Vietnam: Explaining America's Lost War / Edition 1

by Gary R. Hess

Overview

In Vietnam, Gary R. Hess describes and evaluates the main arguments of scholars, participants, and journalists – both revisionist and orthodox in their approach – as they consider why the United States was unable to achieve its objectives. While providing a clear and well-balanced account of the existing historical debate, Hess also offers his own interpretation of the events and opens a dialogue about the usefulness of historical argument in reaching a deeper understanding of the conflict. This concise book is essential reading for students and teachers of the Vietnam War as it provides a clear and well-balanced account of existing historical debate and a thought-provoking look at the future of historical scholarship.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781405125284
Publisher:	Wiley
Publication date:	05/06/2008
Series:	Contesting the Past Series , #5
Edition description:	Older Edition
Pages:	232
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.08(h) x 0.76(d)

About the Author

Gary R. Hess is Distinguished Research Professor of History at Bowling Green State University. He is a past president of the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations and a former chair of the U.S. State Department’s Committee on Historical Diplomatic Documentation. His publications include Vietnam and the United States: Origins and Legacy of War 1941-1945 (1998) and Presidential Decisions for War: Korea, Vietnam, and the Persian Gulf (2001).

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Table of Contents

Preface ix

1 From the Streets to the Books: The Origins of an Enduring Debate 1

2 A Necessary War or a Mistaken War? 25

3 “Kennedy Exceptionalism” or “Missed Opportunity for Peace” or “Lost Victory?” – The Movement toward War, 1961-1965 50

4 The Revisionist Critique of the “Other War” – The Clausewitzian Alternative 84

5 The Revisionist Critique of the “Strategy for Defeat” – The Clausewitzian Alternative 84

6 The Media and the War: Shaping or Reflecting Public Opinion? 133

7 The Tet Offensive: A decisive American Victory or a Prolongation of Stalemate? 154

8 Nixon-Kissinger and the Ending of the War; A “Lost Victory” or “Neither Peace nor Honor?” 179

9 Conclusion 207

Bibliography 211

Index 214

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“Vietnam is the clearest explanation of the arguments over American involvement in the Vietnam War. It is essential reading for teachers and students of the war.”
–Robert Schulzinger, University of Colorado

“Hess, one of America's leading diplomatic historians, has written the most useful book to date – for both teachers and students – on the nation’s ordeal in Vietnam. It is a magnificently balanced study of the issues and the literature.”
–Warren Cohen, University of Maryland-Baltimore County

Editorial Reviews

A Choice Outstanding Academic Title of the Year

“Outstanding Academic Title 2008. Hess offers what is arguably the best sampling of new research and analysis on the Vietnam War now available in a single volume, providing an impressive, almost indispensable introduction to the big-picture debates and controversies. It should be on a very short list of the most useful books in helping making sense of an enormously complex and controversial conflict. Essential.” (Choice Reviews, October 2008)

From the Publisher