After Tet: The Bloodiest Year in Vietnam [ILLUSTRATED] (Paperback)

by Ronald H. Spector (Author) "Thick morning mist was normal this time of year in the mountains, crags, and plateaus around the Khe Sanh Combat Base..." (more)
Key Phrases: maneuver battalions, bombing halt, combat base, North Vietnamese, Viet Cong, South Vietnamese (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Spector ( Eagle Against the Sun ) maintains that the months following the Tet offensive (January and February 1968) illuminated the true nature of the war in Vietnam and largely determined its course during the five years that followed. In '68 both sides launched their most powerful efforts to break the military and political stalemate, and the U.S., furthermore, began to recognize potentially disastrous problems of racial tension and drug abuse among its troops. Spector analyzes the ultimately futile tactics of U.S. military operations, the "other war" effort to win hearts and minds, and the race riots at the Long Binh stockade and Danang brig, among other developments of that fateful year. He is perhaps the first major historian to scrutinize the Combined Action Program, in which Marine squads lived for indefinite periods in villages, providing aid and protection. The Army high command in Saigon regarded the program as well-meaning but misguided; according to Spector, however, it was the most effective, imaginative and humane approach the Americans devised. By concentrating on its most representative year, Spector has produced a first-rate history of the war. BOMC and History Book Club alternates.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal
America's fighting forces suffered their greatest losses of the Vietnam War in the year following the Viet Cong/North Vietnam Army's February 1968 Tet Offensive. Spector's thorough examination of this period carries some surprising conclusions about motives and methods on both sides and reinforces many accepted ones. In the overall history he focuses on some of the more important actions, like Dai Do and the siege of Kham Duo, to outline each side's tactics. Equally interesting to students of the conflict is his description of support unit life in the major urban areas, reviled by the combat troops but dangerous nonetheless. The year 1968 also saw a decline in racial harmony and an increase in drug use. This readable, insightful, comprehensive work is a step forward in Vietnam War histories. BOMC and History Book Club alternates.
- Mel D. Lane, Sacramento, Cal.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Vintage (February 8, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679750460
• ISBN-13: 978-0679750468
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #662,259 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tet was Hell............, June 28, 2002

By	Ross Gadeberg (Glen Ellen, CA United States) - See all my reviews

Yes Tet of 1968 was hell for those of us that were over there at the time. And then came May and August of 68, which were also two of the bloodiest months of the war. I was with the 1/27 25th Infantry Division at Cu Chi, which was a major area of tunnels for which the VC and NVA stored weapons and supplies. As a "tunnel rat" I experienced some herrendous experiences there. Ron Spector has made some very good conclusions regarding the war and points out some of the many problems that we 19 year olds had to incur. Great book for those of us that were there as well as the rest of you who just want to gain some understanding as to why we lost the war, and some 56,000 young men as well.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An imminently re-readable reference on the Vietnam War., September 27, 1998

By	Carl Voyles ([e-mail]) (Anna Maria, Florida) - See all my reviews

This exceptionally comprehensive and readable book is a "page turner." I couldn't put it down! Highlighter in hand, I penned marginal note after note, comparing my own memories and observations as a Navy doctor ashore in I Corps in 1968 and '69 with those of the author. In the introduction Spector asks: "How did we lose the war? Why were we there?" Then he adds: "In a sense we have no real history... instead we have controversy, myth and popular memory." He then proceeds to skillfully weave historical background, Vietnamese and American, with vivid descriptions of battles, skirmishes, debates, intrigues and campaigns... providing vignettes of personal experiences balanced from many viewpoints: the young American draftee, the college OCS-trained officer, the Viet Cong soldier... generals and politicians, presidents and negotiators... Vietnamese and American. "After Tet: The Bloodiest Year in Vietnam" will be placed, along with Frances Fitzgerald's "Fire in the Lake," Neil Sheehan's "Bright Shining Lie," Tim O'Brien's "The Things They Carried" and Bernard Fall's "Street Without Joy," as an irreplaceable, imminently re-readable reference on the Vietnam War.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely Outstanding, January 10, 2004

By	One of Marius' Mules (Just back of the pointy end of the spear) - See all my reviews

Spector's book is not just a history of what happened after the Tet Offensive of 1968, but a history of the entire war in microcosm. Plenty of other folks here have sufficiently covered the merits of this book so, if I may, I'd like to address something a little different. I have little patience for military historians who don't include details about weapons, equipment, and organization. It may seem an inconsequential thing to many, but understanding how the belligerents were clothed, equipped, communicated, etc., is very important for shedding light on what happened. So important in fact that John Keegan addressed this very issue in his book "The Face of Battle." So, kudos to Spector for explaining to the layman the details of an RPG and a LAW, an M-16 and a Kalashnikov, jungle boots and tire-soled sandals. Anyone who wants to more fully understand the Vietnam War should definitely read "After Tet."