14 used & new from $49.74

See All Buying Options

Have one to sell? Sell yours here

Share with Friends

Customer image from KeVa Books,LLC "kevabooks"

See 1 customer image

Share your own customer images

I own the rights to this title and would like to make it available again through Amazon.

The Big Story [ABRIDGED] (Paperback)

~ (Author)

5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)

Available from these sellers.

5 new from $75.00 9 used from $49.74

Formats		Amazon Price	New from	Used from
Hardcover, Abridged Available from these sellers. Published December 31, 1982	Hardcover, Abridged	--	--	$136.45
Paperback, Abridged Available from these sellers. Published May 31, 1994	Paperback, Abridged, May 31, 1994	--	$75.00	$49.74
	See # more paperbacks
	Show fewer paperbacks
Unknown Binding Available from these sellers. Published December 31, 1976	Unknown Binding, December 31, 1976	--	--	$45.00
	See # more other formats
	Show fewer other formats

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Heaven and Earth: Global Warming, the Missing Science

by Ian Plimer

4.0 out of 5 stars (82) $14.93

Tet!: The Turning Point in the Vietnam War

by Don Oberdorfer

4.0 out of 5 stars (8) $23.94

Vietnam: The Necessary War: A Reinterpretation of America's Most Disastrous Military Conflict

by Michael Lind

3.5 out of 5 stars (52) $10.20

Phoenix and the Birds of Prey: Counterinsurgency and Counterterrorism in Vietnam

by Mark Moyar

3.8 out of 5 stars (4) $16.29

The Age of Reagan: The Conservative Counterrevolution: 1980-1989

by Steven F. Hayward

4.6 out of 5 stars (9) $23.10

› Explore similar items

Editorial Reviews

Review

This isn't your usual focus on the events of Vietnam: rather, it's a refreshing examination of how the American press reported the Crisis of Tet in 1968, revealing the underlying politics influencing reporting styles and choices. This has been abridged and updated to appear in a new edition to reach new audiences, and is an excellent pick. -- Midwest Book Review

Product Details

Paperback: 632 pages
Publisher: Presidio Press; Abridged edition (June 1, 1994)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0891415319
ISBN-13: 978-0891415312
Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 1.8 inches
Shipping Weight: 13 ounces

Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,386,473 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

› Visit Amazon's Peter Braestrup Page

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

	81% buy the item featured on this page: The Big Story 5.0 out of 5 stars (6)
	13% buy A Better War: The Unexamined Victories and Final Tragedy of America's Last Years in Vietnam 4.0 out of 5 stars (64) $10.88
	2% buy Father, Son & Co.: My Life at IBM and Beyond 4.6 out of 5 stars (12) $17.95
	2% buy McDonald's: Behind The Arches 4.4 out of 5 stars (31) $12.24

Explore similar items

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

(What's this?)

Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.

american history(1)

cold war(1)

military(1)

military history(1)

tet(1)

vietnam(1)

vietnam war(1)

vietnamese(1)

war(1)

Agree with these tags?

Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store

If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store. Learn more

Customer Reviews

6 Reviews

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

Average Customer Review

5.0 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)

Share your thoughts with other customers:

Create your own review

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must read, December 20, 2001

By	C. Brobeck "HalifaxCB" (Dartmouth, NS Canada) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Peter Braestup's book on the reporting of the Tet Offensive is a critically important book to read for those trying to understand the effect of reporters' all-too-human bias on what information the average citizen has available to him or her, as well as for those looking to find out not only what went wrong in Vietnam, but what the United States and its allies (including South Vietnam) did right - an aspect still all too overlooked.
Though it is critical of some particular newspeople, as well as some politicians and military spokemen of the Vietnam era, the book is highly constructive in tone. Many of the lessons pointed out by Braestrup two decades ago have clearly been taken by the media, judging by the general improvement in war reporting during the current (as of fall, 2001) events in Afghanistan.
It is also a must read for those who question the abilities of democratic states to defend what they believe in.Braestrup lays bare the notions of the time that the allied forces - from ARVN to the U.S. Marines, were not effective, or that they were a corrupt force for undesirable ends.
An added bonus is that Braestrup is a gifted writer; his prose is readable and engaging, and his research is thorough and well documented. This book deserves to be brought out in a new edition (though I did buy mine through the Amazon's used book marketplace, and received excellent service there).

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enlightenment for a Vietnam Grunt, March 25, 2006

By	John L. Reid (Portland, OR, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book was a real eye-opener for me. As a Vietnam veteran who served in Vietnam in 1967-68-69-70 and 71, I had always held fast to the premise that media coverage of Tet 68 sabotaged the possible successful conclusion of the Vietnam war in our favour. I had always believed that the american press had deliberately skewed their war coverage towards the negative side.

Braestrup's well documented study of press coverage of the Tet 68 offensive made me re-think all my knee jerk attitudes towards the press.

He presents meticulous summaries of coverage by the major american newspapers and television networks. While some individual papers and networks might have had an anti-war bias most tried to give balanced coverage.

When Braestrup gets into the logistical details of the in media coverage of the war, he really enlightens us. It's easy in hindsight to assume that todays wall to wall coverage of world news was the norm in Vietnam. Braestrup shows us in great detail the limitations in personnel and technology that constrained media coverage of the Vietnam war

If you read his analysis, compiled from his own in-country experience with an in depth analysis of most major news outlets reporting from Vietnam during the war, you as a reader are enlightened and forced to rethink your own pre-conceived notions about the subject.

I found this work one of the most illuminating works of modern history that I have even read.

It's interesting just from Braestrups first hand retelling of his own part in history as a practicing journaslist. His analysis of journalistic coverage of the Vietnam War is incredibly stimulating and educational.

I highly recommend this work to war correspondents, editors and journalism students interested in getting war coverage just right.

John Reid

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Eye-opening critique of the press and government , May 16, 2006

By	Charles Hugh Smith (Berkeley, CA United States) - See all my reviews

A thorough critique of the press coverage of the Tet Offensive. Amazingly, the press almost universally got it wrong. The U.S. and the South Vietnamese Army (ARVN) actually won the battle; the Viet Cong were decimated and never recovered as a fighting force (The regular North Vietnamese Army shouldered the major fighting from then on). It took the NVA (North Vietnamese Army) four years to build up enough strength for another major offensive (1972), which led to the Christmas bombings of Hanoi and the "peace accords."

Written by a journalist, this book is critical but not ideological; the press is not "the bad guy" here. There is plenty of blame to go around. The military misrepresented the strength of the Viet Cong, for its own reasons, and the press went on to misrepresent the battle for its own reasons. The real heresy of this book is revealing how the ARVN and U.S. forces aquitted themselves exceedingly well on the battlefield. Was the war "winnable" on the ground? It certainly wasn't "winnable" politically, but credit should be given to the servicepeople on the ground (and in the air) who did in fact win the battle tactically and strategically.

The original edition was published by Westview Press in 1977; Yale University Press issued an abidged version in 1983 and 1986; another edition was published by Presidio Press in 1994.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all 6 customer reviews...

Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Tracking media mishaps and bias in reporting the 1968 Tet offensive
"Big Story" is the recounting of how the "American press and television reported and interpreted the crisis of Tet 1968 in Vietnam and Washington". Read more

Published 2 months ago by Jerry Saperstein

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent dissection of the press coverage during Tet 68 period of Vietnam war
I just finished this book in the last couple of days. Excellent all the way through. Carefully crafted examples of what was right and WRONG with the media coverage of the Tet 68... Read more

Published 19 months ago by Juan Gamboa

5.0 out of 5 stars How LBJ Lost His Word, Way And Then Vietnam!
How could LBJ forget the blunders of a limited war established by the mistakes of Harry Truman in Korea in less than 12 years? Read more

Published on June 14, 2000 by Joseph J. Janos III

› See all 6 customer reviews...

.jsOffDisplayBlock { display: block; } .jsOffDisplayInline { display: inline; } .jsOffVisibility { visibility: visible; } .jsOnDisplayBlock { display: none; } .jsOnDisplayNoneBlock { display: block; } .jsOnDisplayNoneInline { display: inline; } .jsOnDisplayInline { display: none; } .jsOnVisibility { visibility: hidden; } .jqOnDisplayBlock { display: none; } .jqOnDisplayInline { display: none; } .jqOnVisibility { visibility: hidden; } .jqOnDisplayNoneBlock { display: block; } .jqOnDisplayNoneInline { display: inline; }

Customer Discussions

This product's forum

Discussion	Replies	Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight

Start a new discussion

Topic:

First post:

Receive e-mail when new posts are made

Prompts for sign-in

Guidelines

Active discussions in related forums

Discussion	Replies	Latest Post
history Holocaust Denial Dissected	3729	42 seconds ago
politics Everybody asks why FBI did not act on the info about Nidal Malik Hasan. The same question will later be asked in relation to Barak Hussein Obama	370	55 seconds ago
politics What should the wealthy pay?	661	1 minute ago
politics CONSERVATIVE THINKING IN AMERICA	4682	2 minutes ago
politics Can't Wait to Read Sarah Palin's "Going Rogue."	34	2 minutes ago
history Islam is Peace Agree or disagree	3352	7 minutes ago
politics why do supposedly peace loving "liberals" love obama and war hawk neocons hate him when he(well his controllers) is the biggest warmonger of all?	2	9 minutes ago