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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Can the Vietnam War Ever Make Sense?, July 30, 1998
By A Customer
Can the Vietnam War Ever Make Sense? Where the Domino Fell, by James Olson and Randy Roberts, St. Martin's Press, 1991. Contemplating this book brings me a curious and unexpected reaction: I feel optimistic and reassured that such a clear history of the Vietnam Wars cannot but help educate future generations against repeating such an impossible adventure as was the US intervention in Vietnam. Previous histories of the war had only left me disgusted and mystified as to how the American rulers could have continuously dug themselves deeper into the quicksand of resisting Vietnamese independence and revolution. For example, George Herring's America's Longest War portrays American involvement not as a product of policymaker errors or personality quirks, but rather as the logical outgrowth of "containment." Since I was never satisfied with containment's simplistic conception of the breakup of the colonial world, the war always seemed a mysterious product of dar! k and hidden motives of US policymakers who were ethno-centric, competitive imperial managers incapable of comprehending the commitment to liberation and independence of the Vietnamese people, or of even entertaining the possibility that the USSR was a legitimate civilization or at least the product of historical forces. William Duiker's Sacred War, documenting the Vietnamese experience of the war, only confirmed my despair over the stupid arrogance of the American ruling class. Ho Chi Minh was so obviously right that only the devil himself could have guided America's hand. Then I read Olson and Roberts' Where the Domino Fell. The authors don't really offer a new perspective on any of the particulars, but they achieve a balance of all actors that make the whole monstrosity at least seem plausible, the stupidity at least understandable. American oversimplifications find their place in the larger constellation of factors, and the war begins to be comprehensible. Vietnamese ! nationalism is given its proper context of twenty centuries! , showing an Asian sage's sense of time and history that the nouveau-riche kid named America couldn't appreciate. The French are shown for the brutal and greedy colonists they were, first accepting huge US subsidies for their war to keep the Indochina colony, and then assuming the "I told you so" attitude once the Americans adopted the war after Dienbienphu. The American war in Vietnam is shown from the perspective of both sides, which really amounts to showing the many sides --from Diem to the Buddhists to the Khmer in Vietnam, from the hawks to the anti-war movement in the USA, the multiple perspectives are concisely explained in all their mutual relations. Whatever judgements the authors place on the merits of these perspectives, they don't allow their own opinions to eclipse the facts, which are made plain to all who will read. Even the American psychological recovery from the war is covered, with an insightful history of Hollywood Vietnam movies linked to th! e larger political evolution of these United States. One problem with the book is the lack of footnotes, obstructing any direct investigation of the quotes and their context. The sources used seem to be all secondary, but there are no claims of original research here. The book is rather the best survey of the war I've seen, complete with a careful bibliographic essay directing the reader towards the right source for any questions provoked by this introductory book. Also included is a useful chronology, glossary, and a few interesting photos. Highly recommended reading!
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11 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Can the Vietnam War Ever Make Sense?, May 29, 2001
Contemplating this book brings me a curious and unexpected reaction: I feel optimistic and reassured that such a clear history of the Vietnam Wars cannot but help educate future generations against repeating such an impossible adventure as was the US intervention in Vietnam. Previous histories of the war had only left me disgusted and mystified as to how the American rulers could have continuously dug themselves deeper into the quicksand of resisting Vietnamese independence and revolution. For example, George Herring's America's Longest War portrays American involvement not as a product of policy-maker errors or personality quirks, but rather as the logical outgrowth of "containment." Since I was never satisfied with containment's simplistic conception of the breakup of the colonial world, the war always seemed a mysterious product of dark and hidden motives of US policymakers who were ethno-centric, competitive imperial managers incapable of comprehending the commitment to liberation and independence of the Vietnamese people, or of even entertaining the possibility that the USSR was as legitimate as any western nation-state (which were also united by blood and iron) or at least the product of historical forces. William Duiker's Sacred War, documenting the Vietnamese experience of the war, only confirmed my despair over the stupid arrogance of the American ruling class. Ho Chi Minh was so obviously right that only the devil himself could have guided America's hand. Then I read this book, Olson & Roberts' Where the Domino Fell. The authors don't really offer a new perspective on any of the particulars, but they achieve a balance of all actors that make the whole monstrosity at least seem plausible, the stupidity at least understandable. American oversimplifications find their place in the larger constellation of factors, and the war begins to be comprehensible. Vietnamese nationalism is given its proper context of twenty centuries, showing an Asian sage's sense of time and history that the nouveau-riche kid named "USA" couldn't appreciate. The French are shown for the brutal and greedy colonists they were, first accepting huge US subsidies for their war to keep the Indochina colony, and then assuming the "I told you so" attitude once the Americans adopted the war after Dienbienphu. The American war in Vietnam is shown from the perspective of both sides, which really amounts to showing the many sides --from Diem to the Buddhists to the Khmer in Vietnam, from the hawks to the anti-war movement in the USA, the multiple perspectives are concisely explained in all their mutual relations. Whatever judgements the authors place on the merits of these perspectives, they don't allow their own opinions to eclipse the facts, which are made plain to all who will read. Even the American psychological recovery from the war is covered, with an insightful history of Hollywood Vietnam movies linked to the larger political evolution of these United States. One problem with the book is the lack of footnotes, obstructing any direct investigation of the quotes and their context. The sources used seem to be all secondary, but there are no claims of original research here. The book is rather the best survey of the war I've seen, complete with a careful bibliographic essay directing the reader towards the right source for any questions provoked by this introductory book. Also included is a useful chronology, glossary, and a few interesting photos. Highly recommended reading!
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent work on the Vietnam War and its issues., July 30, 2000
This review is from: Where the Domino Fell: America and Vietnam 1945-1995 (Paperback)
The authors incorporate the persepectives of all sides of the war in their work. Not only is the war itself discussed, but the antiwar movement, North Vietnam's strategies and policy decisions. The book although full of details, the writing moves the book along avoiding the weight of tedium, (I was able to read the book in a few days). At the end is an admirable attempt at assesing not only the historiography of the Vietnam War but also the evolution of popular depictions of the war and American/Vietnamese relations during the intervening 25 years. This last section could have been a little more clearly written. It kind of felt like the authors were jumping all over the place in dealing with post-1975 relations, historiography, and popular perceptions of the war. Overall, a must read to any student of the Vietnam War.
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