vietnam s highland peoples during the vietnam war by. From ancient to modern warfare, there are titles covering virtually all conflicts throughout the history of mankind. He chooses the best books on the vietnam war, exploring its moral ambiguities, the warrior mentality, the humanity of the enemy, and more. For germany, the same had happened more than thirty years earlier during wwi.
Perspectives on modern world history series librarything. Presenting new perspectives on the vietnam war, its global repercussions, and its role in modern history. Bao ninhs 1993 novel the sorrow of war is a fictional account of the life of a north. Antony beevor, a former british army officer, brilliantly balances the huge scale of the conflict with a soldierseye view of some of the most horrific conditions in the history of modern warfare. At the national archives, a new perspective on the vietnam war. The vietnam war perspectives on modern world history. Local, national, and transnational perspectives reinterpreting history. Modern history books vietnam war, korean war, israel, china. The ultimate 2020 list of best vietnam books to read. Enough books novels and nonfiction have been published about the vietnam war and its aftermath to fill a modestsized library. The fivemonth siege of stalingrad was one of world war iis bloodies battles and a turning point in the fight for europe.
Here are my picks for the ten best memoirs of the vietnam war. Based on recent scholarship and evidence, this book includes vietnamese documents and research available to very few scholars. Among the most positive is an abundance of topnotch books, many written by veterans of the conflict. On april 30, 1975, the war came to an abrupt end when saigon transferred hands. Philip caputo was a marine who later became a very wellknown journalist. At the same time, they reinterpret key cultural representations of the war from a postmodern perspective. Nonfiction an intimate history of killing by joanna bourke. Some of these are fiction books about vietnam war based on factual information, whilst others include some of the best books on vietnam history of the war.
These 10 books, in addition to the ones below, were recommended multiple times. These include winners of national book awards and pulitzer prizes, both fiction and nonfiction. Japan takes control of indochina but rules through a vichy french administration during most of world war ii. However many children like to study this period of history in their early school years. In the vietnam war mark atwood lawrence gives a superb account of a key moment in modern u. Living books modern history for kids homeschooling downunder. It starts with some excellent historical background that explains how indo china fought in the 2nd world war against the japanese with the allies. From the awardwinning historian and filmmakers of the civil war, baseball, the war, the roosevelts, and others. The arabisraeli sixday war perspectives on modern world history by jeff hay the assassination of osama bin laden perspectives on modern world. The penguin history of modern vietnam by christopher. The vietnam war has produced as much literature as w. He teaches courses on the civil war, world war ii, vietnam, americans in combat, and the broad sweep of american military history. Winner of the 1974 national book award for fiction, dog soldiers is a story of the vietnam war and of drug smuggling.
Modern historyvietnam war wikibooks, open books for an. The ten best memoirs of the vietnam war council on. Intent on using the warfighting methods they had honed in europe in world war ii. If youre interested in reliving some of the world s most tense and important moments, browse through our selection of military history books. Readers weighed in on the best books about the vietnam war. All the perspectives on modern world history books in order toppsta. The vietnam war was the secondlongest war in united states history, after the war in afghanistan promises and commitments to the people and government of south vietnam to keep communist forces from overtaking them reached back into the truman administration. An image of the hardcover book accompanying the film, titled the vietnam war.
History textbooks on the war present american perspectives, often suggesting. In my mind its one of the first really wellwritten books that describe the moral ambiguities and difficulties faced by a young marine officer in this particular war. In the short history of vietnam war literature, publishers would hardly touch a book on the war until the late 1970s and early 1980sa part of the selfinduced national amnesia about that conflict and its outcome. More than forty years after it ended, the vietnam war continues to haunt our country. Here are two very different accounts of that same extraordinary day. This list of the best history books includes bestsellers, pulizter prize winners and. Few novels better capture the sense of hopelessness and loss that inhabited the trenches of that first world war than erich maria remarques novel. Perspectives on modern world history explore the most significant events of our time multinational perspectives to engage students and develop criticalthinking skills 1800877gale new series. The 10 best books about war from the letters of an early 19thcentury rifleman to a housewifes account of the second world war, max hastings, military historian and ex war. Many americans cite the vietnam war as the beginning of their disillusionment with military and federal leadership.
After we posted this article, times readers weighed in with their favorite books on the vietnam war. Browse the amazon editors picks for the best books of 2019, featuring our favorite. Cody phillips center of military history united states army historical perspectives. One of the most controversial wars in modern history, we pick ten of the best texts which offer illuminating perspectives on the vietnam war, its context and its. The definitive history of modern vietnam, lauded as groundbreaking guardian and. Perspectives on modern world history from greenhaven press offers a fresh look from multiple perspectives at momentous events in. Xiansheng tian, professor of history and asian studies this program is. The book vietnam a history of the war is a good showcase of the vietnam war and the events that caused it. Not only does apocalypse now present the vietnamese people as inferior. Whilst some of these books are a bit older, they are still brilliant to read and give you great insight into the war. New perspectives on the vietnam war anderson, david l. The book explains in depth the events that took place during this horrific war. The penguin history of modern vietnam is published by allen lane. The best histories of the vietnam war council on foreign.
Thucydides examines the great themes of war from the highest levels of the making of strategy and policy to the moral dimensions and the sharp end of battle. The vietnam war also known as the second indochina war, and in vietnam as the resistance. First he retraces vietnam s 2,000 year struggle to become and stay independent and how the united states went from ally to aggressor a result of shifting from fighting colonialism to opposing communism after world war ii. Christopher goschas book is a brilliant account of that countrys history.
The vietnam war has scarred, transformed and inspired countless writers and art practitioners. This was a war of many perspectives, a rashomon of equally plausible. From wikibooks, open books for an open world modern historymodern history. Female combat squads were present in the cu chi theatre. List of books and articles about vietnam war online. Smith, international history of the vietnam war, 1. In history books, museum exhibits, news reports, and. In many americans minds, its not history at all just a part of their lives. A television history, to accompany the book s release. This supplementary book provides a history of the vietnam war from the perspective of north vietnam.
The best vietnam war books five books expert recommendations. Tell me about the first book on your list, a rumor of war 1977. The result is a book that poses important challenges to both vietnam war studies and postmodern studies, at once reshaping the ways postmodernity is conceived and reminding us of the war s enduring significance in contemporary cultural history. The novel explores the war from the perspective of a former north vietnamese soldier, kien, and is a nonlinear telling of how the conflict transformed himself, his country and those around him. Perspectives from the vietnam war anythink libraries. Communist party clings more tightly than ever to its official narrative of the war. My book is about my months in vietnam as an m60 machine gunner in f. America, the vietnam war, and the world book depository. From the civil war, to world wars, to the cold war and the vietnam war. Military history of australia during the vietnam war and new zealand in the. Covering world war i, world war ii, and the vietnam war, this book does an exceptional job illuminating the psychological aspects of wartime on those who do the killing. Comparative and international perspectives publications of the german historical institute daum, andreas w. This is relatively short book in terms of text but incredibly well though out and a deep analysis of the war. The civil war and world war ii were the wars that historians were advised to cover if they wanted to reach the public.
William schoenl is professor of history, michigan state university, east lansing. Gr 68in his customary wellhoned prose, freedman presents a coherent overview of the vietnam war. Vietnamese perspectives on the war in vietnam digital commons. Lasting for 20 years 19551975, the vietnam war, as bloody as any other wars, took away more than 2 millions lives, in which many of them were civilians.
American and vietnamese perspectives by michael hunt isbn. Best books on vietnam the best books about vietnam as a country, not just the vietnam war. American media is attempting to rewrite the history of the war. The vietnam war an australian perspective compiled from records and historical articles by r freshfield introduction what is referred to as the vietnam war began for the us in the early 1950s when it deployed military advisors to support south vietnam forces. While the list of books about this conflict includes hundreds of enlightening works, we pick ten of the best texts offering illuminating perspectives on the war, its context and the effects it had on vietnam. An oral history of the vietnam war by black veterans by. Neal ulevich, pulitzer prizewinning photojournalist alan jaffe, vietnam war veteran dr. In addition to jayne werner and luu doan huynh, the contributors are mark bradley, william duiker, david elliott, kristin pelzer, george vickers, james harrison, george herring, ronald spector, paul joseph, jeffrey clarke, ngo vinh long, benedict kiernan, marilyn. One of the ironies of the writing of military history is that the greatest book on war ever written was the second history ever writtennamely, this work. This book is an example of why history should not be written for 100 years and all.
Perspectives in apocalypse now and the sorrow of war. Hall crossroads chronologically arranges 11 chapterlong essays by as many vietnam scholars, whose works devote detailed retrospective descriptions to all perspectives relevant to the war. Historians at war national association of scholars. Many of the 11 articles in making sense present wideranging examples of new and less. Professor duiker is one of the english speaking world s foremost authorities on this period of vietnamese history and is a former foreign service officer posted in vietnam. Find below a collection of the best books on the vietnam war. The vietnam war perspectives on modern world history library binding february 24, 2011. Michael burgan explores various perspectives on the vietnam war and those involved in it.
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