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A Vietcong Memoir  By  cover art

A Vietcong Memoir

By: Truong Nhu Tang, David Chanoff, Doan Van Toai
Narrated by: Trieu Tran
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Publisher's summary

When he was a student in Paris, Truong Nhu Tang met Ho Chi Minh. Later he fought in the Vietnamese jungle and emerged as one of the major figures in the "fight for liberation" - and one of the most determined adversaries of the United States.

He became the Vietcong's Minister of Justice, but at the end of the war he fled the country in disillusionment and despair. He now lives in exile in Paris, the highest level official to have defected from Vietnam to the West. This is his candid, revealing, and unforgettable autobiography.

©1985 Truong Nhu Tang, David Chanoff, and Doan Van Toai (P)2018 Tantor

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Excellent Political History of the Vietnam War

As a Vietnam Veteran, I found this book to be very informative. Perhaps if the United States had never supported the brutal and corrupt dictatorships in Saigon, the South Vietnamese people might been able to establish a true democracy through the ballot box. When the South Vietnamese people were forced to wage war in the jungle, their only allies were the North Vietnamese, who took over the movement and, even though the south was anti-communist, established communism in South Vietnam. The author was an anti-communist leader of the South Vietnamese National Liberation Front. He eventually fled Vietnam after the war, betrayed by the North Vietnamese. Great book.

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6 people found this helpful

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Great read

A great book that anyone who enjoyed Animal Farm by George Orwell has got to read

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3 people found this helpful

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Engrossing

This book is informative and thought provoking. Really enjoyed the information, however the accent of the reader was hard to understand.

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1 person found this helpful

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Inside look

It is important to understand all the dielectrical elements the shaped Vietnam and the struggle that made it the wonderful country it is today.

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A very good listen

I felt the author was a little self serving but I think on balance it was a mostly accurate account

For me it was a good to hear the other side of the story especially regarding the negotiations that ultimately ended the “American War” I agree with another reviewer that he truly was naive to believe that the North would respect the South after the war or that they would take all the wealth the could from the South

One cannot look at Vietnam and not have pity on the country and it’s people north and south in their long struggle for independence I regret our involvement in the struggle, mostly because of the death of 58,000+ young Americans, especially given how stupidly we fought (not the soldiers but by the political rules of engagement) that assured we and the South could not win It was disheartening to learn of lost opportunities in those negotiations that would have given a more democratic and pluralistic Vietnam

I had the fortune to re visit Vietnam this year (2023) after serving there in 1969-70 in the US Army in the rear thank goodness that history has moved beyond 1985 when the book was written The country is alive The wonderful people in the South, though not politically free, are finally seeing more prosperity and a better future for themselves and their children I wish them the best

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Mind Expanding

I’m 35 years old, a US Army veteran of the American Afghanistan War and the son of a US Army Veteran who fought in Vietnam in 1969.

This book showed me an alternate perspective to the Vietnam war that I had yet to explore before reading this book.

I found the book to be very informative and engaging. Thank you to the author for providing a window into some of the cultural and political currents that in my mind, illustrates how doomed the American project in SE Asia was from the very

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The French-educated bourgeois author should have known better and earlier about the eventual betrayal author

Many people sharing the fate of this author found out too late about the motives of their supposed allies, or may be did not want to acknowledge it earlier, until they themselves became the victims. Their supposed allies manipulated them into cooperation to help substitute the Russians for the Americans and French AND start a reign of TERROR with anybody affiliated with the old regime ending up in concentration reeducation camps for as many years as they have served in the Armed Forces or government. Copycat of Russian and Chinese previous reforms.

Why did so many people choose death at sea instead of living in a reunified South Vietnam ruled by the DRV where the sons and daughters of people affiliated with the old regime (and now in concentration camps), cannot go to college/university or find employment because of BAD IDENTITY.

You pay a high price for not acknowledging your mistakes and get out earlier. The very smart author at least admitted his mistake belatedly when his own life became unbearable. He wanted the French OUT of Vietnam and ended up seeking refuge in France. How ironic!!!!

Live and learn about whom you can trust because you are the one who will pay the PRICE sooner or later.

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A Must Read: Rare and Unique First-hand Perspective

The North Vietnamese’ (Communist) and the United States’ perspectives dominate this war’s media commentary, leaving curious minds hungry for alternative and more nuanced perspectives, such as those of the non-political or non-communist South Vietnamese. This memoir will not only satisfy your hunger, but fill your mind and heart with plenty to contemplate.

By far, the most unique and nuanced first-person account of the Vietnam-American War I have heard.

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The other side

Great insight into Vietnam in the 20th century. The Vietcong and the north were not as aligned politically as I thought.

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Stunning

Everyone interested in history needs to read this book. It contains perhaps the most poignant political lessons and insights of the modern era and the tragedy and triumph in an impossible struggle.

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