The Vietnam War: History in an Hour

By: Neil Smith

Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble

Length: 1 hr and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

History for busy people. Listen to a concise history of the Vietnam War in just one hour.

War, what is it good for? The Vietnam War: History In an Hour gives a gripping account of the most important Cold War-era conflict, fought between the United States and the Viet Cong, the Vietnam People's Army and their Communist allies. It was one of the most traumatic military conflicts America has ever been involved in – and provoked a backlash of anti-war protests at home.

Here are the key events leading up to the Vietnam War, the deadly guerrilla warfare of the Viet Cong, the domestic anti-war movement, and the fall of Saigon. The Vietnam War: History In an Hour is essential listening for anyone interested in post-war history.

Love your history? Find out about the world with History in an Hour….

©2012 Neil Smith (P)2012 HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Critic reviews

"If the past is a foreign country, History in an Hour is like a high-class tour operator, offering delightfully enjoyable short breaks in the rich and diverse continent of our shared past." (Dominic Sandbrook)

"The practice of History is ever-evolving, and the History In An Hour idea brings it back up to date for the digital age." (Andrew Roberts, Bookseller)

"This is genius." (MacWorld.com)

Vietnam War

Excellent and concise, it explained in detail why and how this war happened.. it also explained the main players.
He was

good but...

well narrated. I know you can't get all the info on the war in one hour or even several hours but I feel like is was missing too much. Especially why America was involved.

straight forward and factual

perfect jumping off point to get the events leading up to conflict and the bullet points.
ideal for someone gathering facts before delving into specifics or just looking for interesting parts to explore.
hard to beat for cost and value.

An Afterburner

I recently (Oct 2017) watched the 18 hours long documentary titled “the Vietnam War” aired by PBS and produced by Ken Burns. It’s an excellent production that gives a very comprehensive account of the entire war.

Yet some aspects of history were missing from this documentary — like the history of Vietnam’s own struggle with communism that lead to the factionalism and the creation of the Viet Cong. So while the documentary refers to the North Vietnam Army and the Viet Cong often, the viewer remains unclear about the delineation between the two.

This book covered those gaps for me. While the documentary filled me with extensive details of deployment, action on the battlefield, the political maneuvers in the US and the personal account of some families, this book served as the Executive Summary that capped the picture.

It’s an excellent account of the Vietnam war and powerfully narrated. It will serve those well who wish to get an objective picture within a short time.

I was there in 1967 & 1968

I was drafted into Army and saw more combat that a 21 year old should have experienced. This was some history and details I was not aware of.

Very good short summary of the war

My teen son and I listened to this book, and both of us found it an excellent summary of the Vietnam War. While we were familiar with many aspects, this brought together much of it into a coherent whole. Anyone who is thinking this is a long comprehensive narrative is buying the wrong book. The narrator is pleasant to listen to and handles the material well.

Fine introduction

This is an extremely condensed version of s very complex conflict but it serves well as a framework on which to build further knowledge.

My kind of read

Just right detail for a refreshing update on history. I will read every one of this series

Good if you're somewhat familiar

It is a great, well performed version. However, I found that I had to go look up some of the terms and read more because some of it was a little to dense for me. Honestly, I am not too familiar with this time in history. I think if you were somewhat familiar or I needed a little deeper dive or quick refresh this would be great

The Vietnam War.... the memories of the sixties...

I have not fought in Vietnam (and thank God for that!), but nevertheless the book reminded me of the turbulent and exciting sixties. (Remember the saying "if you remember the sixties, you weren't really there?")
I found the book to be light, well written, and very informative. I did not find it to be biased as some of the other readers suggested.
Overall, I highly recommend the 'History in an Hour' series. They are light, informative, and well presented. And you can't beat the price!