Vietnam: A History
by Stanley Karnow
List Price:
Our Price: $11.00
You Save: $10.00 (48%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $8.29 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Stanley KarnowEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 1997-06-01
ISBN: 0140265473
Number of pages: 784
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Book Reviews of Vietnam: A History
Book Review: Good but lacking and lopsided
Summary: 3 Stars
For a so-called "complete" history of Vietnam, this book was decidedly lopsided in some areas. For example, he spends hundreds of pages with useful and interesting pre-1965 historical background, but then skims over the post-1969 events, which were some of the most crucial. He does the same with the political leaders involved, describing Generals Ky and Khan, even though each of them only ruled for a short period of time, while devoting little time to exploring Thieu's biography, even though he played the dominant role for much of our involvement there. For the Kennedy-Johnson administrations, Karnow provides rich details of the internal debates, politics, and considerations. One gets the sense that the author's contacts ran out after Nixon won the election, so he doesn't really discuss this period in nearly as much depth.
Overall, I would preferred if the author had given us a bit more of a sense of South Vietnam, why it did not fight and was riddled with corruption, the personalities involved, etc. The best parts of the book are undoubtedly when he recalls interviews from vietnamese, North and South, who played key roles, providing fresh information.
This book was a useful overview of the Vietnam War and its roots, but doesn't really provide any new insights or in-depth understanding of Vietnam the country.
General Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Audiobooks on Cassette
- Audiobooks on CD
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- e-Books
- Engineering
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Medicine
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Victory in Vietnam?
The Soviet Union, Vietnam and China, 1949-64: Changing Alliances (Cass Series--Cold War History)by Mari Olsen
Routledge; Published: 2006-01-13; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $132.43
Price in other shops:
Shadow on the White House: Presidents and the Vietnam War, 1945-1975University Press Of Kansas; Published: 1993-05-24; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.95
Price in other shops:
The War That Never Ends: New Perspectives on the Vietnam Warby David L. Anderson, John Ernst
University Press of Kentucky; Published: 2007-11-09; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $25.50
Price in other shops:
On Strategy: A Critical Analysis of the Vietnam Warby Harry G. Summers
Presidio Press; Published: 1995-06-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.22
Price in other shops:
Vietnam: A Historyby Stanley Karnow
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 1997-06-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.00
Price in other shops:
Vietnam and America: The Most Comprehensive Documented History of the Vietnam WarGrove Press; Published: 1995-07-14; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.74
Price in other shops:
Our Great Spring Victory: An Account of the Liberation of South Vietnamby Van Dung
Monthly Review Press; Published: 1977-07-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $20.00
The Killing Zone: My Life in the Vietnam Warby Frederick Downs
W. W. Norton; Published: 1993-11-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.43
Price in other shops:
Is Anybody Listening?: A True Story About POW/ MIAs In The Vietnam Warby Barbara Birchim
AuthorHouse; Published: 2005-05-23; Paperback; Book
Best price: $15.91
Price in other shops:
A Better War: The Unexamined Victories and Final Tragedy of America's Last Years in Vietnamby Lewis Sorley
Harvest Books; Published: 2007-04-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.88
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
Ho Chi Minh: A Lifeby William J. Duiker
Published: 2001-10-31; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.95
Price in other shops:
Understanding Vietnamby Neil L. Jamieson
University of California Press; Published: 1995-03-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $13.99
Price in other shops:
Fire in the Lake: The Vietnamese and the Americans in Vietnamby Frances FitzGerald
Amazon Remainders Account; Published: 2002-07-17; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.21
Price in other shops:
A Rumor of Warby Philip Caputo
Owl Books; Published: 1996-11-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.04
Price in other shops:
The Sorrow of Warby Bao Ninh
Riverhead Trade; Published: 1996-04-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.00
Price in other shops:
Major Problems in the History of the Vietnam War: Documents and Essays (Major Problems in American History)by Robert McMahon, Thomas Paterson
Wadsworth Publishing; Published: 2007-09-26; Paperback; Book
Best price: $34.80
Price in other shops:
A Vietcong Memoir: An Inside Account of the Vietnam War and Its Aftermathby Truong Nhu Tang
Vintage; Published: 1986-03-12; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.90
Price in other shops:
Four Hours in My Laiby Michael Bilton, Kevin Sim
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 1993-03-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.62
Price in other shops:
The Best and the Brightestby David Halberstam
Ballantine Books; Published: 1993-10-26; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.56
Price in other shops:
A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnamby Neil Sheehan
Vintage; Published: 1989-09-19; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.15
Price in other shops: