The Vietnam War

An Intimate History

By: Geoffrey C. Ward, Ken Burns

Narrated by: Fred Sanders, Ken Burns, Brian Corrigan

Length: 31 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's summary

From the award-winning historian and filmmakers of The Civil War, Baseball, The War, The Roosevelts, and others: a vivid, uniquely powerful history of the conflict that tore America apart - the companion volume to the major multipart PBS film to be aired in September 2017.

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: US and Vietnamese soldiers and their families, high-level officials in America and Vietnam, antiwar protestors, POWs, and many more. The book plunges us into the chaos and intensity of combat, even as it explains the rationale that got us into Vietnam and kept us there for so many years. Rather than taking sides, the book seeks to understand why the war happened the way it did and to clarify its complicated legacy. Beautifully written, this is a tour de force that is certain to launch a new national conversation.

©2017 Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns (P)2017 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"Lucid, flowing, and dramatic...robustly detailed writing...eye-opening...powerful in its own right.... In their new 'intimate' yet capacious history, the award-winning, audience-enthralling duo of historian and screenwriter Ward and documentarian extraordinaire Burns investigate the complex, divisive, and tragic Vietnam War from a unique plurality of perspectives." (Donna Seaman, Booklist)

"The melancholy tone of Ken Burns's voice exactly suits the mood of this history of the Vietnam War... Burns adds no false drama but always reads with a tone of respect for the front-line combatants and the earnest opponents.... Overall, the audio does the print version full justice." (AudioFile)

Breathtaking In Scope; Heartbreaking In Reality

I bought The Vietnam War because I respect Ken Burns and, well, I wanted to make sense of what I saw on TV and in the newspapers when I was just a little kid.
This book is mindblowing in its scope, in the detail, in the amount of research that was poured into it. It covers about every viewpoint a reader/listener could ask for: background shenanigans at the White House, a grunt's view, the war back home (from peaceful demonstrators to those who made the peace movement something Nixon's public hated/feared); Vietnamese civilians trying to live in the midst of chaos, North Vietnamese and the NLF who were willing to sacrifice everything and kill every American they could.
And much, much more.
It's all delivered in the tones of skilled documentarians who sometimes skimp on the emotion but always, always, deliver blows with dead accuracy. Sometimes devastating, sometimes heartrending, the same tones are used.
And that's the only, only flaw I could find with this audiobook.
Everything else? Well, I'm still wondering how the heartbreak I saw on TV after watching Captain Kangaroo, after hearing at my grade school about POWs, happened: It's all so very tragic, and the fact that we can find lines that trickle their way through our current actions and inactions just about rips my heart out.
Listen to this if you want great history. You won't be disappointed.

Best Vietnam Account Collection out there

God this was tough to listen to at times. The Hell of Vietnam wont be written anywhere like it is in this book. The audiobook version loses none of the impact, this is a must listen for any amateur historian.

Perspective on all aspects of the war

This was tough to get through sometimes for a variety of reasons. It's dry in some places, in others the continuous talk of death forced me to step away for a while. It's worth pushing through to gain a strong understanding of the war, the lead up, and the aftermath.

There's a lot of conclusions to draw from this, but LBJ is a monster in my eyes after this.

Required Reading\Listening for the Entire Planet

so many things so different from memoriesgrowong up. really breaks our hearts. never forget. Ken Burns. Again.

Awesome Just Awesome

I was looking for a audiobook that could provide a complete telling of the Vietnam War, and I certainly found it in this book. You don’t want to stop listening. The telling of personal, political and heroic stories all in one volume. Truly awesome.

Incredible

An excellent summary of the Vietnam War. Politically neutral and filled with harrowing stories from a tragic era. Very well done.

Outstanding journalism and reflection on the War

As someone born in the 80s, I have always struggled to understand the Vietnam War beyond the stereotypes and cursory treatment the conflict gets in American education. This book, especially with its historical preamble to U.S. involvement, gave me that understanding and did it through the voices of those involved, and balanced the human element with the detailed military history view that is required to comprehend how we got so involved and why the outcomes became what they did.

Excellent and comprehensive

Far from being a rehash of the equally superb television series---thorough, balanced, and narrated in a manner that contributes positively to comprehension and appreciation while staying out of the way. Certainly a definitive work.

HANDS DOWN BEST BOOK

Wow, I'm blown away. I listened to this 30 hour book in 4 days. It is insane. The amount of lies, corruption, deceit, loss of honor that our leaders had is hard to listen to. There is so much information provided in this book. I though I knew a lot about the Vietnam war. I DID NOT! Buy this book now!

Informational but uneven

Good historical overview of the war and the men involved. However, in my view overly critical of the US role based entirely on hindsight. All US Presidents made decisions based on information and accepted doctrine of that time. Only in hindsight was it known that the war was virtually not one that could be won conventionally. North Vietnam and the VC were the aggressors and bad people, but the US public was unwilling to bear the sacrifices necessary to win the war and the South Vietnam government was correct. Still a good read.