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Vietnam
- An Epic Tragedy, 1945-1975
- Narrated by: Max Hastings, Peter Noble
- Length: 33 hrs and 33 mins
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Publisher's summary
An absorbing and definitive modern history of the Vietnam War from the acclaimed New York Times best-selling author of The Secret War.
Vietnam became the Western world’s most divisive modern conflict, precipitating a battlefield humiliation for France in 1954, then a vastly greater one for the US in 1975. Max Hastings has spent the past three years interviewing scores of participants on both sides, as well as researching a multitude of American and Vietnamese documents and memoirs, to create an epic narrative of an epic struggle. He portrays the set pieces of Dienbienphu, the 1968 Tet Offensive, the air blitz of North Vietnam, and also much less familiar miniatures such as the bloodbath at Daido, where a US Marine battalion was almost wiped out, together with extraordinary recollections of Ho Chi Minh’s warriors. Here are the vivid realities of strife amid jungle and paddies that killed two million people.
Many writers treat the war as a US tragedy, yet Hastings sees it as overwhelmingly that of the Vietnamese people, of whom 40 died for every American. US blunders and atrocities were matched by those committed by their enemies. While all the world has seen the image of a screaming, naked girl seared by napalm, it forgets countless eviscerations, beheadings, and murders carried out by the communists. The people of both former Vietnams paid a bitter price for the Northerners’ victory in privation and oppression. Here is testimony from Vietcong guerrillas, Southern paratroopers, Saigon bar girls, and Hanoi students alongside that of infantrymen from South Dakota, Marines from North Carolina, and Huey pilots from Arkansas.
No past volume has blended a political and military narrative of the entire conflict with heart-stopping personal experiences, in the fashion that Max Hastings’ fans know so well. The author suggests that neither side deserved to win this struggle with so many lessons for the 21st century about the misuse of military might to confront intractable political and cultural challenges. He marshals testimony from warlords and peasants, statesmen and soldiers, to create an extraordinary record.
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In 1960 President Eisenhower was focused on Laos, a tiny Southeast Asian nation few Americans had ever heard of. Washington feared the country would fall to Communism, triggering a domino effect in the rest of Southeast Asia. So in January 1961, Eisenhower approved the CIA's Operation Momentum, a plan to create a proxy army of ethnic Hmong to fight Communist forces in Laos. While remaining hidden from the American public and most of Congress, Momentum became the largest CIA paramilitary operation in the history of the United States.
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illuminating read of Laos' relationship with USA
- By Daniel on 12-28-18
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Enduring Vietnam
- An American Generation and Its War
- By: James Wright
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 15 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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The Vietnam War is largely recalled as a mistake, either in the decision to engage there or in the nature of the engagement. Or both. Veterans of the war remain largely anonymous figures, accomplices in the mistake. Critically recounting the steps that led to the war, this book does not excuse the mistakes, but it brings those who served out of the shadows. Enduring Vietnam recounts the experiences of the young Americans who fought in Vietnam and of families who grieved those who did not return.
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Great
- By Rebecca Delgado on 03-20-23
By: James Wright
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This Kind of War
- The Classic Korean War History
- By: T. R. Fehrenbach
- Narrated by: Kevin Foley
- Length: 24 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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This Kind of War is a monumental study of the conflict that began in June 1950. Successive generations of U.S. military officers have considered this book an indispensable part of their education. T. R. Fehrenbach's narrative brings to life the harrowing and bloody battles that were fought up and down the Korean Peninsula.
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Great narrative, frustrating redundancy
- By Ted on 08-16-10
By: T. R. Fehrenbach
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American Heritage History of World War II
- By: Stephen E. Ambrose, C. L. Sulzberger
- Narrated by: John Pruden
- Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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In planes and foxholes, in deserts and jungles, on ships and beaches, Ambrose shines a light on the people involved - the leaders, the fighters, the victims. With chapters on the atrocities of the Holocaust and revelations about the secret war of espionage, Ambrose's analysis also offers insight into the events that precipitated the Cold War.
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Excellent overview of WWII
- By Laura Kernen on 11-15-18
By: Stephen E. Ambrose, and others
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No Mission Is Impossible
- The Death-Defying Missions of the Israeli Special Forces
- By: Michael Bar-Zohar, Nissim Mishal
- Narrated by: Assaf Cohen
- Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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In No Mission Is Impossible, Michael Bar-Zohar and Nissim Mishal return with the intensely absorbing, fast-paced story of 30 of the boldest missions of the Israeli special forces. Bar-Zohar and Mishal depict in electrifying detail major battles, raids in enemy territory, and death-defying commando missions while also sharing the personal stories of both soldiers and top commanders, revealing their hopes and fears. The stories are often of victories, but sometimes they're of immense failures.
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Kept me somewhat entertained. Forgettable though
- By Oliver Nielsen on 05-06-16
By: Michael Bar-Zohar, and others
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Last Hope Island
- Britain, Occupied Europe, and the Brotherhood That Helped Turn the Tide of War
- By: Lynne Olson
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey, Kimberly Farr
- Length: 18 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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A groundbreaking account of how Britain became the base of operations for the exiled leaders of Europe in their desperate struggle to reclaim their continent from Hitler, from the New York Times best-selling author of Citizens of London and Those Angry Days.
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Not What I Expected--More What I Needed to Know
- By DanD on 06-25-17
By: Lynne Olson
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The Second World War
- By: Antony Beevor
- Narrated by: Sean Barrett
- Length: 39 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Over the past two decades, Antony Beevor has established himself as one of the world's premier historians of World War II. His multi-award winning books have included Stalingrad and The Fall of Berlin 1945. Now, in his newest and most ambitious book, he turns his focus to one of the bloodiest and most tragic events of the twentieth century, The Second World War. Thrillingly written and brilliantly researched, Beevor's provocative account is destined to become the definitive work on World War II.
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It Fills in Gaps I Didn't Know Existed
- By DJM on 07-31-12
By: Antony Beevor
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No Better Friend, No Worse Enemy
- The Life of General James Mattis
- By: Jim Proser
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 7 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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The first in-depth look at the marine hero who has become one of the most beloved and admired men in America today: Secretary of Defense James Mattis. In this illuminating biography, Jim Proser looks beyond Mattis’ professional competence to focus on the driving element behind Mattis’ success: his unimpeachable character - a formidable personal integrity that fosters universal confidence. Proser carefully examines the events of Mattis’ life and career to reveal a man who leads with insight, humor, fighting courage, and fierce compassion.
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Final 7 minutes is all that covers SecDef
- By jeffrey jones on 08-11-18
By: Jim Proser
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The Rising Sun
- The Decline and Fall of the Japanese Empire, 1936-1945
- By: John Toland
- Narrated by: Tom Weiner
- Length: 41 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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This Pulitzer Prize-winning history of World War II chronicles the dramatic rise and fall of the Japanese empire, from the invasion of Manchuria and China to the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Told from the Japanese perspective, The Rising Sun is, in the author’s words, "a factual saga of people caught up in the flood of the most overwhelming war of mankind, told as it happened - muddled, ennobling, disgraceful, frustrating, full of paradox."
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A political as well as military history
- By Mike From Mesa on 07-30-15
By: John Toland
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The Coldest Winter
- America and the Korean War
- By: David Halberstam
- Narrated by: Edward Herrmann
- Length: 13 hrs and 51 mins
- Abridged
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Up until now, the Korean War has been the black hole of modern American history. The Coldest Winter changes that. Halberstam gives us a masterful narrative of the political decisions and miscalculations on both sides. He charts the disastrous path that led to the massive entry of Chinese forces near the Yalu, and that caught Douglas MacArthur and his soldiers by surprise. He provides astonishingly vivid and nuanced portraits of all the major figures.
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Almost as good as The Best and the Brightest
- By Doug on 10-02-07
By: David Halberstam
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More than 40 years after it ended, the Vietnam War continues to haunt our country. We still argue over why we were there, whether we could have won, and who was right and wrong in their response to the conflict. When the war divided the country, it created deep political fault lines that continue to divide us today. Now, continuing in the tradition of their critically acclaimed collaborations, the authors draw on dozens and dozens of interviews in America and Vietnam to give us the perspectives of people involved at all levels of the war.
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The usual Vietnam info delivered in the old prose
- By Kevin Warren on 10-26-17
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The Korean War
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It was the first war we could not win. At no other time since World War II have two superpowers met in battle. Max Hastings, preeminent military historian, takes us back to the bloody, bitter struggle to restore South Korean independence after the Communist invasion of June 1950.
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Inspiring and Hard Hitting
- By David Ewing on 08-06-07
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Inferno
- The World at War, 1939-1945
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From one of our finest military historians, a monumental work that shows us at once the truly global reach of World War II and its deeply personal consequences.
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Superb
- By David on 04-05-21
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Vietnam
- A History
- By: Stanley Karnow
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In this comprehensive history, Stanley Karnow demystifies the tragic ordeal of America's war in Vietnam. The book's central theme is that America's leaders, prompted as much by domestic politics as by global ambitions, carried the United States into Southeast Asia with little regard for the realities of the region. Karnow elucidates the decision-making process in Washington and Asia and recounts the political and military events that occurred after the Americans arrived in Vietnam.
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As stunning as it was engaging
- By David Ewing on 08-06-07
By: Stanley Karnow
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Catastrophe 1914
- Europe Goes to War
- By: Max Hastings
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 25 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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From the acclaimed military historian, a new history of the outbreak of World War I: the dramatic stretch from the breakdown of diplomacy to the battles - the Marne, Ypres, Tannenberg - that marked the frenzied first year before the war bogged down in the trenches. In Catastrophe 1914, Max Hastings gives us a conflict different from the familiar one of barbed wire, mud, and futility.
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I thought I knew the battle of the frontiers
- By Anonymous User on 04-02-21
By: Max Hastings
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The Secret War
- Spies, Ciphers, and Guerrillas, 1939-1945
- By: Max Hastings
- Narrated by: Steven Crossley
- Length: 30 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Spies, codes, and guerrillas played unprecedentedly critical roles in the Second World War, exploited by every nation in the struggle to gain secret knowledge of its foes, and to sow havoc behind the fronts. In The Secret War, Max Hastings presents a worldwide cast of characters and some extraordinary sagas of intelligence and resistance, to create a new perspective on the greatest conflict in history.
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Better read than listened to
- By B. In -t Veld on 03-25-17
By: Max Hastings
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The Vietnam War
- An Intimate History
- By: Geoffrey C. Ward, Ken Burns
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- Length: 31 hrs and 15 mins
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More than 40 years after it ended, the Vietnam War continues to haunt our country. We still argue over why we were there, whether we could have won, and who was right and wrong in their response to the conflict. When the war divided the country, it created deep political fault lines that continue to divide us today. Now, continuing in the tradition of their critically acclaimed collaborations, the authors draw on dozens and dozens of interviews in America and Vietnam to give us the perspectives of people involved at all levels of the war.
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The usual Vietnam info delivered in the old prose
- By Kevin Warren on 10-26-17
By: Geoffrey C. Ward, and others
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The Korean War
- By: Max Hastings
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- Length: 17 hrs and 35 mins
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It was the first war we could not win. At no other time since World War II have two superpowers met in battle. Max Hastings, preeminent military historian, takes us back to the bloody, bitter struggle to restore South Korean independence after the Communist invasion of June 1950.
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Inspiring and Hard Hitting
- By David Ewing on 08-06-07
By: Max Hastings
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Inferno
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- By: Max Hastings
- Narrated by: Ralph Cosham
- Length: 31 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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From one of our finest military historians, a monumental work that shows us at once the truly global reach of World War II and its deeply personal consequences.
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Superb
- By David on 04-05-21
By: Max Hastings
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Vietnam
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- By: Stanley Karnow
- Narrated by: Edward Holland
- Length: 27 hrs and 42 mins
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In this comprehensive history, Stanley Karnow demystifies the tragic ordeal of America's war in Vietnam. The book's central theme is that America's leaders, prompted as much by domestic politics as by global ambitions, carried the United States into Southeast Asia with little regard for the realities of the region. Karnow elucidates the decision-making process in Washington and Asia and recounts the political and military events that occurred after the Americans arrived in Vietnam.
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As stunning as it was engaging
- By David Ewing on 08-06-07
By: Stanley Karnow
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Catastrophe 1914
- Europe Goes to War
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- Length: 25 hrs and 25 mins
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From the acclaimed military historian, a new history of the outbreak of World War I: the dramatic stretch from the breakdown of diplomacy to the battles - the Marne, Ypres, Tannenberg - that marked the frenzied first year before the war bogged down in the trenches. In Catastrophe 1914, Max Hastings gives us a conflict different from the familiar one of barbed wire, mud, and futility.
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I thought I knew the battle of the frontiers
- By Anonymous User on 04-02-21
By: Max Hastings
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The Secret War
- Spies, Ciphers, and Guerrillas, 1939-1945
- By: Max Hastings
- Narrated by: Steven Crossley
- Length: 30 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Spies, codes, and guerrillas played unprecedentedly critical roles in the Second World War, exploited by every nation in the struggle to gain secret knowledge of its foes, and to sow havoc behind the fronts. In The Secret War, Max Hastings presents a worldwide cast of characters and some extraordinary sagas of intelligence and resistance, to create a new perspective on the greatest conflict in history.
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Better read than listened to
- By B. In -t Veld on 03-25-17
By: Max Hastings
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The Abyss
- Nuclear Crisis Cuba 1962
- By: Max Hastings
- Narrated by: Max Hastings, John Hopkins
- Length: 19 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Bestselling author Max Hastings offers a welcome re-evaluation of one of the most gripping and tense international events in modern history—the Cuban Missile Crisis—providing a people-focused narrative that explores the attitudes and conduct of Russians, Cubans, Americans, and a terrified world that followed each moment as it unfolded.
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Good book, but has some issues
- By Mike From Mesa on 11-10-22
By: Max Hastings
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Retribution
- The Battle for Japan, 1944 - 45
- By: Max Hastings
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 27 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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In his critically acclaimed Armageddon, Hastings detailed the last twelve months of the struggle for Germany. Here, in what can be considered a companion volume, he covers the horrific story of the war against Japan. By the summer of 1944 it was clear that Japan’s defeat was inevitable, but how the drive to victory would be achieved remained to be seen. The ensuing drama–that ended in Japan’s utter devastation–was acted out across the vast stage of Asia.
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A superb study by one of the world's finest histor
- By Easton Reader on 12-22-16
By: Max Hastings
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Hue 1968
- A Turning Point of the American War in Vietnam
- By: Mark Bowden
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 18 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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By January 1968, despite an influx of half a million American troops, the fighting in Vietnam seemed to be at a stalemate. Yet General William Westmoreland, commander of American forces, announced a new phase of the war in which "the end begins to come into view". The North Vietnamese had different ideas. In mid-1967, the leadership in Hanoi had started planning an offensive intended to win the war in a single stroke.
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I KNEW This Book Would Sting Me . . . .
- By Rum Runner on 07-28-17
By: Mark Bowden
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Soldiers
- Great Stories of War and Peace
- By: Max Hastings
- Narrated by: Max Hastings, Ric Jerrom
- Length: 24 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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Soldiers is a very personal gathering of sparkling, gripping tales by many writers, about men and women who have borne arms, reflecting best-selling historian Max Hastings’ lifetime of studying war. It rings the changes through the centuries, between the heroic, tragic and comic; the famous and the humble. The nearly 350 stories illustrate vividly what it is like to fight in wars, to live and die as a warrior, from Greek and Roman times through to recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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Worth the Read
- By David A on 10-31-21
By: Max Hastings
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Things I'll Never Forget
- Memories of a Marine in Viet Nam
- By: James M. Dixon
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Things I’ll Never Forget is the story of a young high school graduate in 1965 who faces being drafted into the Army or volunteering for the Marine Corps. These are his memories of funny times, disgusting times and deadly times. The author kept a journal for an entire year; therefore many of the dates, times and places are accurate. The rest is based on memories that are forever tattooed on his brain. This is not a pro-war book, nor is it anti-war. It is the true story of what the Marine Corps was like in the late 1960’s.
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Accurate Description
- By USMC VIETVET on 07-02-19
By: James M. Dixon
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SOG
- The Secret Wars of America's Commandos in Vietnam
- By: John L. Plaster
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 14 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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John Plaster’s riveting account of his covert activities as a member of a special operations team during the Vietnam War is “a true insider’s account...this eye-opening report will leave readers feeling as if they’ve been given a hot scoop on a highly classified project” (Publishers Weekly). Code-named the Studies and Observations Group, SOG was the most secret elite US military unit to serve in the Vietnam War - so secret that its very existence was denied by the government.
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More, give me more.
- By LEE on 03-06-19
By: John L. Plaster
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Embers of War
- The Fall of an Empire and the Making of America's Vietnam
- By: Fredrik Logevall
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 32 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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In this landmark work that will forever change your understanding of how and why America went to war in Vietnam, author Fredrik Logevall taps newly accessible diplomatic archives in several nations and traces the path that led two Western nations to tragically lose their way in the jungles of Southeast Asia. He brings to life the bloodiest battles of France’s final years in Indochina - and describes how, from an early point, a succession of American leaders made disastrous policy choices that put America on its own collision course with history.
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Understanding Why We failed the People of Vietnam
- By VA on 03-22-21
By: Fredrik Logevall
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Road to Disaster
- A New History of America’s Descent into Vietnam
- By: Brian VanDeMark
- Narrated by: Ron Butler
- Length: 23 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Many books have been written on the tragic decisions regarding Vietnam made by the stars of the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. Yet despite many words of analysis and reflection, no historian has been able to explain why such decent and previously successful men stumbled so badly. That changes with Road to Disaster. Historian Brian VanDeMark draws upon decades of archival research, his own interviews with many of those involved, and a wealth of previously unheard recordings by Robert McNamara and Clark Clifford, who served as Defense Secretaries for Kennedy and Johnson.
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Vietnam Veteran
- By Jim Rollins on 04-02-19
By: Brian VanDeMark
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The Mother Tongue
- By: Bill Bryson
- Narrated by: Stephen McLaughlin
- Length: 10 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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With dazzling wit and astonishing insight, Bill Bryson - the acclaimed author of The Lost Continent - brilliantly explores the remarkable history, eccentricities, resilience, and sheer fun of the English language. From the first descent of the larynx into the throat (why you can talk but your dog can't) to the fine lost art of swearing, Bryson tells the fascinating, often uproarious story of an inadequate, second-rate tongue of peasants that developed into one of the world's largest growth industries.
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More satire than history
- By Barbara Kindle Customer on 12-18-15
By: Bill Bryson
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Max Hastings on War
- By: Max Hastings
- Narrated by: Max Hastings
- Length: 13 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Hastings has been a life-long student of warfare, a ‘chronicler of conflict’, working first as a foreign correspondent on battlefields, then as a prolific prize-winning historian of the 20th century’s greatest struggles. He has now been studying warfare for over fifty years, published thirty books, and given hundreds of talks and lectures. Here are thirteen of the best. Addressing questions of truth versus myth and revisiting many last-generation narratives, Hastings leads us through the most important conflicts in recent times.
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A Career Summary of Hastings’ Work
- By David A on 10-04-22
By: Max Hastings
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A Bright Shining Lie
- John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam
- By: Neil Sheehan
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 35 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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One of the most acclaimed books of our time - the definitive Vietnam War exposé and the winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. When he came to Vietnam in 1962, Lieutenant Colonel John Paul Vann was the one clear-sighted participant in an enterprise riddled with arrogance and self-deception, a charismatic soldier who put his life and career on the line in an attempt to convince his superiors that the war should be fought another way. By the time he died in 1972, Vann had embraced the follies he once decried. He died believing that the war had been won.
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Deeply profound and insightful
- By Linda Berlin on 03-10-13
By: Neil Sheehan
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The Fyodor Dostoyevsky Complete Collection
- The Brothers Karamazov; Crime and Punishment; The Idiot; Notes from the Underground; The Demons; Novellas; Complete Short Stories; Essays; and Letters
- By: Fyodor Dostoyevsky
- Narrated by: David Rintoul, Jonathan Keeble, Malk Williams, and others
- Length: 264 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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This audiobook, read by Audie award-winning narrators, includes unabridged recordings of all Fyodor Dostoyevky's greatest works: 15 novels and novellas, 18 short stories, a short study of Dostoyevsky by Virginia Woolf, and two books of non-fiction - his Letters and European travel journal.
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A Crucial Human Journey
- By O. on 04-07-24
What listeners say about Vietnam
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- M. Ziff
- 12-04-22
Old and Young Enough
I remember the early 90s (I was born in 1986) and even then, 'Nam was a hot button issue. Still bristling nerves and the "POW/MIA" bumper stickers were near ubiquitous. I was in the generation that kids with "old dads" probably served in the infantry or at least 'in country'. My oldest uncle missed the draft by the skin of his eyelids and still felt truly grateful for his luck. In my young age, I didn't know any different between my Grandpa's Marine service in the WWII taking of Italy and the "righteous valor" of any and all Marines that served against a grevious world threat of Totalitarianism. I was 5-6 years old with 3 grandparents that served in WWII, one in Marine Infantry, one a "chief" (sorry, I forget the proper designation) Naval Radar Engineer who oversaw Radar Installations from the Aleutians to the southeast Philippines and one brave and extremely talented Nurse who unwillingly was promoted due to skill. She was a committed empath who *had* to be next to cots, holding hands and giving genuine and heartfelt comforts. From a maternal kiss on the cheek or forehead or quietly lilting a requesed hymn or religious tune. (And pulled double duty "on the floor" and behind "that old damn desk".) These were the family members with whom I spent a lot of time around. And, as one can imagine, all were the 'just doing what I felt was right', and they almost got upset about the blanket of praise for their service... to me I didn't understand the concept of "the best of us didn't come home". This was the totality of my understanding of US wars. While being a child, that body of knowledge was probably the most understandable to a first grader. Being an outgoing child and unafraid of everything, I knew that a 'thank you for your service' was a kind thing to say to a veteran. (How I didn't notice the difference in appearance of WWII and Vietnam veterans is a mystery.) ALL THAT SAID; I remember being on vacation (visiting said Radar and Nurse service people) and going to a flea market that had anything and everything that can be imagined. I approached a booth that was selling memorabilia, insignia, genuine military pieces... it was almost a magnet. So, being the smooth little (6,7) kid I was... I made the mistake of thanking a 'Nam vet for his service... to get a loud and almost apoplectic rant about the draft and LBJ and the "G**ks" who skinned his buddy in the muck... I was ushered away by a complete stranger who saw the whole thing. My parents were in the near vicinity and took note of a kind (extremely tall) man walking me through the crowd looking around with concern. I was handed over and the very helpful man relayed what happened. After we had gotten in the car to go back to my grandparent's house, I just started crying. Out of the shock that some guy just yelled at me for 'no reason' and the whole "skinned" a person thing... I was just overwhelmed by that explosion of palpable sentiment of which I felt but wouldn't have the understanding for some time. I was consoled and calmed down and Grandpa (Radar Engineer) and I took a drive to the beach to "get some fresh air..." tip toeing in the surf of a cool June evening... I was then told about the broad strokes of the conflict... I was able to grasp the idea, but wasn't equipped with the comprehension to process and contextualize the actual (capital H) Historic impact. I am in a situation where I talk to folks about their thoughts and feelings, memories and nightmares... so I have a vast capacity for human understanding and how the brain works. If you have the opportunity to volunteer at a VA clinic, you will find disturbingly 1:1 correlations in recent conflicts with those of Vietnam. I thought I had a grasp on what the whole thing was about, but, going to school in the US of A, well... enough said. I explored all of the context I could find; what modern Imperialism is, how the US would prop up both warring camps, the economic climate, and most importantly - race relation and conflict. I think this book has been the glue/mold/lattice work on which my fragmentary and vague understandings have coalesced. This is the first 'big' book on Vietnam I have read, others being accounts of individual experiences or 'retrospectives'. The fact that Max Hasting's talents were the first I absorbed was provenance, I kinda tossed a dart at a map in choosing a book about the tragedy. What I think is the biggest and most odd -but obvious- through line is the colossal Absurdity of it all. It's been a great journey through this book. I highly recommend it, even if you have a passing curiosity.
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- Thor Olson
- 06-27-19
Worth listening.
Chronological timeline of the war is easy to follow. Good information from a unique perspective that is not Vietnamese, nor American but obviously western bias. Main story focuses on events, actions and decisions. Non fiction yet neglects personification of major characters in my opinion. Hastings literally uses the term "obliged" like a hundred times throughout this book, kind of funny he didn't use other words.
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- Fridtjof
- 07-25-19
Best Vietnam history ever written
Max Hastings is a superb story teller, and this book is probably his best. Giving both sides of the conflict a voice, and at the same time keeping the necassary distance as a historian, this book is a must read for all readers who wants to educate them selves about this pivotal conflict.
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- chetyarbrough.blog
- 08-22-21
APPALLING SIMILARITY
Max Hastings’ records the history of France's attempted colonization of Vietnam, and America's military intervention with intimate personal stories of both countries' failures in Vietnam. America’s fundamental mistake is the same mistake made in Iran, Iraq, and now Afghanistan. Military intervention by a foreign power does not give indigenous citizens true experience of the interventionist’s culture. Without cultural understanding on both sides of a military intervention, there is no prospect for peace. Further, it is unrealistic to believe a combatant will truly understand or care about another nation’s culture.
Hastings explains Vietnamese and Afghanis have no choice to join or resist a culture they do not know. Neither could they become citizens of America. They did not have the interventionist’s cultural experience, or a foreign country’s willingness to allow unregulated immigration. Interventionist countries are always outsiders to the indigenous.
Tragically, what is happening in Afghanistan threatens women’s human rights. Misogyny is a python that swallows its prey whole, crushes it, and smothers it to death. This is a cruel irony. Misogyny exists in America but not in the same way as Afghanistan. The Taliban have won but it is a pyrrhic victory because human rights are universal, and resistance will grow.
Francis Fukuyama notes every society grows via its own cultural norms which suggests sovereignty should be inviolable. Only Iraqis, Iranians, and Afghanis can decide who they want to be. America can only lead by example and offer political and financial support to resisters of tyranny in other nation-states. Hastings marks the limits of outsiders' military intervention.
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- jwj
- 03-03-21
Outstanding historian
I discovered Max Hastings rather late, and after thoroughly enjoying Inferno, about World War 2, thought I'd give this a listen. It's exceptional, telling the story for both sides with balance and fairness. He's not afraid to criticize, but he'll also praise when warranted. I learned a lot, and the narrator was great.
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- Tagg B
- 02-26-21
OMG
Man I knew the war in Indochina was a mess but I never imagined how badly the decision making was that got us into it, and kept us in it for so long. Sometimes listening to this story was a labor but only because it illustrated how narrow minded Americans can be when we want to. Highly recommended if you want to know more about what drove our involvement in the Viet Nam war.
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- Monnie
- 02-18-22
Vietnam: An Epic Tragedy, 1945-1975 by Max Hasting
Vietnam: An Epic Tragedy, 1945-1975 by Max Hastings is captivating and compelling. My 1960s’-70’s childhood self had only the vaguest understanding of this appalling and fateful tale from the evening news. Vietnam clearly depicts the main players and battles that took place.
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- MAC24211
- 03-02-22
Excellent and detailed overview of the war in Viet Nam
The detail is very good although the author uses ‘won’ to describe Medal Of Honor recipients & those are not ‘won’ but earned and bestowed.
Overall, I enjoyed this quite a bit.
Hard to fathom that the B52s bombing runs were using 2 million gallons of jet fuel per day during the Christmas bombing initiative. Interesting factoids like this help keep your attention.
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- LJB NM
- 03-04-22
A PANORAMIC MUST READ
A PANORAMIC VIEW. The author Max Hastings is a prolific writer of profound historical books. He brings his expertise to the subject of Vietnam and does not disappoint with this panoramic historical review. This is a must read on the subject of the Vietnam wars, but most particularly the American war in Vietnam. The narrator using British English “mispronounces,” to this American English speaker’s ears, several names, which is a slight annoyance. I highly recommend this book.
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- Ben
- 06-22-22
A concise, compelling, and revealing history
This book is an honest history history of the Vietnam War, which provides a high level historical narrative of the war and most importantly a brutally honest insight of the political motives behind this great tragedy.
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