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The Vietnam War

A Concise International History

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The Vietnam War

By: Mark Atwood Lawrence
Narrated by: Peter Berkrot
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About this listen

Hailed as a "pithy and compelling account of an intensely relevant topic" (Kirkus Reviews), this wide-ranging volume offers a superb account of a key moment in modern U.S. and world history. Drawing upon the latest research in archives in China, Russia, and Vietnam, Mark Lawrence creates an extraordinary, panoramic view of all sides of the war. His narrative begins well before American forces set foot in Vietnam, delving into French colonialism's contribution to the 1945 Vietnamese revolution, and revealing how the Cold War concerns of the 1950s led the United States to back the French.

The heart of the book covers the "American war", ranging from the overthrow of Ngo Dinh Diem and the impact of the Tet Offensive to Nixon's expansion of the war into Cambodia and Laos, and the final peace agreement of 1973. Finally, Lawrence examines the aftermath of the war, from the momentous liberalization - "Doi Moi" - in Vietnam to the enduring legacy of this infamous war in American books, films, and political debate.

©2010 Mark Atwood Lawrence (P)2011 Audible, Inc. Military Southeast Asia United States War Vietnam War Cold War Imperialism Colonial Period France

Critic Reviews

"Crisply concise.... Delves into the 'whys' of the war: why the Vietnamese fought against the United States, why the great powers were involved, why the war turned out as it did and why legacies of the war linger." ( Dallas Morning News)

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Informative and detailed

Given this is an overview and doesn’t delve into depth on the fighting itself, this book is detailed, informative, and rather useful to the student or teacher of History. The analysis of American involvement and the policies of different presidents was particularly useful.

There wasn’t as much said about Cambodia and Laos as I’d expected from the blurb, but at least they’re mentioned which often is not the case.

The narrator irked me though, but I’m also tired of harsh male voices being all that’s on offer for historical texts so am probably unduly biased in the negative before even starting.

The pronunciation of names was the main issue though. Certainly ‘Nguyen’ (which kept being read as en-guy-yen) and ‘Diep’ are mentioned enough to have been worth getting right.

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