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Triumph Forsaken: The Vietnam War, 1954–1965 1st Edition
Purchase options and add-ons
- ISBN-100521869110
- ISBN-13978-0521869119
- Edition1st
- PublisherCambridge University Press
- Publication dateAugust 28, 2006
- LanguageEnglish
- Dimensions6.25 x 1.5 x 9.5 inches
- Print length512 pages
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Review
- Booklist
"A radically revisionist account of America's policy in Vietnam during the years before combat troops were introduced. Based largely on archival sources and Communist histories of the war, this highly provocative work attacks virtually every aspect of what Moyar calls the 'orthodox' historical interpretations of the war."
- Library Journal
"This first installment in a two-volume project may well become the preeminent work in [revisionist history]…Moyar, who has strong credentials (a Cambridge PhD), has an engaging writing style and supports his arguments with dispassionate research… Highly recommended." - Choice
"A revisionist history that challenges the notion that U.S. involvement in Vietnam was misguided; defends the validity of the domino theory and disputes the notion that Ho Chi Minh was, at heart, a nationalist who would eventually turn against his Communist Chinese allies."
- Chronicle of Higher Education
"...this is an important book, a history that serves as a mirror on the present."
- Wall Street Journal
"The book is meticulously documented; it draws on the substantial U.S. documentary record of the war, bringing fresh perspectives to familiar evidence. Moyar augments and supports his analysis with extensive use of North Vietnamese archival material, most of which was unavailable to the orthodox historians of the 1970s and 80s. In sum, Triumph Forsaken is an important book...."
- National Review
"A brilliant young scholar with a Cambridge doctorate who is currently teaching at the Marine Corps University in Quantico, Moyar is representative of a small but increasingly influential revisionist school that rejects the fundamental orthodox premise that America's involvement in Vietnam was wrongheaded and unjust.... No review can do full justice to this critically important book. Triumph Forsaken is meticulously documented and bold in its interpretation of the record. Even orthodox historians will be forced to acknowledge the magnitude of Moyar's scholarly achievement. It should, at the least, reopen the debate about America's Vietnam enterprise, reminding us that countries are not destined to win or lose wars. Victory or defeat depends on decisions actually made and strategies actually implemented."
- Weekly Standard, Mackubin Thomas Owens
"Orthodox Vietnam historians, Moyar writes, tend to dismiss revisionists as politically motivated, since the issues surrounding the war, in their view, have long since been settled… Triumph Forsaken throws down a mighty challenge to orthodox historians; they should engage Moyar instead of ignoring him. As they ought to know, truth is its own reward, but it can also be damn practical."
- The American Spectator, Paul Beston
"...impressive and scrupulously researched revisionist history....Moyar's controversial investigation will be challenged by many of the well-respected scholars he confronts in his authoritative account, which elevates the arguments of Vietnam War revisionists to a higher, more respected, level."
- ForeWord
"...[Moyar] has done extensive and careful research in newly available primary sources such as North Vietnamese histories of the conflict. The result is a valuable revisionist study that rejects much of the conventional wisdom about our early involvement in the conflict."
- New York Sun, Guenter Lewy
"[Moyar's] is a complex and well-written account that set the bar high for scholarship. It is essential reading for anyone wanting a fresh understanding of one of America's longest and misunderstood conflicts."
- Marine Corp Gazette
"Moyar's work is an excellent modern read on the Viet-Nam War."
- Military
"The well-researched analysis of policies runs deep, but there's also military analysis and accounts of important military action. This is revisionist history at its best."
-Christian Nelson, VietNow
“Moyar is a fine writer and switches from broad strategic and geopolitical issues to heart-gripping accounts of key military actions…Today’s military leaders and policy-makers would do well to ponder this book.”
- Leatherneck
"The most noteworthy aspect of Triumph Forsaken is surely the depth and range of its research… Taking him at his word – that he set out to redo the history of the war on the basis of primary sources ‘rather than another’s filtration and interpretation’ of them – Moyar has provided those who take their history seriously with a stunning performance, and plenty to think about.”
- Times Literary Supplement
"I know of no scholar more dedicated to bringing a thorough and accurate portrayal of America's involvement in Vietnam than Mark Moyar. Everyone who is interested in a full picture of that oftmisunderstood war should be grateful for his effort."
- James Webb, Marine combat veteran, author of Fields of Fire and Born Fighting
Book Description
About the Author
Product details
- Publisher : Cambridge University Press; 1st edition (August 28, 2006)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 512 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0521869110
- ISBN-13 : 978-0521869119
- Item Weight : 2.05 pounds
- Dimensions : 6.25 x 1.5 x 9.5 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #361,897 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #604 in Vietnam War History (Books)
- #2,467 in Asian History (Books)
- #11,523 in Unknown
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An aside: I don't particularly like the term "revisionist," because all history somehow revises what has been said before. Not to mention that "revisionist" is often used in a pejorative sense. However, "revisionist" historians of the Vietnam War, a distinct minority, appear to have embraced the label as they stand opposed to the "orthodox" majority. So, if the label is good enough for them, it's good enough for me.
Moyar notes that orthodox historians tend to look down on and dismiss their revisionist colleagues. But they shouldn't. Why? Because, as Moyar attempts to show, the war was not "wrongheaded and unjust." Instead, it was "a noble but improperly executed enterprise" (xi). Having said that, Moyar sets out to prove his basic point by reviewing the major characters, battles, procedures, and policy decisions.
Much of what Moyar presents is impressive, leading the reader to accept the basic thesis. However, there's a downside that undercuts Moyar's effort. Often, the characters in the story that Moyar tells are either great saints or terrible sinners. For example, Ngo Din Diem could hardly do anything wrong. On the other hand, Lyndon Baines Johnson was a pathetic ninny. Such characterizations are especially strong whenever a major player is first introduced. Thus, one of the first things we learn about John Paul Vann, one of Moyar's villains, is that his mother was a prostitute. This over-the-top kind of presentation leads the reader to suspect that the real person Moyar is describing was much more likable and honest than Moyar is willing to admit. For that reason, I think that his book would be even more successful in achieving its goals if it came across as more balanced, not so strongly tendentious.
I should add that Mark Moyar has done his homework. The amount of detail in the description, and the painstaking research revealed by the endnotes, is truly impressive. The reader gets the idea that Moyar could defend his "revisionist" position on the war about as well as anyone. And that's what makes this such a fine book: it forcefully advances a contested interpretation of the war. The reader never doubts that Moyar believes what he's saying and that he thinks the differences between the two positions are significant.
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That's what made subsequently reading Moyar's work so fascinating. It challenges orthodox historical interpretations of the Vietnam War and uses a good range of American, South Vietnamese and North Vietnamese sources to back up its claims. I particularly admired the manner in which Moyar demonstrates how much of a negative impact the Western media had for the South Vietnamese war effort. The point that the war was lost at home in the States is one that has already been well made elsewhere. But the point that much of the media was misrepresentative of the war and based on a false Orientalist view of Vietnam seemed strikingly original and convincing.
The only relatively serious critique I can think of, is that I do not believe enough of the book is dedicated to explaining why some in the South Vietnamese population did decide to join the Viet Cong. The Viet Cong's ability to recruit a not insignificant minority of the population seems contradictory to the argument that the South Vietnamese people were indeed pro Diem, and his lack of support was largely a false media perception. Not to say it is ignored competely, but rather glossed over. Perhaps this is due to the desire of the author to support his key argument by failing to examine its potential weaknesses thoroughly? Or perhaps I am attaching too much importance to this point, but it is one I think is worth mentioning.
Despite that penultimate paragraph I'd like to make it clear this is in my opinion an excellent book, and I would recommend it to anyone looking for an unorthodox, but convincing interpretation of why the Vietnam War was lost. I am eagerly anticipating the next volume.








