Vietnam
An Epic History of a Divisive War 1945-1975
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Vietnam
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Narrated by:
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Max Hastings
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Peter Noble
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By:
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Max Hastings
About this listen
THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
‘His masterpiece’ Antony Beevor, Spectator
‘A masterful performance’ Sunday Times
‘By far the best book on the Vietnam War’ Gerald Degroot, The Times, Book of the Year
Vietnam became the Western world’s most divisive modern conflict, precipitating a battlefield humiliation for France in 1954, then a vastly greater one for the United States in 1975. Max Hastings has spent the past three years interviewing scores of participants on both sides, as well as researching a multitude of American and Vietnamese documents and memoirs, to create an epic narrative of an epic struggle. He portrays the set pieces of Dienbienphu, the Tet offensive, the air blitz of North Vietnam, and less familiar battles such as the bloodbath at Daido, where a US Marine battalion was almost wiped out, together with extraordinary recollections of Ho Chi Minh’s warriors. Here are the vivid realities of strife amid jungle and paddies that killed 2 million people.
Many writers treat the war as a US tragedy, yet Hastings sees it as overwhelmingly that of the Vietnamese people, of whom forty died for every American. US blunders and atrocities were matched by those committed by their enemies. While all the world has seen the image of a screaming, naked girl seared by napalm, it forgets countless eviscerations, beheadings and murders carried out by the communists. The people of both former Vietnams paid a bitter price for the Northerners’ victory in privation and oppression. Here is testimony from Vietcong guerrillas, Southern paratroopers, Saigon bargirls and Hanoi students alongside that of infantrymen from South Dakota, Marines from North Carolina, Huey pilots from Arkansas.
No past volume has blended a political and military narrative of the entire conflict with heart-stopping personal experiences, in the fashion that Max Hastings’ readers know so well. The author suggests that neither side deserved to win this struggle with so many lessons for the 21st century about the misuse of military might to confront intractable political and cultural challenges. He marshals testimony from warlords and peasants, statesmen and soldiers, to create an extraordinary record.
©2018 Max Hastings (P)2018 HarperCollins PublishersWhat listeners say about Vietnam
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 12-06-2022
Excellent
Powerful and getting from the first chapter. Max Hastings is both an excellent historian and a brilliant writer.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Matt
- 28-09-2019
Another amazing book from Max Hastings
It's amazing how much Max Hastings has covered here while still presenting a cogent and accessible overall narrative of the conflict. I'm a huge fan of how Max Hastings brings an objective and dispassionate approach to history (in this regard he is at his best in books like "Bomber Command", "Nemesis" and "Das Reich"). In this book he does become more judgemental than is the norm for him (he covered this conflict himself as a journalist when he was still a young man and it seems to have affected him a great deal) but the way he seems to struggle with himself in this regard is part of what makes this book an amazing experience (especially if you've read other Hastings books and are familiar with how reserved he usually is about such fault-finding). Even with this, I still found this to be one of the most balanced and thoughtful studies of the Vietnam War I have ever come across. And you get so much! The sections on the Korean and Australian contributions, and the final section on the ARVN's struggles following the 1973 withdrawal of US-forces, are not to be found in other comparable studies.
Unfortunately (unlike some of the other reviews) I cannot recommend Peter Noble's narration. He too often gives a sarcastic edge to his reading where this was not needed. It annoyed me no end (I think a narrator like Cameron Stewart or Barnaby Edwards or Nigel Carrington would have been a better fit). Even so, this book is so good I would recommend it notwithstanding the disappointing narration.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Roger T. G. Patterson
- 25-12-2022
Epic
Max does it again. Balanced, comprehensive, personal, insightful are some words that come to mind
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Ben
- 05-11-2023
Amazing
I think I have read every Max Hastings book out there and I would probably say that this is his best work. Meticulously researched, this is perhaps the definitive book for anybody wanting to better understand the Vietnam War. A must listen.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Richard
- 12-11-2018
Very disturbing and Depressing
I listened to this excellent history of the Vietnam War ever written. Read in conjunction with the Audible narration which gave the tragedy more resonance than if I had just read the book. The the last chapter sums up my feelings about what has happened to Vietnam since the end of WW2. Having lived in Vietnam for more than 6 years and having worked as firstly a diplomat and then as a consultant since 2002, the Gerontocracy of the northern leadership and their mendacity defies belief. Only coming back from Saigon and Hanoi just recently the South remains a separate nation from the north. Despite that Marxist Leninist theory is indeed still taught at schools as the Author indicates. The lessons of Vietnam obviously hasn’t been learned by the West. There is still a huge divide between the rural poor and the rich urban population. The big fear now is China. Despite that I am confident that once a new generation sweeps through the Vietnamese political system there will eventually be change for the future.
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5 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 09-02-2019
Another thorough history novel by this author
Thorough, fascinating military history of Vietnam and its people. A country torn by continual wars. Great narration. Highly recommended.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 26-09-2019
Very comprehensive including the French involvement.
A story that needed to be written by an experienced author. A story of no real winners. So much expediency and ego driven leadership. Such a shame all troops have always been vilified in what they simply obeyed orders. A must listen.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 22-01-2024
Superb coverage of a terrible waste
Nothing to dislike. Max Hastings is a superb historian, and Peter Noble is a magnificent narrator.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- George
- 16-06-2019
An unruly patchwork quilt of a book
The book is driven by a disorderly meta narrative. Yet the author claims to have written the last word on Vietnam.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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- Anonymous User
- 04-02-2022
Sanctimonious journalist dribble
A much too long, over detailed, poorly executed journalistic hindsight view of the 30 year Vietnam war in which the statements and opinions of nobodies is given equal (often greater) weight to the highest political/military commander.
It is easy to always find fault with the Americans and South Vietnam leadership and military whereas the North Vietnam often escapes equal weighted criticism.
In war the enemy has a vote; confusion, mistakes, misunderstanding is an integral part of any conflict; and allowances should always be made to those executing the conflict; and,accordingly, be given the benefit of the doubt.
It was tedious to listen to and provided little in the way of new insight into this conflict.
I still await the definitive history of the war.
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