" This fascinating study provides a comprehensive overview of warfare throughout Vietnamese history, from the early efforts of the Vietnamese to establish their own state and free themselves from Chinese domination, down through the Indo-China and Vietnam Wars, the Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia and the 1979 Sino-Vietnamese War, to the present. Vietnam provides an overview of the causes, course, and effects of the numerous wars in Vietnamese history, many of them not generally known to Westerners, such as the Black Flag/Tonkin Wars and the Franco-Thai War. Concentrating on the period after the Second World War, it treats matters from the Vietnamese perspective as much as from the French and American, and seeks to clarify the missed opportunities and false perceptions that led to warfare. Encompassing socio-political, economic, diplomatic, and cultural issues, Vietnam provides an excellent introduction to Vietnamese history as well as an in-depth look at the long record of warfare in that country. The Vietnam War was a traumatic event for America and a lesson for Americans on the limits of power. For the Vietnamese, however, it was but the most recent in a series of struggles against foreign domination.

This book provides a comprehensive narrative history of U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia, from 1942 to 1975--with a concluding section that traces U.S.-Vietnam relations from the end of the war in 1975 to the present. Unlike most general histories of U.S. involvement in Vietnam--which are either conventional diplomatic or military histories--this volume synthesizes the perspectives to explore both dimensions of the struggle in greater depth, elucidating more of the complexities of the U.S.-Vietnam entanglement. It explains why Americans tried so hard for so long to stop the spread of Communism into Indochina, and why they failed. Key topics: The Fall of Saigon: The End as Prelude. Vietnam: A Place and A People. The Elephant and the Tiger. An Experiment in Nation Building. Raising the Stakes. Going to War. The Chain of Thunders. The Year of the Monkey. A War to End a War. The End of the Tunnel. Market: For anyone curious to know about the long American involvement in Southeast Asia, 1942-1975.

A survey of the historical literature on intelligence and national security during the Cold War.

CAPTAIN, INFANTRY A Vietnam War Memoir The mid-1960s witnesses scores of college men being sworn in as second lieutenants in the U.S. Army. Leo V. Kanawada, Jr., was one of these ROTC graduates. In 1965, Kanawada journeys to Fort Benning to participate in the Infantry Officers Basic Course. With an emphasis on jungle warfare and small unit and platoon tactics, it is obvious that the war in Vietnam would be his stomping grounds for the next thirteen months. When he receives orders to report to board a plane to Korea, he is taken aback. For the year of 1966, Kanawada describes his duties and activities as an infantry officer with the Second Infantry Division. From Support Command to Headquarters Company commander to the supervisory officer of the divisions 1,600 Korean Service Corps workers, he becomes acutely aware of Koreas history, its present hopes and fears, and the defensive role which the United States plays in what he calls Americas Korea Model. First Lieutenant Kanawada volunteers in late 1966 to serve another year in Vietnam. He is assigned to the 71st Assault Helicopter Company as an administrative officer, occasionally volunteering for numerous military assault missions in the III Corps and southern sector of Vietnam as a door gunner. To see the country, he says, and the war up close. Later, he submits papers requesting to serve as a platoon leader. He travels up north to I Corps and the 196th Light Infantry Brigade. As a platoon leader and later as a captain in the headquarters operations bunker of the 3/21st Infantry Battalion, he sees the war up close in the central highlands. With insights from prominent military historians blended together with the authors recollections and about 300 photos, every reader will receive a memorable portrait of a period of time that played such a crucial role in American foreign policy. Leo V. Kanawada, Jr.