Customer Reviews

Tiger in the Barbed Wire: An American in Vietnam 1952-1991 (Kodansha Globe)

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In reading "Tiger in the Barbed Wire", I re-discovered Howard Simpson, having read an obscure mystery of his ("Junior Year Abroad") quite a few years ago. Believe me, the two books have nothing in common. Howard Simpson has discovered that he has more than one story to tell about his own life, no need to resort to fiction. How many Americans can claim to have served their country in Vietnam for so long, from pre-Dien Bien Phu to our own involvement much later? The late Lou Conein comes to mind but he did not leave a written legacy, nor was he likely to. Simpson not only worte about Dien Bien Phu but he was there, getting out while it was still possible to escape the trap being laid by the Viet Minh. Simpson draws word pictures of what it was like to be in Hanoi before the Geneva accords, when the French thought they still ruled the roost; he draws marvelous descriptions of what it was like to live in Saigon in those days when the French still clung to visions of their empire, looking down at the newly arriving Americans as interlopers. And finally, how that all changed, so dramatically, after DBP. This is a book to be savored by any former American officials in Vietnam. Simpson talks of familiar places that changed dramatically, of French conniving that was usually not in our best interest, of ever changing Vietnamese officials who usually did not understand official US policy, or worse, of ever changing US officials who rarely understood the Vietnamese or what was going on in Vietnam. But it is really Simpson's unique perspective on the French and their involvement that make this such a fascinating read for me. Howard Simpson's book has a spot in my library right along with History" but, truth be told, Simpson's was the most compelling, perhaps because I felt that I could identify with it personally. I look forward to reading his latest memoir, "Black Tie and Bush Hat". For me, Simpson's memoirs are more compelling than his mysteries - but this comes from an old francophile who has spent many years in France, including Marseilles and Paris, as well as Saigon. In short, all of Simpson's well tread venues. When he writes of the Corsican mafia and some favorite watering holes in Saigon, a smug smile comes to my face.

Simpson was a USIA officer in Vietman during the fifties and sixties. In this excellent personal observation of what he saw during this time period, Simpson details the drift toward U.S. intervention. He also details the defeat of the French and their replacement by the Americans. This is good history, as well as a good personal story of U.S. involvement.

The author does a good job of showing the antagonism between the French and the Americans. The French was losing their empire, but still wanted the have its sphere of influence. America was the rising power. Its seems the French were jeleous of American power, and did all in their power to thwart it.

Also interesting is the infighting between the anti-Communist Vietnamese. There were so many different groups fighting for a share in the power that they forgot their main enemy, the Viet Minh (or Viet Cong). Simpson details this infighting in the stories of the coups. They destroyed the unity of the anti-Communist groups.

This is a nice little history of American involvement prior to the Marines landing in 1965. This book shows the drift to U.S. involvement in a war they probably couldn't have won. A nice read.

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