Like all journalists, particularly those in the Vietnam War, they rebelled about restrictions and the disparity between the official briefings etc from/in Saigon and what they were seeing in the field. But honestly this book was far more balanced in coverage than frankly, I was expecting from Arnett.
It did wander off the timeline at points and start to finish seem to meander. Suffice to say, the book is NOT just about the fall of Saigon. Or even the last week in April, 1975.
Case in point; besides the coverage of it on chapter 1, the actual "fall of Saigon" (April 29-30, 1975) is breezes thru on pp.139-145. Frankly, I was hoping for far more info from a "boots on the ground" journalist who had spent a decade IN Vietnam (covering the war both in the field & in Saigon and had married into a local Vietnamese family) as well as was there on April 29 AND stayed well into May, 1975.
Instead he spends the rest of the book on the plight and exploits of the Vietnamese boat people. A story that should be told, but not in a book holding itself as one about the actual fall of the GVN - many better accounts of that day have been written, both by first-person participants as well as third-person researchers.
To sum it up, I had hoped Arnett would give us a really in depth reporting on all the events that made up the final week of the GVN as well as an in depth look at the firs weeks if Ho Chi Minh City. But, this book is an opportunity missed in that regard.
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Saigon Has Fallen: A Wartime Recollection Paperback – October 2, 2018
by
Peter Arnett
(Author)
| Peter Arnett (Author) Find all the books, read about the author, and more. See search results for this author |
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“Peter Arnett is the best reporter of the Vietnam War.” --David Halberstam, Journalist and Historian
In this intimate and exclusive remembrance of the Fall of Saigon, celebrated Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Peter Arnett tells the story of his role covering the controversial Vietnam War for The Associated Press from 1962 to its end on April 30, 1975. Arnett’s clear-eyed coverage displeased President Lyndon Johnson and officials on all sides of the conflict. Writing candidly and vividly about his risks and triumphs, Arnett also shares his fears and fights in reporting against the backdrop of war.
Arnett places readers at the historic pivot-points of Vietnam: covering Marine landings, mountaintop battles, Saigon’s decline and fall, and the safe evacuation of a planeload of 57 infants in the midst of chaos. Peter Arnett’s sweeping view and his frank, descriptive, and dramatic writing brings the Vietnam War to life in a uniquely insightful way for the 40th anniversary of the Fall of Saigon.
Arnett won the Pulitzer Prize in 1966 for his Vietnam coverage. He later went on to TV-reporting fame covering the Gulf War for CNN.
"Saigon Has Fallen" includes 21 dramatic photographs from the AP Archive and the personal collection of Peter Arnett.
In this intimate and exclusive remembrance of the Fall of Saigon, celebrated Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Peter Arnett tells the story of his role covering the controversial Vietnam War for The Associated Press from 1962 to its end on April 30, 1975. Arnett’s clear-eyed coverage displeased President Lyndon Johnson and officials on all sides of the conflict. Writing candidly and vividly about his risks and triumphs, Arnett also shares his fears and fights in reporting against the backdrop of war.
Arnett places readers at the historic pivot-points of Vietnam: covering Marine landings, mountaintop battles, Saigon’s decline and fall, and the safe evacuation of a planeload of 57 infants in the midst of chaos. Peter Arnett’s sweeping view and his frank, descriptive, and dramatic writing brings the Vietnam War to life in a uniquely insightful way for the 40th anniversary of the Fall of Saigon.
Arnett won the Pulitzer Prize in 1966 for his Vietnam coverage. He later went on to TV-reporting fame covering the Gulf War for CNN.
"Saigon Has Fallen" includes 21 dramatic photographs from the AP Archive and the personal collection of Peter Arnett.
- Print length234 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- Publication dateOctober 2, 2018
- Dimensions5 x 0.53 x 8 inches
- ISBN-100999035940
- ISBN-13978-0999035948
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About the Author
Peter Arnett started as an intern at his local newspaper at age 18, but knew even then his interest was in covering the world. Less than a decade later, he was traveling the globe for The Associated Press, the first of several major American news organizations he would work for. His Vietnam War coverage for the AP won him the Pulitzer Prize in 1966. Arnett joined CNN at its birth in the early 1980s, earning a television Emmy for his live television coverage of the first Gulf War from Baghdad in 1991. He is also the author of "Live from the Battlefield: From Vietnam to Baghdad," published in 1994. Born in New Zealand in 1934, he later became an American citizen and now lives in Fountain Valley, CA.
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Product details
- Publisher : The Associated Press (October 2, 2018)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 234 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0999035940
- ISBN-13 : 978-0999035948
- Item Weight : 8.3 ounces
- Dimensions : 5 x 0.53 x 8 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #2,122,134 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #4,087 in Vietnam War History (Books)
- #23,595 in Asian History (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
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4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
77 global ratings
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Reviewed in the United States on February 1, 2017
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Reviewed in the United States on June 23, 2015
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Thoroughly enjoyed Peter Arnett's book, "Saigon Has Fallen" and recommend it highly. Having graduated high school in the mid 70s, I really did not have a proper understanding of the Vietnam War, although I have, obviously been aware of it. Mr. Arnett provided a service by sharing his experiences. The book has many familiar names in it at a time when these people were not as well known as they are today. Also, I found Mr. Arnett's personal experiences and the way he put himself in the book as a real person was just the right touch to share the experience without it becoming a "military" repetition of all the battles, etc. that so many books about the Vietnam War are about. This was a personal, well shared account with just the right length and subject matter to be interesting and hold my attention. Good photographs, well documented, good appendix.
Reviewed in the United States on August 24, 2015
Verified Purchase
Peter Arnett was one of the most respected journalists to report from Vietnam during the war. In this relatively short narrative, Arnett not only captures the drama of the final 36 hours of the war, but also goes further to tell how the U.S. cut its losses in the final two years leading to the evacuation of Saigon. What impressed me most was the fact that during the war, Arnett was right up there where the battles were taking place. I was also impressed with his interest in telling the story of the Vietnamese refugees who escaped by boat to an island in Malaysia. This was the first time I've ever read of their horrific ordeal.
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Reviewed in the United States on November 16, 2015
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This is a great read for anyone who has experienced the Vietnam war and even more so for the increasing number of young men and women to whom that war has long since receded into history. Peter Arnett is a great reporter and the only reporter to cover the Vietnam war from its "pre-war" days through the final evacuation; and the post-war period. A wire service reporter at heart, Mr. Arnett won his Pulitzer reporting for the AP from Vietnam, he has also added long form skills in drawing personalities and characters into his style. This is not a comprehensive history, it is the result of mature thinking that has found new perspective on the warthat is increasingly written off in the minds of the young.
Reviewed in the United States on May 22, 2015
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Arnett is a raconteur whose story-telling talents are on full display in "Saigon Has Fallen." If you want a concise history of the media and the Vietnam War this is your book. I teach journalism at the University of Richmond and intend to use this book as a text for a seminar on covering Vietnam. Full disclosure: Peter has been a friend since we were both journalists in Vietnam.
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Reviewed in the United States on September 22, 2015
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I guess guys older than me might have enjoyed a reflection of WW II, on some level. I was involved in this war, although not necessarily endangered by it. I enjoyed the journalists view point and this book filled in some gaps for me in areas of politics and policy I was not aware of. I spent my year in Saigon, near Ton Son Nhut AFB (please forgive spelling). I got there just after Tet in 1968 and came home having not fired a shot in anger nor being shot at. Still I value this aspect of my maturing. The book is clear and very readable. I would highly recommend to fellow veterans.
Reviewed in the United States on February 2, 2020
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This is a gripping, journalistic view of the Vietnam War as seen by Peter Annette. He gives a reporters view of the military and political hurdles faced by newsmen. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the Vietnam War or journalism.
Reviewed in the United States on August 19, 2015
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I enjoyed reading Peter Arnett's recollections of the end of the Vietnam War. While not I harm's way, I was on an American Carrier, the USS Enterprise during the fall and evacuation of Saigon. It is something that at will always remember. I also remember many rescues of boat refugees from Vietnam that we encounter in many places.
While this was a great synopsis of the fall, I wish there were more details in a larger volume. While historians can write great books, it is helpful to see these thing though the eye of a war journalist.
Maybe someday, there will be a follow up.
While this was a great synopsis of the fall, I wish there were more details in a larger volume. While historians can write great books, it is helpful to see these thing though the eye of a war journalist.
Maybe someday, there will be a follow up.
Top reviews from other countries
airportableffr
3.0 out of 5 stars
... accounts of the end of the war I was disappointed that there was very little new here to add ...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 9, 2015Verified Purchase
Having read other accounts of the end of the war I was disappointed that there was very little new here to add to the story. This is more a comment on his experience of the war than of the fall of Saigon, which only takes up part of the book. Some personal insights were interesting though. He saw the war in all its phases and definitely entitled to comment on how he experienced it.
Mr. Andrew Robinson
5.0 out of 5 stars
Well worth a read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 5, 2015Verified Purchase
A fascinating narrative of the Vietnam war with personal insights from one of the best journalists around.
Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great informative
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 7, 2016Verified Purchase
A great informative book
Sydney1981
4.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent
Reviewed in Australia on June 12, 2018Verified Purchase
Peter Arnett is a leading international journalist who covered the United States-led war in Vietnam. Through his dispatches from Vietnam (via the Associated Press) the world came to know of the atrocities, mismanagement and lies regarding this war. We also discover the attempted censorship of much of what was written about Vietnam and the troubles Arnett often found himself for simply telling the truth. Well worth a read.
Vuthy Chrun
3.0 out of 5 stars
A senseless war …
Reviewed in Canada on December 21, 2015Verified Purchase
This is a series of snapshots between 1962 and 1975, with an emphasis on the last days of the Vietnam War.
Hindsight being twenty-twenty, one can only admit that this is a senseless war. One can understand why France would fight to preserve its pre-WWII colonies in Africa and SEA, but for the US to continue the fight after the French debacle in 1945, and to believe that it can win by simply relying on the corrupt civil and military upper strata of the South Vietnamese society is pure fantasy or arrogance. It would have been less costly financially and in human lives if the Vietnamese people had been left to sort things out between themselves, and the final result would have been the same but achieved probably by 1965 instead of 1975. And this would have spared Cambodia the horror of the Khmer Rouge.
Henry Kissinger said “America has no permanent friends or enemies, only interests”, and he proved it when the US abandoned the South Vietnamese Government to embrace overture to China and the USSR.
Hindsight being twenty-twenty, one can only admit that this is a senseless war. One can understand why France would fight to preserve its pre-WWII colonies in Africa and SEA, but for the US to continue the fight after the French debacle in 1945, and to believe that it can win by simply relying on the corrupt civil and military upper strata of the South Vietnamese society is pure fantasy or arrogance. It would have been less costly financially and in human lives if the Vietnamese people had been left to sort things out between themselves, and the final result would have been the same but achieved probably by 1965 instead of 1975. And this would have spared Cambodia the horror of the Khmer Rouge.
Henry Kissinger said “America has no permanent friends or enemies, only interests”, and he proved it when the US abandoned the South Vietnamese Government to embrace overture to China and the USSR.

