The Pentagon Papers [Paperback]

George Herring (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 007028380X | ISBN-13: 978-0070283800 | Publication Date: January 1, 1993 | Edition: 1

This book provides a brief and manageable collection of the most important documents on U.S. policymaking in the Vietnam War between 1950 and 1968. Edited by the foremost Vietnam historian, this supplementary text can be used in conjunction with any history of the Vietnam war--Herring's own America's Longest War, for example.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

George C. Herring is Alumni Professor of history at the University of Kentucky. He received his Ph.D. in History from the University of Virginia and taught at Ohio University before moving to the University of Kentucky. He is the author of numerous books, articles, and essays, including The Secret Diplomacy of the Vietnam War: The Negotiating Volumes of the Pentagon Papers (1983) and LBJ and Vietnam: A Different Kind of War (1994). He served as editor of the scholarly journal Diplomatic History from 1982 to 1986 and was President of the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations in 1990. In 1991, he served as Visiting Fulbright Scholar at the University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand and from 1993 to 1994, he was Visiting Professor of History at the U.S. Military Academy, West Point.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages; 1 edition (January 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 007028380X
• ISBN-13: 978-0070283800
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #92,052 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

George C. Herring is Alumni Professor of History Emeritus at the University of Kentucky. His book in the Oxford History of the United States series, From Colony to Superpower: U.S. Foreign Relations since 1776 won the Robert Ferrell Prize of the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations and was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. A leading authority on U.S. foreign relations, he is the former editor of Diplomatic History and a past president of the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations. He is the author of America's Longest War: The United States and Vietnam, 1950-1975, among other books. He lives in Lexington, Kentucky.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

74 of 77 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Robert McNamara's Gift to the World, January 7, 2000

By 

Leon M. Bodevin "Do right and fear no man" (Lemoore, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Pentagon Papers (Paperback)

Prepare to have your trust in government shattered. It illustrates the "credibility gap" during the Vietnam War, i.e., the gap between what Johnson and Kennedy were saying to the public and what was actually happening in Vietnam. The administrations constantly lie to the American public on our progress in the war. What's most interesting is reading these documents alongside speeches made to the public during this time by McNamara and Johnson. It's quite startling. Read this book.

48 of 62 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Why is Amazon hosting this material?, December 3, 2010

By 

jcs2b - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Pentagon Papers (Paperback)

Amazon pulled Wikileaks from their site because it represented classified government documents. So what is the Pentagon Papers still doing on this site?

Oh right, Amazon wasn't around in 1971 to cave in to pressure from right wing politicians to betray the First Amendment right to publish classified materials that have been leaked by others.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars PP, October 4, 2010

By 

David J. Crosby (The Villages, Florida) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Pentagon Papers (Paperback)

This book covers but a small part of the overall deception of the government in the Vietnam War. It does paint an excellent picture of the inner workings and the thinking of corrupt officials up to and including the president.