Vietnam: An Epic Tragedy, 1945-1975 by Max Hastings is an amazing read. He joins a select group of amazing authors, journalists, and veterans who have written key histories. His insights should change the views of all Americans about Vietnam.
We are approaching the 75th anniversary of our long, slow walk into Southeast Asia. This book will give a more “stable” view of conditions in which America defended South Vietnam against communist aggression.
Hasting’s efforts will make you question long-held beliefs about the war. His access to new materials, declassified by both the US and Vietnam governments. Hastings truly fulfills his book’s title of an epic tragedy. He writes stories by famous leaders and everyday soldiers affected by three decades of war across Indochina.
His introduction of Ho Chi Minh, the war against Japan and colonial French rule during World War II helped reinforce how Ho Chi Minh would set up a revolutionary party set against the backdrop of wars across both Europe and Asia. From World War I to the Korean War, the role of Asian independence from British, French and Dutch colonial rule set Southeast Asia on a path towards war that would span a full generation. Hastings is very good at looping Americans back to events like the 1962 Cuban missile crisis.
The strong Vietnamese opposition to French and British efforts to re-colonize Indochina after World War II for natural resources. Sound familiar? Patti provides surprising details regarding the CIA’s established relationship with Ho Chi Minh and the Viet Minh.