Customer Reviews

In the Jaws of History: (Vietnam War Era Classics Series)

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This book was my first in-depth introduction into the intricacies of the Viet Nam War. I feel like I've only scratched the surface of this monolithic subject.

In the final chapter, Mr. Bui lists the main reasons why the war was so unmanageable and why the US (and coincidentally S. Viet Nam) eventually lost it. The reason listed last (the problems resulting from US intervention) is the focus of his book.

"The South Vietnamese people, and especially the South Vietnamese leaders, myself among them, bear the ultimate responsibility for the fate of their nation, and to be honest, they have much to regret and much to be ashamed of. But it is also true that the war's cast of characters operated within a matrix of larger forces that stood outside the common human inadequacies and failings. And it was these forces that shaped the landscape on which we all moved."

"First...was the obduracy of France, which in the late forties insisted on retaining control of its former colony rather than conceding independence in good time to a people who hungered for it. Second was the ideological obsession of Vietnam's Communists. Not content with fighting to slough off a dying colonialism, they relentlessly sought to impose on the Vietnamese people their dogma of class warfare and proletarian dictatorship. Finally came the massive intervention by the United States, inserting into our struggle for independence and freedom its own overpowering dynamic. These three forces combined to distort the basic nature of Vietnam's emergence from colonialism, ensuring that the struggle would be more complex and bloodier than that of so many other colonies which achieved nationhood during mid-century."

In this book, you definitely will get a S. Vietnamese diplomat's point of view. I was hoping for more on the common man's outlook, the characteristics of the Vietnamese people themselves, and the demographics of the country, but it is not provided at all in this tome. I think this would have done a lot to make the actions of the S. Vietnamese government understandable, if not excusable.

Also, another weakness of the book is that Mr. Bui is always quick to point out American missteps, but rarely expounds on S. Vietnamese imperfections. For example, he writes that one huge problem was corruption. But he never fully elaborates on the nature of this corruption.

The story is easy to read except for when you start to get towards the end. The reason being that no more new insights will be given, and you already know what the disastrous outcome will be.

"In the Jaws of History" is most valuable for Bui Diem's account of his early years in the North, when the "great dilemma in the lives for all nationalists was coming to a head". Nationalists saw collaboration with the French as "repugnant", but then so was "giving the nation ... over to a future ruled by Ho Chi Minh, Vo Nguyen Giap, and the Indochinese Communist Party" who were then murdering nationalist leaders in Hanoi and along the Red River. Giap's role in the purge of the nationalist Dai Viet and VNQDD needs to be kept in mind by those who tend to accept as fact the popular communist myths woven around its leadership figures. "In the Jaws of History" is perhaps best read along with Bui Tin's memoirs "Following Ho Chi Minh: The Memoirs of a North Vietnamese Colonel".

This book offers a compelling and fascinating read. The perspective is one we don't see in most of our histories of the Vietnam conflict: the view of a South Vietnam nationalist who tries to save his nation from the Communists. The absence of bitterness, the appraisals of both the weakness and strength of his South Vietnamese compatriots, his views on the American intervention: all are fascinating.

Overall, this is one of the best books I have ever read about the conflict: it's right up there with Stanley Karnow's well-regarded book.

Being a Westernized Vietnamese of the second generation, I did know much about that war that has marked my parents's life forever.

Reading that book has introduced to the hardship, however without falling into the drama.

What I enjoy the most, was that I browsed to the history, but feel like I was reading a novell.

Outstanding job !!!!

Nam

This book is the best nonfiction account from a non-military leader of the former Republic of Vietnam or South Vietnam. Ambassador Bui Diem starts with his own life in Hanoi, under the tutelage of Vo Nguyen Giap, then a teacher before becoming one of the most famous generals of all time. Mr. Diem analyzes LBJ's decision to land combat troops in Vietnam in 1965, as he was writing the communique. He takes readers through his time as Saigon's ambassador to the U.S., meeting with numerous American leaders. Then came the Paris Peace talks with Henry Kissinger in the lead, unilaterally acting on behalf of South Vietnam. Mr. Diem spends the last four years of the war as editor of the Saigon Post, finally fleeing in April 1975 for America. He expresses sorrow and accepts responsibility for losing his country, unlike many former South Vietnamese generals and American leaders of that generation. His book, first published in 1987, is a must for every scholar of Vietnam. It reveals the tremendous pressure exerted on a former ally during a time of war and the American hubris that led to a quagmire.

There are a lot of books on the Vietnam War. Many of them cover soldiers' experiences on the front or Washington politicians making the "hard decisions". Few books cover the thought processes and political developments going on from the South Vietnamese view though.

The author, Bui Diem, experienced the length and breadth of the Vietnam War from the viewpoint of a private citizen of Vietnam and was involved in, or witness to, the political side of the War from the South Vietnamese perspective. What sets this book apart from other political books on the Vietnam War is Bui Diem's background as a Nationalist and his extensive relations with Vietnamese and American officials.

I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the Vietnam War, and I would especially recommend it to people who wonder why South Vietnam didn't seem to try to control the situation more. Very illuminating book (and easy to read).