Hue 1968

A Turning Point of the American War in Vietnam

By: Mark Bowden

Narrated by: Joe Barrett

Length: 18 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

Not since his New York Times best seller Black Hawk Down has Mark Bowden written a book about a battle. His most ambitious work yet, Huế 1968, is the story of the centerpiece of the Tet Offensive and a turning point in the American War in Vietnam.

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. Part military action and part popular uprising, the Tet Offensive included attacks across South Vietnam, but the most dramatic and successful would be the capture of Huế, the country's cultural capital. At 2:30 a.m. on January 31, 10,000 National Liberation Front troops descended from hidden camps and surged across the city of 140,000. By morning, all of Huế was in Front hands save for two small military outposts.

The commanders in country and politicians in Washington refused to believe the size and scope of the Front's presence. Captain Chuck Meadows was ordered to lead his 160-marine Golf Company against thousands of enemy troops in the first attempt to reenter Huế later that day. After several futile and deadly days, Lieutenant Colonel Ernie Cheatham would finally come up with a strategy to retake the city, block by block and building by building, in some of the most intense urban combat since World War II.

With unprecedented access to war archives in the US and Vietnam and interviews with participants from both sides, Bowden narrates each stage of this crucial battle through multiple points of view. Played out over 24 days of terrible fighting and ultimately costing 10,000 combatant and civilian lives, the Battle of Huế was by far the bloodiest of the entire war. When it ended, the American debate was never again about winning, only about how to leave. In Huế 1968, Bowden masterfully reconstructs this pivotal moment in the American War in Vietnam.

©2017 Mark Bowden (P)2017 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Narrator Joe Barrett's voice, always scratchy, careworn, and haggard, has just the sound this book needs to carry it forward. He sounds like an old boot and offers no quarter when detailing the battle's ravages, both in terms of men and American strategy." (AudioFile)

Too slanted

I would have enjoyed a more balanced look at this story of the Vietnam war. The author is not able to restrain himself from his own biases. Too much talk about how the journalists were the great ones. Too must disdain for Westmoreland, who gets called the diminutive “Westy” repeatedly during the book. The author would do better to let me form an opinion of the general’s effectiveness instead of trying to lead me in one direction. I have a great deal of respect for the military folks who endured that unfortunate trial. War is hell.

Great book

Probably the best book on Vietnam I've listened to. It described to overall brutality of the war. I highly recommend it.

The definitive work on Hue

This book is nonfiction but it's as readable as a good historical novel would be. As well as being informative it's also a page turner.

Interesting, If Flawed, Treatment of Tet/Hue

Like Bowden's other books this is an interesting treatment of the battle for Hue. Unfortunately, it suffers from a rather slanted portrayal of many of the participants with the VC and North Vietnamese portrayed as earnest freedom fighters and most of the US political and military leaders portrayed as cynical, dishonest and foolish--basically reflecting the left's view of the war. The Epilogue is particularly disturbing and, for the most part, adds little to an understanding of the actual history as opposed to the author's opinions. The Epilogue does reveal a possible reason for the slanted portrayal, however, in that Bowden's view of the VC and North Vietnamese was largely formed through interviews with participants conducted in the presence of Vietnamese communist party government officials.

The narration was fairly good, but the narrator's attempt to do impressions of LBJ and other individuals was distracting and not well done. In many cases, he could not maintain the impression throughout a whole sentence, dropping in and out of character repeatedly.

Well Rounded

I spent three weeks in Vietnam last year, including a couple of days in Hue, and I wish I had listened to this book before my trip. I loved that the author looked at this from all sides. History is usually read from a one-sided view and this gives a much fuller perspective. I found Joe Barrett's narration engaging and felt he gave a good consistent performance throughout.

Highly Impactful

This book is a masterpiece. The research that must have gone into it to be able to tell the story of Hue from so many different perspectives is impressive. I couldn't stop listening, although I admit at times I did lose track of some of the characters' story lines, which is a challenge with such a sweeping book in audio format. I appreciated the gift of perspective, both of the US servicemen and women as well as the south and north Vietnamese. Hue was a tragedy, and I didn't appreciate the depth and breadth of that until I read this book. Highly recommended, though the arbitrary and unnecessary loss of life will haunt you long after you finish it. My heart goes out to all those who suffered through the tragedy of Hue.

Honest

This book was well written and insightful. I like the level of detail that is offered by the author. It's obvious that much research was done and artfully used in this book.

listen and think

a very memorable history of a key battle in the Vietnam War. Any of your perceptions will be challenged.

A Must Read

This story is a must read for those of us that narrowly missed Vietnam, and for the later generations so they will exercise care, be vigilant and to question our leaders before we have a chance to repeat the mistakes. the horror and panic is shown, along with a respect of all that fought and covered the conflict. The bravery of the correspondents to record the sights, the emotions, and most importantly, the truth is woven into the paralyzing details laid out in the pages. Mr. Bowden in writing this book has do a service to his country, those that served along with their families, and to cut generations.

incredible first-hand stories

I love the in-depth detail of the street fighting as voted by many person who were there. not much time is spent on the overall strategy of the US or NVA as a while in Vietnam and thus allows attention to be paid to this particular battle.