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John Prados

Vietnam: The History of an Unwinnable War, 1945-1975 (Modern War Studies) Hardcover – April 21, 2009

by John Prados (Author)

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Part of: Modern War Studies (121 books)

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The Vietnam war continues to be the focus of intense controversy. While most people—liberals, conservatives, Democrats, Republicans, historians, pundits, and citizens alike—agree that the United States did not win the war, a vocal minority argue the opposite or debate why victory never came, attributing the quagmire to everything from domestic politics to the press. The military never lost a battle, how then did it not win the war?

Stepping back from this overheated fray, bestselling author John Prados takes a fresh look at both the war and the debates about it to produce a much-needed and long-overdue reassessment of one of our nation's most tragic episodes. Drawing upon several decades of research-including recently declassified documents, newly available presidential tapes, and a wide range of Vietnamese and other international sources—Prados's magisterial account weaves together multiple perspectives across an epic-sized canvas where domestic politics, ideologies, nations, and militaries all collide.

Prados patiently pieces back together the events and moments, from the end of World War II until our dispiriting departure from Vietnam in 1975, that reveal a war that now appears to have been truly unwinnable—due to opportunities lost, missed, ignored, or refused. He shows how—from the Truman through the Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon administrations—American leaders consistently ignored or misunderstood the realities in Southeast Asia and passed up every opportunity to avoid war in the first place or avoid becoming ever more mired in it after it began. Highlighting especially Ike's seminal and long-lasting influence on our Vietnam policy, Prados demonstrates how and why our range of choices narrowed with each passing year, while our decision-making continued to be distorted by Cold War politics and fundamental misperceptions about the culture, psychology, goals, and abilities of both our enemies and our allies in Vietnam.

By turns engaging narrative history, compelling analytic treatise, and moving personal account, Prados's magnum opus challenges previous authors and should rightfully take its place as the most comprehensive, up-to-date, and accurate one-volume account of a war that—judging by the frequent analogies to the current war in Iraq—has not yet really ended for any of us.

Print length

696 pages
Language

English
Publisher

University Press of Kansas
Publication date

April 21, 2009
Dimensions

6.5 x 2.25 x 9.5 inches
ISBN-10

0700616349
ISBN-13

978-0700616343
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"A grand and important work of synthesis by a diligent, engaged scholar with telling insights gained from years of reflection on a vast and complex subject."--Journal of American History

"Prados directly engages, and in many cases, demolishes, a host of shibboleths about the war. But this is no mere polemic. Rather, Prados's powerfully presented and meticulously argued account, buttressed by a staggering amount of documentary evidence, meets the most exacting standards of scholarship. His sweeping history forms the capstone of more than three decades of careful research and measured reflection on the Vietnam War. . . . It may be the single most important book yet written on the Vietnam conflict."--American Historical Review

"A remarkable achievement [and] one of the most significant books published on Vietnam in the last decade."--Journal of Military History

"This is the book [on the Vietnam War] we've been waiting for. . . . It definitely establishes itself as the new standard."--Vietnam

"This important and provocative work should be read by anyone studying the war, whether in academia or from personal interest."--Library Journal

"If you only had to have one book on the Vietnam War, this is the one."--The Veteran

"An awe-inspiring achievement in epic form."--Lloyd Gardner, author of Pay Any Price: Lyndon Johnson and the Wars for Vietnam

"One of the country's most distinguished historians has written a veritable international history of America's long war in Vietnam. Utilizing a trove of declassified documents from archives in the U.S. as well as Vietnam, John Prados contributes to the historiography of the war by providing context for why the war was unwinnable. This book is a terrific read, full of revelations, astute interpretations, and historical documentation--the recipe for a classic because it advances our understanding of history."--Larry Berman, author of Perfect Spy: The Extraordinary Life of Pham Xuan An, Time Magazine Reporter and Vietnamese Communist Agent and No Peace No Honor: Nixon, Kissinger and Betrayal in Vietnam

"Prados has given us a great gift--a fresh, original, and fascinating synthesis of a long and complicated war by one of the nation's foremost experts."--Christian G. Appy, author of Patriots: The Vietnam War Remembered from All Sides

"A monumental work of passionately engaged scholarship, written in an easy, conversational style. There is no other history of the war quite like it."--Marilyn B. Young, author of The Vietnam Wars, 1945-1990

"Should be read by the lawmakers and opinion leaders who habitually babble on about the 'lessons of the Vietnam War.'"--Ronald Spector, author of After Tet: The Bloodiest Year in Vietnam

From the Back Cover

"Prados has given us a great gift--a fresh, original, and fascinating synthesis of a long and complicated war by one of the nation's foremost experts."--Christian G. Appy, author of Patriots: The Vietnam War Remembered from All Sides

"A monumental work of passionately engaged scholarship, written in an easy, conversational style. There is no other history of the war quite like it."--Marilyn B. Young, author of The Vietnam Wars, 1945-1990

"Should be read by the lawmakers and opinion leaders who habitually babble on about the 'lessons of the Vietnam War.'"--Ronald Spector, author of After Tet: The Bloodiest Year in Vietnam

"An awe-inspiring achievement in epic form."--Lloyd Gardner, author of Pay Any Price and The Long Road to Baghdad

Publisher ‏ : ‎ University Press of Kansas (April 21, 2009)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 696 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0700616349
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0700616343
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.79 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.5 x 2.25 x 9.5 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #369,366 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #358 in Southeast Asia History
- #746 in Vietnam War History (Books)
- #18,156 in United States History (Books)

Customer Reviews:
34 ratings

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leo j. sullivan

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United States on July 13, 2015

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An outstanding summary of the entire American experience in Vietnam.

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Another step for those who want the raw, naked truth about Vietnam.

Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2011

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Discussions of the Vietnam war typically provoke strong reactions in all who lived during the time, both by those who served in the war and those whose lives were deeply affected by it. The subtitle of this book is a dead giveaway to how the author feels about the conflict, and it may dissuade the serious reader into taking the time to read it. The author however discusses his bias in the first pages of the book, and this may help motivate such readers to study it, sizable as it is. It is well-written, focused, and informative, with many surprises throughout its pages. Many references can be found at the end of the book for skeptical readers who do not want to take the author's word for everything.

Some of the interesting facts/surprises one can find in the book include:
1. The United States was forking out 40% of the cost of the French war against Vietnam by the time the Eisenhower administration began. Amazingly, (tactical) nuclear weapons were proposed by the this administration to assist the French in the conflict.
2. It was Eisenhower, and not Nixon, who first initiated counterintelligence programs to "identify and discredit" American citizens who were against the conflict.
3. 80% of the South Vietnamese were Buddhists, but Catholics played a supportive role in the South Vietnamese government under Diem.
4. Michigan State University was involved in a "population control" strategy in South Vietnam. The author omits the details of this strategy however.
5. The National Security Agency now supports the notion that the Gulf of Tonkin incident was completely false.
6. Norman Schwarzkopf was a senior adviser of ARVN paratroops.
7. Great Britain had an embassy in Hanoi throughout the conflict, and traded actively with the North Vietnamese (this is very surprising to read). France also maintained diplomatic ties with North Vietnam during the conflict.
8. The decision to not invade North Vietnam was due to fears about instigating a wider war with the Soviet Union or China.
9. Truman set up a Psychological Strategy Board to manipulate public opinion on the Cold War, which was later used by Walt Rostow to manipulate opinion on the Vietnam conflict.
10. Johnson instructed the FBI to find out which student protestors obtained federal scholarship money.
11. There were apparently mutinies in the U.S. Army towards the later years of the war, one being the "Route 9" mutiny.
12. An actual U.S combat division was deployed in Washington several times to handle protests against the conflict.

The role of technology in the Vietnam conflict is also brought out in the book:
1. Helicopters quickly transferred soldiers from one place to another, which explains the difference in actual "fighting hours" in Vietnam versus say World War II.
2. The first use of laser guided munitions from aircraft.
3. The seeding of clouds to flood Vietnamese rivers.
4. The use of defoliants to clear dense forests in order to better observe North Vietnamese troop movements.

Opinions or statements by the author that should have been left out of the book:
1. That the press were frequently "paper soldiers" in support of the conflict.
2. That Johnson ordered intelligence agencies to "stimulate" events that he thought would divert the attention of war protestors. The author gives no evidence for this.
3. That the Army Security Service monitored U.S. civilian communications along with disrupting them. No evidence for this is given.

11 people found this helpful

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Steve

Too much "what I did during the war"

Reviewed in the United States on May 20, 2013

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Prados makes his slant clear from the beginning...he was involved in anti-war movements during the 1960s. Which is fine, and I suspect that he could have written a very captivating memoir about that, or a nice history of the anti-war movement in general. But he really overreached by trying to combine that with a general history of the Vietnam War. This trend is echoed in his endnotes, which read more like "I talked to this person at a conference" and "I was here and saw that." His use of balanced secondary sources is weak, and at times his grasp of the battlefield history of the war appears weak. This isn't a reliable general history, but does have a place if you're looking at the historiography of the War.

6 people found this helpful

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Richard Hall

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United States on November 25, 2016

Verified Purchase

Good book

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Daniel W. Mitchum

The 'Lessons' of History

Reviewed in the United States on January 30, 2010

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'Tho many of my peers served in 'Nam, I was one of those who received a deferment. For most of the war years, however, I was in Okinawa and the Philippines as a DOD employee, teaching the kids of those off fighting the war. Prados' work came highly recommended to me by two long-time friends who WERE there--one Navy, one Army. Unfortunately, we have yet to compare notes. I had read one other VietNam history (S. Karnow's, VIETNAM: A History...) written in the early 1980's and referenced by Prados. To me, each book has its advantages as to the time it was written--immediacy vs.long-term. Prados is obviously a scholar and excellent researcher. I was fascinated by the revelations, many only recently learned or de-classified, of the war-time machinations of both the US and the North Vietnamese governments. Fear and ignorance, among other factors, drove our (US) government to make some pretty dumb mistakes and Prados exposes these grand faux pas in a well-researched, articulate manner. His comparisons of the Vietnam debacle with our current one in Iraq is both cogent and alarming. For me, there was an over-attention to detail as to the varied locations where various military units (both US, ARVN and the NVA) were deployed. On the other hand, I recognize that this discussion could be significant information for those who were there. Many tout the maxim of "learning the lessons of history," and Prados' work is a classic of this genre. The sobering question remains, "Are the 'lessons' ever really laerned?"

6 people found this helpful

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Eric Balsman

Great book

Reviewed in the United States on February 3, 2013

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A little intimidating at first due to size, but it is a quick read. Very glad that I had a chance to read it for my class. Learned a ton of new information. Recommend for Vietnam buffs or as a secondary source for research projects.

One person found this helpful

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John Alexander

Everything you want to know

Reviewed in Japan on June 11, 2017

Verified Purchase

About the nature of the Vietnam war. I especially like the parts where he shows the words coined by the conflict. Every history book should do that.

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