Tet!: The Turning Point in the Vietnam War [Paperback]

Don Oberdorfer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2001

Finalist for the 1971 National Book Award

In early 1968, Communist forces in Vietnam launched a surprise offensive that targeted nearly every city, town, and major military base throughout South Vietnam. For several hours, the U.S. embassy in Saigon itself came under siege by Viet Cong soldiers. Militarily, the offensive was a failure, as the North Vietnamese Army and its guerrilla allies in the south suffered devastating losses. Politically, however, it proved to be a crucial turning point in America's involvement in Southeast Asia and public opinion of the war. In this classic work of military history and war reportage—long considered the definitive history of Tet and its aftermath—Don Oberdorfer moves back and forth between the war and the home front to document the lasting importance of this military action. Based on his own observations as a correspondent for the Washington Post and interviews with hundreds of people who were caught up in the struggle, Tet! remains an essential contribution to our understanding of the Vietnam War.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Tet! is a rare commodity in war chronicles and a book that justifies its own exclamation mark... A pioneering work.

(John Franklin Campbell New York Times Book Review )

The author's reconstruction of the battle ranks with the best war reporting of World War II and Korea.

(Frederick Taylor Wall Street Journal )

[Oberdorfer] has written here a book which should take its place alongside the historical volumes about Vietnam of Bernard Fall and Robert Shaplen.

(John Hughes Christian Science Monitor )

It is essential reading for everyone concerned about the Vietnam war—and the making of American foreign policy... An important as well as a fascinating book.

(Anthony Lake Washington Post )

Oberdorfer gives suspense to history. This is what reporting should be.

(David Halberstam )

A valuable addition to the history of our purgatory... The reporting is bull's-eye accurate.

(Walter Cronkite )

About the Author

Don Oberdorfer was a diplomatic correspondent for the Washington Post from 1976 until his retirement in 1993. His other books include From the Cold War to a New Era, also available in paperback from Johns Hopkins, and The Two Koreas.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 440 pages
• Publisher: The Johns Hopkins University Press (March 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0801867037
• ISBN-13: 978-0801867033
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #723,602 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars the political story of the tet offensive, March 15, 2004

By 

T. Scherff (Pebble Beach, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tet!: The Turning Point in the Vietnam War (Paperback)

this is not a war story. it is an insightful book that focuses on the political causes and repercussions of the tet offensive in early 1968. it starts with the attempted takeover of the u.s. embassy in saigon and ends with the decision of president johnson not to run for reelection. if you are looking at the military aspects of this offensive, this is not the book for you.

by jumping back and forth from washington to south vietnam to north vietnam, the author clearly explains how such a military failure on the part of north vietnam could result in such a huge victory that ultimately wins the war. it is very enlightening regarding what happens in the united states. it is much less so regarding south vietnam. from the north's perspective it gives a good understanding of why they did it, but is surprisingly lacking as to their reaction to the clear defeat.

one interesting aspect is that the book is written before the war ends. this gives the reader more knowledge than the author, but also shows how perceptive the author is in understanding the long term impact even to today.

of particular interest is how the individual bits of the story, whose impact cannot be understood at the time they occur, match up to change the climate in the united states and bring about the end of the johnson presidency and ultimately the vietnam war.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well written, hard to put down!, October 30, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Tet! The Turning Point in the Vietnam War (Paperback)

Don Obendorfer's book Tet is a well written book. His experience as a newspaper reporter (I believe) allows him to effectively suppress any biases he might have possesed toward the conflict in Viet Nam. He makes it hard to put down.I immediatly wanted to know what was going to happen next. He covers the attack upon the US embassy in Saigon in depth. He also covers the worries US military brass had about Khe Sanh. Additionaly, he covers General Westmoreland's attempts to secure another 209,000 troops and the negative publicity and the anti-war backlash created in America by the Tet offensive that would not allow President Johnson to send that amount of troops. This book is a must for those who want to know about the Tet offensive.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great story on the hows and whys of Tet, February 7, 2004

By 

Thomas H. Savery (Loganville, Ga) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tet!: The Turning Point in the Vietnam War (Paperback)

Don Oberdorfer does a great job in describing the key battle in the Vietnam war. The political decisions made by both sides about the battle are included. The background and key players on our side and their thoughts are described.
The battle of Hue is gone into in some detail, including the killing of thousands of civilians, and some other foreign nationals by the North Vietnamese.
For anyone wondering why we got out of Vietnam, this is a must read. The shift in attitude from the pro war stance of Johnson's "wise men" is gone into in some detail as they move from pro war in Nov '67 to we must negotiate in early '68.
The chronology of events at the end of the book is a great help.

The "We had to destroy the village to save it" comment, by Peter Arnett is told too. Peter Arnett was an anti war reporter from the beginning. In 1965 he wrote a bogus report about our Marines using toxic gas on the VC. It was just tear and pepper gas, and was widely used in Vietnam to clear bunkers and tunnels. It was thought more humane than blowing up the people in the tunnels or bunkers. Arnett reported it as poison gas and made world wide headlines. This is discussed in Utters Battalion, another book.
In this book, he invents a quote "We had to destroy the village to save it" and again it makes world wide headlines.
During the Tet offensive at the battle of Ben Tre, Arnett says an Army Major made the comment. Neither the Major, or any other living person heard the comment.
The story of how Westmoreland came to generate the request of 206,00 more troops is told too.