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The American War in Vietnam Lessons, Legacies, and Implications for Future Conflicts
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Edited by Lawrence E. Grinter and Peter M. Dunn
ISBN: 0-313-25759-0
ISBN-13: 978-0-313-25759-9
173 pages, bibliog.
Greenwood Press
Publication: 11/3/1987
List Price: $103.95 (UK Sterling Price: £59.95)
Availability:
Media Type: Hardcover
Subjects:
Series Title: Contributions in Military Studies
Series Number: 67
Reviews:
  • The lessons, legacies, and implications for future conflicts are the purpose of this collection of work on The American War in Vietnam This is an assemblage of ten superb papers which outline why America failed in Vietnam. . . it is a compilation of the personal views of nine authors (scholars, soldiers, and airmen) on different aspects of the war. Military readers will find the section on How the War Was Fought especially interesting in that the authors suggest that had we pursued a more exhaustive air campaign against the North early in the war, then it could have been won. I found the arguments favoring extensive strategic bombing of North Vietnam especially appealing. A deeper question might be asked concerning the U.S. not using nuclear weapons. . . the book accomplished what it set out to do, providing a solid contribution to better understanding of the war. This book is for serious students of the Vietnam War, for historians looking for a complete picture, it has a superb bibliography, and the authors have outstanding credentials.
    —Armor
Description: The essays in this collection were assembled to provide answers to the question of why the United States lost the war in Vietnam. They examine four major factors that affected U.S. policy: how the war was perceived, how it was fought, the possible effect of alternative strategies, and the war's legacy for future warfare. The contributors include both military officers and scholars, all but one of whom participated in the Vietnam War. All the authors reflect the more tempered nature of current Vietnam War scholarship. Although their appraisals differ, the overall effect is to offer insight and clarification into the failure of U.S. and South Vietnamese policy, backed by the Grinter's and Dunn's first-hand experiences.
Table of Contents:
  • Preface
  • Abbreviations
  • On Legacies and Lessons: The Literature and the Debate by Joe P. Dunn
  • The Vietnam War in Retrospect: Its Nature and Some Lessons by Nguyen M. Hung
  • Vietnam: The Cost of Ignoring the Political Requirements by Lawrence E. Grinter
  • Lost Opportunities: The Air War in Vietnam, 1961-1973 by Alan L. Gropman
  • Air Power in Vietnam; The Hubris of Power by Earl H. Tilford
  • A Strategic Perception of the Vietnam War by Harry G. Summers, Jr.
  • On Strategy Revisited: Clausewitz and Revolutionary War by Peter M. Dunn
  • On Lessons: A Critique of the Summers Thesis by Noel C. Eggleston
  • Counterinsurgency Doctrine and Low-Intensity Conflict in the Post-Vietnam Era by John D. Waghelstein
  • Lessons, Legacies, and Implications of Vietnam by Peter M. Dunn and Lawrence E. Grinter
  • Selected Bibliography
  • Index
  • About the Contributors
LC Card Number: 87-11856
LCC Class: DS558
Dewey Class: 959.704
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