Herring, George C. America's Longest War
Herring writes a broad and sweeping history of the Vietnam War,fitting it within its historical context. He recounts how two sisters,riding elephants, led a rebellion against China's dominance in the firstcentury A.D. just as they resisted French imperialism in the 20th century. He demonstrates how the roots of the American/Vietnam War were seededin 1945 when Vietnam first declared its independence from France, and howthe United States helped France re-establish itself there while claimingfriendship with Vietnam. By the late 40's, the United States was worriedabout the spread of Communism in Europe. During that time, Herring reportsthat Vietnam made overtures to the United States that were badly managedand affected by cultural and racial prejudice, setting up a pattern thatwould result in American concerns about the spread of communism in
shifted its support more to France, and the outbreak of theKorean Conflict served to confirm U. Communist China saw the advantageand began giving the aid to Vietnam that the U. He also includes enoughinformation about the Vietnamese view to make their actions and reactionsunderstandable. administrations thatwe knew what was best for the region. By the timeEisenhower took office, government leaders fully embraced the "dominotheory," that if Vietnam became Communist, the rest of the region'scountries would fall to communism, one by one. In his approach, Herring's report of the war helps avoid thedemonizing of specific individuals and demonstrates that America had a longslow slide into the quagmire Vietnam became. Herring wrote a book that told a complex story as compactly aspossible while including the political, military and diplomatic influencesthat led to the events as they took place. heast Asia as well as Eastern Europe. The book includes an extensive annotated bibliography that is reallyan overview, with commentary, of much of the literature on the Vietnamconflict.
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