The Illustrated History Of The Vietnam War

An illustrated documentary of the Vietnam War, from the establishment of French rule to the secret operations in Laos and Cambodia and the fall of Saigon.

The Vietnam War remains one of the most heroic and heartbreaking events in history. This definitive guide charts the unforgettable story of the world's first televised war. Created in association with the Smithsonian Institution, this authoritative guide chronicles America's fight against Communism in southeast Asia during the 1960s and 1970s, and comprehensively explores the people, politics, events, and lasting effects of the Vietnam War. Hundreds of insightful images and a compelling narrative combine to chronicle this catastrophic conflict.?? From 1955, the communist government of North Vietnam waged war against South Vietnam and its main ally, the USA. Over the course of two decades of hostility and warfare, the number of casualties reached an incomprehensible three million people. Detailed descriptions of every episode, including Operation Passage to Freedom and the evacuation of the American embassy in Saigon, tell the stories in iconic photographs and eyewitness accounts. Discover the real people behind the conflict, with gripping biographies of key figures, including Henry Kissinger, General Thieu, President Nixon, and Pol Pot. This incredible visual record is supported by locator maps, at-a-glance timelines, archive photography, and key quotations to ensure an all-encompassing experience. The Vietnam War is an essential historic reference to help humanity learn the lessons of suffering and sacrifice from one of the bloodiest conflicts of the 20th century.

The struggle for Vietnam in the 1960s, in which the United States attempted to bolster the South against Viet Cong guerrillas backed by the Communist regime in the north, was to shock the world and divide a nation. In the defence of a theory – that if the South fell the whole region would fall to Communism – the United States spent $145,000 million at 1974 prices, her aircraft dropped eight million tons of bombs, and her armed forces suffered 46,370 fatalities (900,000 North Vietnamese and Viet Cong were also killed). The Illustrated History of the Vietnam War is a timely account of the 6,000-day conflict in Southeast Asia. Illustrated throughout with both colour and black and white photographs that bring the conflict to life, the lucid, authoritative text includes eye-witness accounts of the battles and incidents of America’s undeclared war. The Illustrated History of the Vietnam War provides a graphic and compelling account of one of the most brutal conflicts of modern history.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • Based on the celebrated PBS television series, the complete text of an engrossing history of America’s least-understood conflict, “a significant milestone [that] will no doubt do much to determine how the war is understood for years to come.” —The Washington Post More than forty years have passed since the end of the Vietnam War, but its memory continues to loom large in the national psyche. In this intimate history, Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns have crafted a fresh and insightful account of the long and brutal conflict that reunited Vietnam while dividing the United States as nothing else had since the Civil War. From the Gulf of Tonkin and the Tet Offensive to Hamburger Hill and the fall of Saigon, Ward and Burns trace the conflict that dogged three American presidents and their advisers. But most of the voices that echo from these pages belong to less exalted men and women—those who fought in the war as well as those who fought against it, both victims and victors—willing for the first time to share their memories of Vietnam as it really was. A magisterial tour de force, The Vietnam War is an engrossing history of America’s least-understood conflict.

Berry presents the story of the heliborne First Air Cavalry, pioneers of air mobility, that was first sent to Vietnam in 1965. The 1st Cav fought in all tactical zones in Vietnam and won decorations in virtually every significant battle of the war. 32 pages of maps, drawings and photos.

The Vietnam War chronicles the first war to be televised. The comprehensive description of battles, social and political issues, and revelations are all the more powerful because of first-hand accounts, telling photographs, and other primary sources. Students will learn the causes, outcomes, and repercussions of this polemic conflict through a historical lens and from the perspectives of soldiers, civilians, and others caught up in the Vietnam War.

Text, maps, and numerous photos chronicle the history of the Vietnam War; also includes a chronology, statistics list, and bibliography.