Hue 1968 is likely to claim a place on the shelf of essential books about the vietnam war. Banned in vietnam, duon thu huongs powerful novel offers an. Part one contains combatfront writing by journalists who. Readers weighed in on the best books about the vietnam war. A novel of the vietnam war intense, powerful, and compelling, matterhorn is an epic war novel in the tradition of norman mailersthe naked and the dead and james joness the thin red line. A slew of war memoirs stand with the best writing of that genre. The top 10 books of war reportage books the guardian. Opinion how vietnam changed journalism the new york times. Writer sebastian junger, who has reported on the war in afghanistan, called the book one of the most profound and devastating novels ever to come out of vietnamor any war. Her moving reports about the wars civilian casualties earned her the george polk award for excellence in international reporting. This could be for honor, for money, for glory, or just to save their own skin.
John steinbeck died shortly after he produced the contents of steinbeck in vietnam. Winner of the 2016 pulitzer prize for fiction, this debut novel could fit into half a dozen genres of vietnam war books from war narrative to. Argosy in the wartossed waters off the coast of vietnam, three young american sailors form an unlikely bond. The acclaimed author of troublesome young men reveals the behindthescenes story of how the united states forged its wartime alliance with britain, told from the perspective of three key american players in london.
The war by its military photographers in new york journal of books. They are presented randomly within the categories of nonfiction and fiction. Catfish and mandala is the story of an american odyssey. It is also a synthesis and refinement of two volumes on the subject previously published by the author, and totaling more than one thousand pages. In the last few years, with the publication of such books as jacques leslies the mark and william prochnaus once upon a distant war, historians and former correspondents have been examining closely the role of journalism in the conduct of the vietnam war. The best military science fiction is built on great stories of soldiers, marines, sailors, and those that lead them.
His coverage of the war in dispatches was groundbreaking for its presented a type of journalism that traded monotonous details for visceral descriptions. Emersons book about vietnam and americas reaction to it. Ten vietnam war novels to read council on foreign relations. These 9 vietnam war books range from darkly comic war fiction to. Hundreds of hours of interviews, detailed letters, and reports from the. Matterhorn by karl marlantes, the things they carried by tim obrien, the th valley by john m. Among the most positive is an abundance of topnotch books, many written by veterans of the conflict. The butcher, the baker the candlestickmaker and all of them lost at sea.
More than 40 years after it ended, americas war in vietnam is still contentious, still misunderstood, and fast slipping into the fog of history. Pages in category vietnam war fiction the following 15 pages are in this category, out of 15 total. Captain blakes experiences accentuate many of the troublesome aspects of the war, including the draft, authority of commanding generals, domestic demand for troop withdrawal, and in. With a life spanning three warsthe french occupation of indochina, the japanese invasion in world war ii and the vietnam warthe authors father served as a soldier for south vietnam and. Dog soldiers won the 1975 national book award for fiction, the first vietnam war novel to do so. Often compared to joseph conrad and ernest hemingway, and largely considered one of the best vietnam novels, stone focuses on two characters, one of whom is a sailor traveling home from vietnam. Reporting vietnam is an abridgment and updating of hammonds massive twovolume work issued by the government printing office. This book is widely viewed as the best concise history of the vietnam war. The library of americas twovolume collection of the best reporting from 1959 to 1975 about the. Another revolutionary telling of the vietnam war, bao ninhs the sorrow of war is reported to have been written against the communist partys wishes. The story of a drafted, civilian attorney serving as an army lawyer in vietnam gives this book a unique perspective. Critically acclaimed since its release in 1977, dispatches was one of the first books which offered an insiders account of the vietnam war to the general public.
The definitive collection of fiction and nonfiction on the war. These include winners of national book awards and pulitzer prizes, both fiction and nonfiction. Mark bowden brings it back into sharp focus in his powerful new book, hue 1968. This second volume traces events from the revelation of the my lai massacre in 1969 through the fall of saigon in 1975. Shaped by vietnam war reporting, ward just, who died at 84, became a deft political novelist by bryan marquard globe staff, december 21, 2019, 5. The vietnam war in american stories, songs, and poems by h. Best literature about the vietnam war 283 books goodreads. Journalists bob schieffer, peter arnett, and david hume kennerly talk about reporting from the battlefields during the vietnam war and the role of the press during that time. Winner of the 1974 national book award for fiction, dog soldiers is a story of the vietnam war and of drug smuggling. William hammonds book reporting vietnam is a description of official efforts to manage the u. American journalism 19691975, along with its companion volume, captures the bravery, fear, cruelty, suffering, anger, and sorrow of a tragic conflict. Bowdens newest book, hue 1968, captures the intensity of the tet offensive, a turning point in the vietnam war.
Its not a book so much as a deployment, and you will not return unaltered. The ultimate 2020 list of best vietnam books to read. Pages in category vietnam war novels the following 45 pages are in this category, out of 45 total. A providence journal best book of the year in 1977, laura bell left her. The novel explores the war from the perspective of a former north vietnamese soldier, kien, and is a nonlinear telling of how the conflict transformed himself, his country and those around him. Each has fled an america they were raised to love but somehow no longer understand in the tumult of the late 1960s.
The action scenes evoke vietnam war combat at its most intenseand its most horrible. The top 30 vietnam war books to read this winter historynet. His coverage of the war in dispatches was groundbreaking for its presented a type of. What is best historical fiction book written about the. Michael herr was a war correspondent for esquire between 1967 and 1969. These 10 books, in addition to the ones below, were recommended multiple times. This book is a great read if you enjoy reading books about the vietnam war. Although conditions varied widely during the ten years of the war, the historical fiction genre allows veterans to recognize historically correct settings in vietnam during 1971 and 1972. But as william hammond reveals, animosity between government and media wasnt always the rule. An oral history of the vietnam war by black veterans by wallace terry vietnam declassified by thomas l. Bruce franklin the first college anthology of american literature about the vietnam war brings together 16 stories, 5 songs, and 63 poems in an affordable text for literature and history courses. Based on classified and recently declassified government documentsincluding nixons national security filesas well as on extensive interviews and surveys of press war coverage, it tells how government and media first shared a common vision of american.
Its primary battlefield was the news media, its primary casualty the truth. Vietnam war portraits brings together the stories of american vietnam war veterans as well as south. General vo nguyen giap, commander of the north vietnamese army, wrote in his memoirs that his army was on the brink of collapse, but the u. For viewers of the ken burns pbs documentary on the vietnam war, here are some. The defining prose work to come out of that conflict was a book of reportage, michael herrs dispatches 1977, while the first gulf war received its most memorable prose expression in. The fictitious characters and circumstances provide an entertaining read for those who lived through the era as well as those for whom vietnam is only a curiosity out of the distant past.
Browse the amazon editors picks for the best books of 2019, featuring our. Other fiction deals with veterans and their suffering robert stones dog soldiers, national book award, 1975, the effects of the war on families bobbie ann masons in country, 1985, living and working in vietnam before the war ward justs a dangerous friend, 1999 and reinterpretations of our involvement denis johnsons tree of. When the vietnam war was over, the pentagon decided that there had been too much negative reporting from the war zone and that it would limit journalists access to battlefields. The two volumes of reporting vietnam offer a trove of material for such studies. Buy this book in this powerfully plainspoken account, one of the leading. Breaking through the book boundary to better serve library users, ed.
This is not just another book written about the vietnam war. The vietnam war has produced as much literature as w. Ward just, seen in 1988, was the quintessential washington reporter, a former colleague once said, except hes doing it through fiction. Rub a dub dub three men in a tub and who do you think they be. Winner of the 2016 pulitzer prize for fiction, this debut novel could fit into half a dozen genres of vietnam war books from war narrative to immigrant story, from mystery to political, from metafiction to.
Vietnam war at amazon vietnam war on dvd at amazon vietnam war kindle books. For many americans during the vietnam era, the war on the home front seemed nearly as wrenching and hardfought as the one in southeast asia. Citino a professor of history at the university of north texas, citino has written eight books delving into world war ii and modern warfare. Shaped by vietnam war reporting, ward just, who died at 84. Dispatches from the war university of virginia press, 216 pp. Part one contains combatfront writing by journalists who are well known to students of vietnam war historystanley karnow, david halberstam, frances. The book would have been stronger had the author done more to.
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