The Vietnam War: The Definitive Illustrated History

My father, brother and I all served in Vietnam. Dad served in 1967-1968, my brother in 1968 and I in 1970. Our experiences changed our lives forever both negatively and positively. The book is an excellent read and refreshed my memory of those locations in which we served. I wanted a good and accurate book to pass down to my grandchildren especially now that people are trying to rewrite out history. This is an excellent reference book for them.

I thought this large, heavy, thick book was really superb. The multitude of photos really brought back emotional feelings within me. Everything was covered in this thorough history of the war in Vietnam. Nothing was left out. The photos really touched me. Of course, everyone has their opinion about the war ~ I'm just so glad that the Smithsonian put this large text together in a most objective and fair view.

Great book as its written by the Smithsonian institution. Very open and covers both the Vietnamese and the United states. It also covers other conflicts tied to Vietnam like Laos and Cambodia. It's very informative for a picture book having over 150 pages.

I bought this for my boyfriend for his birthday along with the World War I and World War II volumes. He has spent hours engrossed in them! They are beautiful and informative and fascinating books. Recommend!

This one is a great book in a good series as I was in the Vietnam War, HOWEVER, someone in the proofreading department screwed up BIG TIME! Page 344, bottom of 4th column above left side of "The Wall", a photo caption states: "In Memoriam a crowd gathers at the dedication of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in November 1982. The two acre wall is inscribed with the name of every member of the US Armed Forces who served in the War." Wrong!!!!! It would be a much bigger wall if that were true! These are just the names of all the Service members KILLED in the Vietnam War (or died later from wounds suffered)! This needs to be corrected! I still gave it 4 stars, because I believe the Reviews are for the Sellers, and I had no problem with the sale and shipping of the book! Dan Arnes, Vietnam 1970-1972

Grandson loves it. Well done.

Very interesting book. Alot of pictures that take you back to the era.

I had gotten this book for my dad. He was in the Vietnam war so he absolutely loved the book.

Great documentary book about history of vietnam war, gave as a gift.

Great book. An investment & interesting read for sure. My son is very interested in this as a topic and has worked on it in school, so for background information, a great incite to his knowledge. It's a big book but worth it - my son is 12.

My father, brother and I all served in Vietnam. Dad served in 1967-1968, my brother in 1968 and I in 1970. Our experiences changed our lives forever both negatively and positively. The book is an excellent read and refreshed my memory of those locations in which we served. I wanted a good and accurate book to pass down to my grandchildren especially now that people are trying to rewrite out history. This is an excellent reference book for them.

I thought this large, heavy, thick book was really superb. The multitude of photos really brought back emotional feelings within me. Everything was covered in this thorough history of the war in Vietnam. Nothing was left out. The photos really touched me. Of course, everyone has their opinion about the war ~ I'm just so glad that the Smithsonian put this large text together in a most objective and fair view.

Great book as its written by the Smithsonian institution. Very open and covers both the Vietnamese and the United states. It also covers other conflicts tied to Vietnam like Laos and Cambodia. It's very informative for a picture book having over 150 pages.

I bought this for my boyfriend for his birthday along with the World War I and World War II volumes. He has spent hours engrossed in them! They are beautiful and informative and fascinating books. Recommend!

This one is a great book in a good series as I was in the Vietnam War, HOWEVER, someone in the proofreading department screwed up BIG TIME! Page 344, bottom of 4th column above left side of "The Wall", a photo caption states: "In Memoriam a crowd gathers at the dedication of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in November 1982. The two acre wall is inscribed with the name of every member of the US Armed Forces who served in the War." Wrong!!!!! It would be a much bigger wall if that were true! These are just the names of all the Service members KILLED in the Vietnam War (or died later from wounds suffered)! This needs to be corrected! I still gave it 4 stars, because I believe the Reviews are for the Sellers, and I had no problem with the sale and shipping of the book! Dan Arnes, Vietnam 1970-1972

Grandson loves it. Well done.

Very interesting book. Alot of pictures that take you back to the era.

I had gotten this book for my dad. He was in the Vietnam war so he absolutely loved the book.

Great documentary book about history of vietnam war, gave as a gift.

Great book. An investment & interesting read for sure. My son is very interested in this as a topic and has worked on it in school, so for background information, a great incite to his knowledge. It's a big book but worth it - my son is 12.

It came wrapped in plastic, so I didn’t get to go through it, but nephew absolutely loved it.

This was a gift for my son. He did not have a book on this war and it gave a good amount of information. Illustrations were good as well.

I got this for my Dad, who’s a Vet...he loves it, very comprehensive and the pictures are fantastic.

Father is a Biet Nam veteran, and Bronze Star recipient. He LOVED this book.

DK does a great job explaining the main events / history in this well done book.

As a person who members Yiena!m, it tells it like it was.

Books are in excellent condition- hope to read them for self education about 3 wars I know little about.

Good to know more!

I liked everything in the book

Very detailed book with lots of illustrations that help explain the ways of the Vietnam war.

Beautiful book with lots of amazing pictures.

I was only 11 when the cease fire ending the Vietnam War took effect, but I will never forget the eerie quiet -- except for some firecrackers popping in the distance -- that pervaded my neighborhood that night. The war was always a backdrop in my childhood, but for some reason I expected a celebration that the thing was finally over. Even as I grew older, I never really understood what happened -- or, more important, why. Within just a few chapters, this book gave me the context to start to understand. It uses straightforward, clear and nonjudgmental reportorial writing augmented by awesome photos, graphics and maps to explain how this regional conflict escalated into the infamous quagmire it became. It is broken down into logical and easily digestible segments that touch on all phases of the war -- military, political and social -- from all sides. The writing is crisp and clear, making a very confusing subject flow with ease. I highly recommend this book.

Thx!

Great details, photographs etc walking one from start to finish on the Vietnam War. A DK treat. Dont pass this one up.

Details from all aspects of the conflict to the present interpretation are well documented with photos, maps, charts, and side bars. A must have for anyone interested in the Vietnam War.

Everything arrived on time and as advertised

The photography is stunning. Very well documented and layed out. My grandson is a history buff, this is his 3rd Smithsonian book. We will continue collecting them!

This book covers it all. Get it.

Awesome book for someone who is likes history

Enjoyed seeing the pictures. Much better then the ones I took during my two tours.

Amazing book. Detailed lots of pictures. I bought for my 9 yr old grandsons.

Great book thank you

Awesome books. Gave to my dad as a gift and he loved it!

Very good illustrated synopsis of the Vietnam War. Excellent for high school and college history courses.

It was a gift to a friend who is an Army Vet & spent a year there..he LOVES the book & especially the photos !!!

Christmas Gifts

Great book

In depth detail, great read!!!

Brought back some memories.

The book was written in. Bought brand new and there is writing in it!!!

Not quite finished reading it, but it sure brings back a lot of memories.

Arrived in perfect condition. Exactly what my boyfriend wanted for Christmas. Very informative.

Husband loved it

Best descriptive account of the Vietnam War I have ever read.

Nice book

My friend was in the war. He Loved the book.

Great quality & fast shipping.

Great history book

Great price

A great book.

I purchased this book as a gift for my son, he's the family history buff. He loved the book, great documentation and illustrations.

It is too heavy and too big so i have not the courage to use it

Interesting views and clarifications

Spine on book broken. Sold as new when it clearly wasn't.

Gift

Smithsonian The definitive illustrated History of the Vietnam war truly delivers. The introduction explains important events that led to the colonization of France in Vietnam to their final expulsion in 1959, with entry of the United States. into the long conflict, and to the United States exit. The book offers a snapshot of key players from all camps engaged, with a chronological listing of the major battles - and some lesser known, (the only American military confrontation with Khmer Rouge) etc. There are familiar, timeless, and profoundly moving war photographs, including photographs of military equipment, weapons and uniforms of the warring factions. If there is a single volume for anyone interested in this still little understood war, this book would be it. This book will fascinate a novice reader and give them comprehensive knowledge, and could perhaps motivate some reader to delve deeper into the details of the Vietnam War, and to pursue other books that cover individual events and battles, such as The Last Valley: Dien Bien Phu and the French Defeat in Vietnam, by Martin Windrow. This single volume will satisfy military history enthusiasts at almost every level of interest. It's a beautiful hardcover book with dust jacket that would be appropriate for libraries, colleges, and private collections.

When it comes to books about war, I'm dating myself here, because when I was in college, the war was going on, and I was in ROTC at the College of William & Mary, and I had the reasonable expectation that I'd be headed off to South Vietnam to stop the spread of communism in southeast Asia. But as it turned out, the war officially ended just before college graduation, so I never saw combat in Vietnam, which was probably a good thing because I was branched by the Army to the Field Artillery, and as a forward observer adjusting artillery, my life expectancy (I was told) could be numbered in minutes: FO's are high priority targets for snipers. The big difference between how the public views the recent and ongoing wars is that today the public sentiment is such that, even if we don't agree with the reasons for going to war, we support the troops. Back then, though, that wasn't necessarily the case: a lot of people DID support the troops but not the war, and protested in the streets and on campus, and there were also a lot of people who thought the GI was a "baby killer" and got spit upon by the public when they came back. That we didn't win the war was also a big issue: There was no "peace with honor," as President Nixon said. It was "split and run" and abandon the South Vietnamese. The North Vietnamese knew they didn't have to win the war military; all they had to do was wait it out, wait until the body count grew higher, watched the American public revolt in the streets, and let the Americans fight a civil war over the Vietnam War, until the house of cards eventually collapsed, which it did. This is, for my generation, the forgotten war, just as Korea was for my fellow veterans. And now, finally, enough time has passed that Americans are moving on from World War II, and talking about, and reflecting on, the Vietnam War. The Smithsonian and DK Books have joined forces to put together this oversize, coffee-table book. The Smithsonian's resources are in-depth and authoritative, and DK Books' ability to design a beautiful book, replete with hundreds of b&w and color photos, means that THIS is the book of choice for most readers. While I enjoy, and have copies of, text-only books about the Vietnam war, it's true that a picture can speak a thousand words. And when the words + pictures combine to give a comprehensive, overall look at the war as it does in this book, the result is noteworthy. Bottom line: If you have any interest in the Vietnam war, this is the book to buy. The cover states, "The Definitive Illustrated History." I can't argue with that. written by A former Redleg

Americans have yet to thoroughly face the facts of the U.S. war in Vietnam (known locally as The American War or the Second Indochina War), including why it happened and the effects of U.S. military actions there on the Vietamese, including long term results of carpet bombings and napalming of civilians, and the dropping of over 18 million gallons of Agent Orange on villages, fields and jungles. Ten years after Lyndon Johnson broke his pledge that no American boys would die in Vietnam--instead, suddenly deploying tens of thousands of troops there--the civil war ended when the North occupied Saigon.Estimates of the number of Vietnamese killed during those ten years range from 1 million to 3.5 million. U.S. bombings of neighboring Laos and Cambodia are believed responsible for between 40,000 and 150,000 civilian deaths, including many children. And nearly 60,000 Americans were killed in the war and another 150,000 were wounded badly enough to be hospitalized. The U.S. government has still not adequately come to grips with the consequences of this war and with the purpose and immorality of it. This DK book does not judge the morality of the Vietnam war. Nor does it firmly place blame. Many readers will appreciate this approach, itrying to absorb the impressive array of facts, figures and photographs instead of grappling with hot button, still-divisive issues of right and wrong at the highest level of government. At the level of variety and scope of information, this book is excellent. It seems almost impossible to come up with a topic that isn't covered here. It begins with "The Background: Before 1959". a history of colonization and broken promises, in cluding the Geneva Accords. Section 2 Is the initial American involvement--advisors, but no troops, 1959-1964. Section 3 is "America Goes to War", January 1965 - September 1967 Section 4: Truning Point Sept 1967 - December 1968 Section 5: Nixon's War Jan 1969 - December 1971 Section 6: Easter Offensive to U.S. Exit Jan 1972 - Jan 1973 Section 7: Endgame and Aftermath. 1973 to 1975 fall of Saigon and beyond. The final section has the aftermath of war--the horror of the Khmer Rouge communists' takeover in Cambodia., communists in Laos.....the refugees from Vietnam, "boat people" desperately trying to find another country to take them in after a dangerous and long escape in small boats; memorials to the dead on both sides. Random look through the book (which is the way most people will read it, although some will read it chronologically and in sections), here are ten topics on consecutive pages with the starting point chosen at random: "War in the Iron Triangle"; "The African American Experience" "An African American Soldier"; "Airpower over South Vietnam" "U.S. Helicopters", "Digging In" "Tunnel Rat"; "War on the Ho Chi Minh"; Combined Action Program"; "The Naval War". Trail": Every page is beautifully designed, despite the often tragic content of the photos, There are oftenlarge color photos sometimes with very compelling black and white pictures--a very stunning layout across every two page spread. Every section has an illustrated timeline. And on the inside of the front and back covers are photos of Vietnam veterans, a sad reminder. "

This has superb photographs and graphics as well. Most subjects are addressed in two pages though some like the Americans held as prisoners of war are given more space. While the pages are large they also have photographs and/or graphics on them so the information on any one subject is somewhat limited. Still at 360 pages this has a good amount of overall information and with the photographs and graphics this is fascinating reading. I have read a lot of books about the Vietnam war. I was not even a teenager when it ended but it had a lasting impact on people I knew and still know and on this country. Despite all I have read I did learn some new things from this book. As mentioned the photographs and graphics in this book are superb. The book starts with the French colonization of the area. Chapter two of the book which begins on page 44 looks at the beginning of the American involvement in the war and covers from March 1959 until December of 1964. The Paris Peace Accords are covered on pages 300 and 301 and the fall of Saigon on pages 324 and 325. Later pages look at not only the fate of Vietnam but also Cambodia and Laos as well and the war's impact on America. Each chapter starts with a timeline that serves as a guide for the upcoming information. There is a fascinating two page section at the end of the book with information for those who want to visit Vietnam and see museums and other memorials related to the war. There is also a nice seven page index at the end of the book. There are a lot of topics covered in this book ranging from American allies during the war, the nurses who served, Vietnamese women at war and prisoner of war objects. The book also looks at how soldiers returning home the the United States were treated and the war in America popular culture. if you are interested in a subject related to the Vietnam War this covers most. This is a nice addition to any collection of books on the Vietnam War. For those new to the subject this is a great starting point and will give the reader a very good understanding of the Vietnam War. Much has been written about this war so if the reader wants there are plenty of books on specific subjects like the Gulf of Tonkin Incident or the Tet Offensive or the Kent State Massacre.

If I could give this book 10 stars, I would! EVERYTHING I always wanted to know about the Vietnam War in the exact format I wanted it to be: a stunning visual guide by the masters at DK, in collaboration with the Smithsonian, which gives you a clue of the high caliber of this work. This is an absolutely essential companion for both students, scholars, and aficionados alike. The amount of work that goes into this book does not go unnoticed. As usual in these guides, the story is told in chronological order. No stones unturned: from the actors of the conflict to the weaponry, helicopters, planes, tanks, ships, lots of maps, graphs, and of course pictures. I am so very impressed with this particular volume, and I do highly recommend it. I own other DK guides like WWI, WWII, or Tanks, and this is among their best.

I am a big fan of DK books, but this is my first Smithsonian one. I love the format of DK books. They have lots of photos and short sections. They're good for those with short attention spans. I am not good at reading non-fiction books, but the DK ones are broken up into small chunks which make it easier to read. My first reaction when I opened this one was that it brought back memories of a Time Life coffee table book of the 1960's that my parents had when I was a child. I was born in the late 60's, so a lot of my knowledge on this war is owed to movies and may not be entirely accurate. This book covers a lot of information, starting in the 1950's and going into the 1970's. I personally don't believe that this one book can cover everything that happened, but it's a great start. It's a thorough overview of the war and the events leading up to it. The photographs bring the subject to life. The book is informative and engaging.

We now own four books in the Smithsonian collection of definitive visual guides and illustrated histories. Each is packed with facts, photographs, maps, diagrams, timelines, and other information to help a person quickly and easily understand the topic. The Vietnam War book is organized chronologically from the events leading up to the war through the aftermath of the conflict. The book contains spreads on important historical figures, weaponry, battles, and related political and social events. For example, there are spreads on African American soldiers' experiences, the anti-war movement in the US, and the media's portrayal of the war. This is a great choice as a resource to learn more about the war without committing to reading a dense textbook, although it can be difficult to read at times - the subject matter is very difficult.

I can always rely on DK books to tell their stories with ample illustrations. This one is no different. I don't own enough DK Smithsonian books to know whether they are laid out the same, but reading this book is like visiting a museum on the Vietnam War. Naturally, it begins with the events just before the war that had an influence on the war itself, and takes the reader through a pictorial journey through to the end. It covers the major events with just the right amount of text to inform and keep you interested, but not enough to bore you. I knew very little about the Vietnam War before reading this book. If you are the least bit curious, buy it. It really is helpful to have a broad knowledge of history.

Admittedly, most of my familiarity regarding Vietnam comes from movies such as "Platoon," "Apocalypse Now," "Casualties of War," "Full Metal Jacket" and "A Bright Shining Lie." Only the last of these movies really has anything based in fact while the others give a sense of what being an American soldier in Vietnam might have been like. Rounding out the rest of my knowledge of Vietnam comes largely from the likes of Philip Caputo's "A Rumor of War," Tim O'Brien's "The Things They Carried" and James McDonough's "Platoon Leader." So that's why I got this book, to learn more about the history of Vietnam and people like Ho Chi Minh and the period of French imperialism that predated the Vietnam War. The beginning of the book has a pre-1959 timeline going as far back as 1800. There is sound coverage of the siege of Dien Bien Phu in 1954 (Vietnamese besieging the French). It’s in 1959 that American involvement commences, just before the Kennedy administration. What’s especially likeable about the book from a reading standpoint is that it’s rich with graphics and text arranged in a digestible fashion. Never too much of one or the other. In addition, instead of just plowing through the history chronologically, there are two-page pauses to highlight relevant aspects of the specific Vietnam era being discussed. For example, there are write-ups about the Green Berets, tunnel rats, chemical warfare, mountain people, Kent State, etc. All in all, the book is an excellent primer for anyone seeking to learn about the Vietnam War era.

This has a dust jacket but the book itself has the same printed pictures on the cover and back. It is a large coffee table sized book that is completely packed with great maps and pictures. I found the maps very helpful to help me better conceptualize the region and the war. There's also a wonderful timeline, so they've done a great job of including visual aids as well as pictures, though it is packed with actual pictures from the war. When I saw "DK" on the book I wasn't sure exactly if this was a book for kids or adults, but it is really for anyone that's of an age to be interested in and understand war. My 21 year old really enjoyed looking through it, and commented that he really liked seeing the guns, ammo, and tank pictures. It's strange to see the first 'full color' war laid out in pictures. The pictures of the soldiers are really fascinating to me. The text explains the major movements, objectives and goes pretty deep into the war. I think it's a great book.

I love the DK books and the Smithsonian. They do excellent work. This book is no exception. Hundreds of photos, maps, sidebars, you name it. There are seven chapters from the background to the aftermath. All the major players are here along with stories from regular citizens and the war's impact on life there and here at home. The one drawback is the size and weight of this volume which makes reading a physical challenge. You might want to place it on a table with good illumination.

DK books specialize in visual histories that feature spectacularly beautiful graphics and reader-friendly text that condenses information into easy-to-assimilate chunks. Some readers may find this tendency to summarize data, rather than to revel in it, less than informative. It's true that DK's The Vietnam War is not an exhaustive history of that controversial conflict. But in combination with its extensive visual imagery, the information it contains is suitably analytical and extensive enough to provide a solid, often harrowing overview of the subject. Following the French withdrawal from Indochina in 1954, the resultant vacuum in leadership and power was alarming enough to attract American attention. The inability or unwillingness to view the ongoing conflict as a nationalist struggle for colonial independence led to branding it as an egregious example of Communist armed expansion. As a symbolic target for Cold War maneuvering, it began to draw America's early attention. In the wake of the loss of Cuba to the Soviet orbit and the failure of the Hungarian uprising, fears about Vietnam - given its strategic location (and the presence of a potentially vast amount of offshore oil and other valuable resources) - began laying the groundwork for intervention. With the arrival of the first American military "advisers" during the late fifties and early sixties, the basis for a protracted struggle was firmly in place. The assassination of President Kennedy seemed to unleash entrenched Cold War attitudes, and coupled with Soviet expansionism and Chinese Communist hostility towards the West, made something like the Gulf of Tonkin resolution (the pretext for military escalation in Vietnam) a near inevitability. The expansion of the war and the concomitant cost in lost lives and lost treasure, made an exit from the trap that now was Vietnam almost impossible. The tragedy of the war is still being felt today. This DK photo history of the Vietnam War does a superb job in bringing it to life for the reader. The pictures and text, some of it quite disturbing, all of it a cautionary tale, brought back some powerful memories of the war. Memories of friends lost, lives ruined, and almost universal shared pain. Our bitter distrust of government actions and explanations stem from this era. This DK history of the Vietnam War has a powerful, cumulative impact on the reader and is well worth reading.

I’m by no means an expert on the Vietnam War but I was born into the world at the beginning of this war and it lasted well into my formative years growing up. It was a daily fact of life driving down the street behind cars with POW/MIA bumper stickers, flags and window displays, yellow ribbons, schoolmates with fathers and siblings deployed, etc. When I was in my teens and twenties, so many films about Vietnam brought to light different viewpoints about Viet Nam, and those films were a social education on the topic as we weren’t getting school curriculum on it. It was such a delicate subject with so many young men dying, questions about the legitimacy of the war, itself, and so many defections to Canada. Even as a child without a lot of knowledge about war, in general, I could see why it was such a difficult topic to broach. You could feel the tension in the air whenever the subject came up around the adults in the room. It was an intense time on the home front looking at it from the eyes of a child. At one point, my father was about to deploy with the Navy but a few days before, his group was withdrawn. The range of emotions attached to this war was overwhelming. It was all gray area for a long long time and, in many ways, it still is. Years later, in graduate school, I had the good fortune to have as my mentor and thesis advisor, Stephen Wright, who wrote the book, Meditations in Green, which is a highly regarded piece of fiction about Vietnam. He is also a Viet Nam Vet so he knows the deal and I found that book to be a good primer on Viet Nam. It’s a hard book to read in certain sections but I highly recommend it. Moving on to this book, and while I cannot say this is comprehensive or “definitive,” I can say that this is a good effort to bring this history out in a visual way. (I had lots of issues with a Smithsonian book on the American Revolution – notable exclusions.) This hard-bound coffee table book has a real Life Magazine quality to it with imagery we can interpret using our emotions to form our own conclusions. The troops endured the horror of the war and a different kind of horror upon their return. Many of the images capture their distress in sometimes harsh reality. What were these young men to do? They performed a duty to their country but were largely forgotten upon their return. And, even worse, accused for their participation. It was an ugly ugly time in America and around the world. The black and white imagery emphasizes the horrors of this war and because DK Books is involved in its publication, you can be assured of the quality. The text is fairly comprehensive as well, but the imagery is the real stunner in the telling of this story. A very nice joint effort of The Smithsonian and DK Books. Recommend.

I have never been disappointed in a DK book. I have owned a number of them, including one on the American Civil War and one on World War I. Having written a couple of history books myself, and being familiar with the cost of illustrations, I cannot help but wonder how DK can publish a book of such quality with so many high quality illustrations for such a reasonable price. They deserve to be commended. I can see several reasons why one would purchase a copy of THE VIETNAM WAR: THE DEFINITIVE ILLUSTRATED HISTORY (DK Publishing, 2017). Those who do not remember that period of our history will find it an interesting and “entertaining” way to become familiar with the Vietnam War and how it changed America politically, culturally, etc. Perhaps the most likely one to purchase the book is a veteran of the war, not so much to stir memories, but to use as a teaching tool while trying to tell grandchildren about their war experience. The book is filled with numerous illustrations, timelines, and trivia about the war. The promotional material says THE VIETNAM WAR is a “Definitive Illustrated History.” Whether that proves true or not remains to be seen. Perhaps someone else will publish another history that is more definitive. At least one reviewer has pointed to some factual errors. One is particularly embarrassing for the editors. On pages 344-345, there is a photograph of the dedication of the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington DC with the caption: "A crowd gathers at the dedication of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in November 1982. The two-acre wall is inscribed with the name of every member of the US Armed Forces who served in the war." I don’t think anyone would fail to recognize the error. But such an obvious mistake should not have been overlooked. Whatever errors of fact may exist, THE VIETNAM WAR: THE DEFINITIVE ILLUSTRATED HISTORY is a great book at a great price.

This book is beautifully done. It has clear photographs to support well written paragraphs. It’s a good book to give young ones who are reading about the Vietnam war with more detail. It is full of information and facts presented in an uncomplicated manner. It would definitely make a great gift to those who collect war books. I would not hesitate to recommend this.

Did not purchase it. Public library. Great book. About everything most people would ever need to know about our unfortunate incursions into southeast Asia. Great photos. Great explanations. One could wish to learn more and become more of an expert, but the majority of us would be more than well served and informed by enjoying this fantastic book.

This book provides a rich, immersive introduction to the Vietnam War's place in global and American history, but it adds a great deal of emphasis on not only the stages of the war but also its social effects. This volume serves as a worthwhile companion volume to other resources one uses to study the scale, stages, and aftermath of the Vietnam War.

This book is an excellent narrative about the Vietnam War from the early origins to after effects of the collapse of the South Vietnamese regime. Since this is a DK publication, the book is not meant as a serious scholarly work, but rather a popular history with many photographs, illustrations and similar materials. This book is very engaging and very informative. The most iconic photos are here, whether the famous shooting of the suspects collaborator, to the running girl and others, but there are many many photos I have never seen before that are just as powerful. I appreciate that the book outlines the fall of South Vietnam and the spillover to Cambodia, Laos and the exodus of the boat people. Overall: it isn't really right to call this book entertaining, because this is about death and destruction and turmoil of course. But this book is an excellent cursory examination of the war and it is pretty encompassing and is compelling reading. Very very good.

A gorgeous book available at an incredibly low price. A high quality, gift-worthy book with hundreds and hundreds of brilliant pictures printed on nice high-quality paper. The presentation alone is amazing. The content is even better. An engrossing visual walk-through, it tells the story of a war that was sadly glossed over in history class when I was a kid. We focused on WWII for months and barely spent a day on the subject of Vietnam. Easy to follow, thoughtfully broken up, and yet incredibly informative and detailed as to the source of, reactions to, and consequences of this awful conflict. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking to learn what every American should know and never forget about our nation's involvement in this terrible war. Highly recommended.

This volume is a beautifully produced history of the Vietnam War, put together by the Smithsonian to document the people, places and events that surrounded this difficult period in the history of the United States. The Smithsonian has collected an amazing amount of information and pictorial material into a single book, suitable for anyone who is interested in learning more about the struggle to prevent Southeast Asia from coming under Communist control. Although I am certain that the book presents a reasonably accurate recounting of the war, it does suffer from promoting one side of several contentious perspectives that made this conflict so divisive among Americans who lived through the era. Because I was of draft age at the height of the war (with a younger brother who actually fought in it), I believe I have a perspective on issues that seemed so troublesome at the time, and which are not even acknowledged in this book. I had hoped for a balanced picture of three important yet controversial issues: the Tet Offensive, the assassination of South Viet Nam’s President Diem, and the My Lai Massacre. For instance, Walter Cronkite announced to the nation that America's role in the Tet Offensive had been a failure. Yet, more recent reports of that battle (cf. James S. Robbins’ This Time We Win: Revisiting the Tet Offensive) suggest that it was a success. Why would our news media want to depress the families of soldiers who had been placed in harm’s way, often seriously maimed or killed, by promoting a one-sided presentation of what happened? Soldiers who fought in the war might come away discouraged by the lack of balance on some of these issues, but the book has no equal when it comes to dramatic photographs and summaries of the news reports of the war, as my generation remembers it.

I generally find the Smithsonian oversize photohistory books to be among the most attractive books in my collection. I have their books on WW I, WW II, the American Civil War, and, now, Vietnam. As a history of the Vietnamese war this does not come close to rivaling either David Halberstam's wonderful classic THE BEST AND THE BRIGHTEST or Stanley Karnow's VIETNAM. If you really want to understand what happened in Vietnam, go to those books. But the subtitle of this book merely claims that it is the Definitive ILLUSTRATED History, and I believe that that is true. Even if you have both Halberstam and Karnow, this is a wonderful supplement. Neither of those books is lavish with photos (without getting up and checking, I don't remember Halbertstam having ANY photos). So I do believe that I can say that if you don't just want to understand what happened in Vietnam, but what it looked like, this book is crucial. Otherwise, you are likely to have your visual memory of the war dictates by APOCALYPSE NOW. I did not serve in the war. I was deeply opposed to it and even though I desperately wanted to be a fighter pilot in high school, I couldn't see joining the Navy or Air Force to serve in a war that I detested on every level. Also, I think I was the second year of the lottery, and my number was 248, which guaranteed that I wasn't going to have to serve in the war. But from my stateside point of view, Vietnam just didn't seem to be as lovely as portrayed in the Coppola film. This book provides a healthy, but still visually arresting, picture of the war. It is sometimes said that until Vietnam we had never lost a war, but that isn't true. It is hard to say in what sense we won the Korean War or in the Gulf War of 1991 or in Afghanistan or Iraq. We seem as a nation to have secured the wrong lesson from World War Two. Not every conflict can be won by war. Or can be won at all. The problem in Vietnam is that we were trying to force both South and North Vietnam to accept political solutions that they did not want to accept. We ignored an agreement whereby all of Vietnam would have voted for a national president because we realized that Ho Chi Minh, a Communist, would have won. Nothing that we did or could have done was going to alter the fact that he was the great national hero in Vietnam for the 20th Century. There simply was no way to change the minds of an entire nation. There is a similar problem today. The problem today in the entire Middle East is twofold: on the presence of Western militaries and corporations in Islamic nations against their will. The populace of every Middle Eastern nation without exception wants all European or American presence out. We have outlived our welcome by nearly a hundred years. We are there because a large number of major corporations profit from being there. And we are there because of oil. The second major problem is Israel. I have with some reluctance come to the conclusion that Zionism was a well-intentioned but ultimately mistaken notion. It was a late 19th Century movement that received considerable additional support because of the extraordinary horrors of WW II. But the brute fact is that Jews could find a homeland only by taking the land away from someone else. This isn't the place to discuss all the details of this (like Zionist leaders putting extreme pressure on the United States to take no Jewish immigrant after WW II, so that they would in effect be homeless unless they migrated to Israel. I'm a Christian and was raised Southern Baptist and understand why many evangelicals support Jews being in Israel: it supports a popular but mistaken concept of Biblical prophecy. If the Jews somehow owned Israel despite not having been there for nearly two thousand years, how much more is it true that the United States should revert to the Native American populations that we took the land from. But my point is that we have since WW II been fighting conflicts that had no military solution. The military component of things merely messes things up or postpones the inevitable. The lesson we should have learned from Vietnam is that if you need an army to impose your will upon a people, then you have probably imposed yourself into a situation where you don't belong at all. We could never have "won" Vietnam and there is no way that we can "win the war against terrorism" by a prolonged enforced presence in the Middle East, with or without the military. Want to win the war against terrorism? Get out of the Middle East. Try to promote non-petroleum solutions to our energy needs. That was the unlearned lesson of Vietnam. And as someone who is a student of our military involvement in WW II, it has pained me to see use misuse and abuse our military for decades after decade for what are largely economic needs. We spend more on the military than the next ten largest militaries in the world. That really is a sign that things are out of whack. Eisenhower warned us about the growing danger posed by the industrial and military complex. Vietnam was the first war that resulted from that, but it was hardly the last. Vietnam and the war in Iraq have more in common than most suppose. Why were we in Vietnam? Deep down, for the same reason we are in Iraq. [/offsoapbox] So, a helpful visual aid for understanding why we were in Vietnam. I definitely recommend this. But be sure to read Halbertstam and Karnow as well. Also helpful is Patterson's volume in the Oxford History of the United States. Though it doesn't address Vietnam at length, also helpful is Tony Judt's spectacular POST-WAR, a massive volume published by Penguin. It is by far the best book written about the world following World War II, and while it focuses mainly on Europe, it describes the logic of the world we live in. See, this is the problem. when you read a book, it always leads you to more books. So just keep reading.

I let my dad take a look at this. He was impressed with the "fair and balanced" coverage of the controversial opinions pro and con in support and against the war, particularly regarding the Tet Offense military and political results. As a photographer, I was mainly interested in the photographs where have an emotional impact that no words can portray. While I am a Veteran, I'm not a history buff so I can't comment on the accuracy of the book. It's chock full of information though so I am sure there is a lot for me to learn in addition to what I already am familiar with. I look forward to reading this more - but at the moment, the pictures are enough for me to enjoy.

A stupendous coffee table book. Smazing phtos, informatine and imparcial text. DK is specialized in this kind of book. But they surpassed themselves with this one.

The book is very thorough on describing the events of the war. There is some history on what was there before the war started and general history of the region. There are maps and timelines, and lots and lots of photos. There are short biographies of notable figures of the war along with their respective roles in the war. Some of the photos in the book are quite disturbing, but this is a disturbing subject, so there. I learned a lot from the book about the period history, and it gave me more thorough understanding of the facts.

For nearly forty years the story of the Vietnam War has been told over and over through books, film and media. In DK's The Vietnam War we are given not only a beautiful tribute to the men and women who served with courage and honor but we are also offered a concise overview of what happened. The Vietnam War was one of the darkest and tragic times in our history. It is a war that will never be erased from American memory. Through this book you are offered a visual history that has brought the Vietnam War back into our consciousness.

Beautiful and thorough. DK never disappoints. It is a wonderful introductory look at the Vietnam war. All the major events, views, and players have been listed and described. The incredible illustrations, a signature mark of DK, accompany all the relevant information. Very comprehensive look at the War. The photos add so much to it; feels like visiting a museum.

This book is a wonderful addition to your library. It's The coffee table book but the photographs are unforgettable. The history is sad but amazing. I would recommend this for any collector or student

First of all, I hate to shoot down the theory by other reviewers that this is a good and comprehensive illustrated guide to the war in Vietnam. However it is not. While the photos appear to be accurate (I've seen many before), I would not recommend this book for teaching anything about the war. In my first scan through it , I found 3 errors...that's before I have even sat down to actually read and study it. The most glaring and the reason I gave it one star...seems simple, but it is glaring in it's inaccuracy. Towards the rear of the book , a picture of the 'wall' in Washington D.C. is captioned with this: "In memoriam, A crowd gathers at the dedication of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in November 1982. The two acre wall is inscribed with the name of every member of the US Armed Forces who served in the war." REALLY?? How about the names of those who died in the war or as a result of injuries received there. That's a bad mistake by any standard. Also a depiction of the helicopters used by American troops in the war fails to have an illustration of the CH-46 Sea Knight used extensively by Marine troops. As I said, these may seem simple mistakes , but if you are going to print a book such as this and call it 'definitive', maybe you should have better editors. And, this is from the Smithsonian?? I had planned on keeping this book mainly for my sons, and grandchildren. But, I will either have to toss it or edit it myself. Being a Marine Vietnam Vet myself I can testify to better books out there on the subject, one of the better ones is the Time-Life Series "The Vietnam Experience" by Boston Publishing, while it is extensive at 20+ volumes, it is accurate.

I had an almost 600 page book about the complicated Vietnam War. It was so detailed and wordy that I lost interest after about 100 pages. I then found this book by DK Publishing. It is very easy to read, full of photos, side bars, and quotes. DK Publishing makes their books enjoyable and are written for laypeople. I'm glad I bought this and look forward to reading more of their history books. It’s listed as though written for children. That’s not accurate. It’s better suited for the adult layperson.

The Smithsonian Vietnam War book explained the horrors american soldiers went in the country with decades of war experience only armed with Ak 47 and farming clothes. The exhibits in Smithsonian features a life size Bell UH-Huey helicopter and also well detailed exhibit showing Americans suffered after the failure to contain the objective. 10/10 would visit Smithsonian Again.

I got this as a gift for a friend whose 9-yr-old son's father died from cancer he got from Agent Orange he was exposed to in 'Nam. He's always asking my husband questions because he's also a 'Nam veteran and we both thought this book would go a long way to helping him understand what I was all about.

I have this and a few more on my coffee table. Great quality and read

Purchased for my father-in-law for his Christmas present. He was in the hospital over Christmas so we did his gifts after he got out of hospital. He has dementia and Covid didn’t help that. So he has began to talk about his time in the service in Vietnam. He absolutely loves this book. He looks at it several times a day.

Many interesting photos and great timelines presented to aid in getting a clearer understanding of what transpired.

The men in my family both young and not so young fought in Vietnam and I am proud of them. They came home in one piece and a part of their spirit wounded. I put a picture of my father,taken in Vietnam,R.I.P.,on top of the book so many can see and read. They look fine together.

Got it vary nice thank u

Awesome and amazing book about this war. A must have for your collection.

Reasing this book has been a milestone for me because I always hated reading, couldn't even get through a 90 page-short book but after reading this book I realised the way stuff is written that makes all the difference. This book will give you a full background of the Vietnam war, explain every possible detail of the war itself and even a brief account of the subsequent years up until the 21st century for both the American veterans and Vietnam (and the rest of Indochina). The book is also very rich in images, documents and personal stories, which definitely helped a millennial (quite a depressing term) like me to understand quite well how things were back in the day.

A great, big colourful book in the Dorling Kindersley tradition. Lavishly illustrated, it acts as a release valve from all of those grim first-person narratives on the subject of the Vietnam War. Well printed on fine paper, with a multi-textured cover, it will look grand on any coffee table.

Great book, full of detail and beautifully illustrated. Very comprehensive account of the Vietnam War, post, during and after. Super value.

A fantastic book. Up there amongst the best books on vietnam.

A good heavy book full of facts

Great book on one of my favourite subjects

The book gave me a insight into the war America was never going to win

All good

O livro é muito valioso para quem deseja entender em profundidade o contexto da Guerra do Vietnã. A obra faz um retrospecto histórico desde o Séc. XIX para que saibamos e entendamos os motivos que culminaram com a eclosão dos últimos conflitos ocorridos no Sudeste Asiático. As imagens da guerra não possuem retoques ou edições que comprometam o entendimento de quão violento, brutal e implacável foi a Guerra do Vietnã. E a qualidade dos textos e da impressão é a de sempre, afinal de contas, trata-se da DK Books! Imperdível!

Peccato non esistano libro del genere in lingua italiana un vero peccato

Sehr gute Fotos Informationen

excellent scripture pictures of this book great value

The book is everything I hope it would be.

Entrega rápida, produto bem completo!

Je possède de très nombreux ouvrages sur la guerre du Vietnam, ce nouvel album photo constitue tout simplement un incontournable. Les différentes phases de la guerre sont illustrées avec des photos, des cartes ou des dessins, tout est là, à acheter sans hésiter, surtout à ce prix... !

This book is one of the best