Into Cambodia, Spring Campaign, Summer Offensive, 1970 [Hardcover]

Keith William Nolan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1990

This is combat narrative at its best. Nolan has mastered the soldier's slang and weaves it expertly into the account...full of combat anecdotes detailing battlefield leadership successes and failures.--Military Review

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Based on interviews, letters and diaries, this fourth book by Nolan ( The Battle for Hue ) on the war in Vietnam gives a vivid account of the U.S. Army's role in the 1970 attack on Cambodia, disregarding, with good reason, involvement of South Vietnamese forces in the mission: although the ARVN inflicted more casualties against the North Vietnamese and Vietcong than did American troops, no records evidently exist of their wartime operations. Despite many examples in these pages of exemplary leadership and sacrifice, the author's chief feat is to depict candidly the progressive demoralization of Americans during the campaign. He deals with painful realities that, he argues, divided the ranks: the GI drug problem and influence of the Black Power movement on the army; conflicts between sometimes reluctant draftees and stalwart "career" personnel; and the issue of "combat refusal." Nolan does not skimp on details of military action, all of it taking place during a phase of the war when the principal goal for soldiers, as he sees it, was survival--not destruction of the enemy--and concludes that the two-month campaign was a tactical success of limited value to the war as a whole.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 500 pages
• Publisher: Presidio Press; First Edition edition (1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0891413685
• ISBN-13: 978-0891413684
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,046,901 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Into Cambodia - by a participant, December 16, 2008

By 

B. Furey "spike155" (Lynn Haven, FL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Into Cambodia, Spring Campaign, Summer Offensive, 1970 (Hardcover)

I was there. I provided much of the Keith Nolan's written and photographic material. He has done an excellent job capturing several weeks of intense combat when the 1st Cavalry Division faced the North Vietnamese Army before (finally) attacking into Cambodia where the COSVN base camps, although long identified, had been off limits. The author captures the heroism and determination of young American soldiers to accomplish a difficult, often terrifying, mission while their draft-deferred contemporaries enjoyed college life. Nearly forty years later I am still in awe of the valor of young American soldiers who little understood the issues of the war yet were willing to give of that last full measure of devotion.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding book, January 11, 2007

By 

Tom H. (Kentucky) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Into Cambodia, Spring Campaign, Summer Offensive, 1970 (Hardcover)

I was with Charlie company, 2/12th BN, First Cavalry Division during the invasion of Cambodia in 1970. This book accurately describes incidents that I personally experienced. The chapters titled "Rock Island East", and "No Name Hill" refreshed my memory of events that took place and added many details that I was not aware of at the time. I highly recommend the book to any one who served in Cambodia during this 1970 offensive.

5.0 out of 5 stars Inside Cambodia, January 6, 2012

By 

P. Boedecker (Illinois) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Into Cambodia, Spring Campaign, Summer Offensive, 1970 (Hardcover)

I gave this book to my husband who served in VietNam and was also in Cambodia. I personally don't care for these books, but he enjoys them and says this one is very true and aligns with what actually happened. Based on his opinion, it's a good book and quite informative.