Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: In the Jaws of History by Bui Diem, Diem Bui, David Chanoff ISBN: 0-395-42637-5 Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Co Pub. Date: August, 1987 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.5 (4 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: S. Vietnamese diplomat's POV
Comment: This book was my first in-depth introduction into the intricacies of the Viet Nam War. I feel like I've only scratched the surface of this monolithic subject.
In the final chapter, Mr. Bui lists the main reasons why the war was so unmanageable and why the US (and coincidentally S. Viet Nam) eventually lost it. The reason listed last (the problems resulting from US intervention) is the focus of his book.
"The South Vietnamese people, and especially the South Vietnamese leaders, myself among them, bear the ultimate responsibility for the fate of their nation, and to be honest, they have much to regret and much to be ashamed of. But it is also true that the war's cast of characters operated within a matrix of larger forces that stood outside the common human inadequacies and failings. And it was these forces that shaped the landscape on which we all moved."
"First...was the obduracy of France, which in the late forties insisted on retaining control of its former colony rather than conceding independence in good time to a people who hungered for it. Second was the ideological obsession of Vietnam's Communists. Not content with fighting to slough off a dying colonialism, they relentlessly sought to impose on the Vietnamese people their dogma of class warfare and proletarian dictatorship. Finally came the massive intervention by the United States, inserting into our struggle for independence and freedom its own overpowering dynamic. These three forces combined to distort the basic nature of Vietnam's emergence from colonialism, ensuring that the struggle would be more complex and bloodier than that of so many other colonies which achieved nationhood during mid-century."
In this book, you definitely will get a S. Vietnamese diplomat's point of view. I was hoping for more on the common man's outlook, the characteristics of the Vietnamese people themselves, and the demographics of the country, but it is not provided at all in this tome. I think this would have done a lot to make the actions of the S. Vietnamese government understandable, if not excusable.
Also, another weakness of the book is that Mr. Bui is always quick to point out American missteps, but rarely expounds on S. Vietnamese imperfections. For example, he writes that one huge problem was corruption. But he never fully elaborates on the nature of this corruption.
The story is easy to read except for when you start to get towards the end. The reason being that no more new insights will be given, and you already know what the disastrous outcome will be.
Rating: 4
Summary: A unique perspective of the Vietnamese nationalist dilemma.
Comment: "In the Jaws of History" is most valuable for Bui Diem's account of his early years in the North, when the "great dilemma in the lives for all nationalists was coming to a head". Nationalists saw collaboration with the French as "repugnant", but then so was "giving the nation ... over to a future ruled by Ho Chi Minh, Vo Nguyen Giap, and the Indochinese Communist Party" who were then murdering nationalist leaders in Hanoi and along the Red River. Giap's role in the purge of the nationalist Dai Viet and VNQDD needs to be kept in mind by those who tend to accept as fact the popular communist myths woven around its leadership figures. "In the Jaws of History" is perhaps best read along with Bui Tin's memoirs "Following Ho Chi Minh: The Memoirs of a North Vietnamese Colonel".
Rating: 5
Summary: Outstanding view of Vietnam war from different perspective
Comment: This book offers a compelling and fascinating read. The perspective is one we don't see in most of our histories of the Vietnam conflict: the view of a South Vietnam nationalist who tries to save his nation from the Communists. The absence of bitterness, the appraisals of both the weakness and strength of his South Vietnamese compatriots, his views on the American intervention: all are fascinating.
Overall, this is one of the best books I have ever read about the conflict: it's right up there with Stanley Karnow's well-regarded book.
 |
Title: Following Ho Chi Minh: The Memoirs of a North Vietnamese Colonel by Tin Bui, Judy Stowe, Do Van, Carlyle A. Thayer, Bui Tin ISBN: 0824822331 Publisher: University of Hawaii Press Pub. Date: January, 1999 List Price(USD): $20.00 |
 |
Title: From Enemy To Friend: A North Vietnamese Perspective on the War by Tin Bui, Nguyen Ngoc Bich, Bui Tin ISBN: 155750881X Publisher: Naval Institute Press Pub. Date: 17 May, 2002 List Price(USD): $25.95 |
 |
Title: Buddha's Child : My Fight to Save Vietnam by Nguyen Cao Ky, Marvin Wolf ISBN: 0312281153 Publisher: St. Martin's Press Pub. Date: 17 May, 2002 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
 |
Title: A Vietcong Memoir : An Inside Account of the Vietnam War and Its Aftermath by Troung Nhu Tang ISBN: 0394743091 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 12 March, 1986 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
 |
Title: Last Reflections on a War: Bernard B. Fall's Last Comments on Vietnam by Bernard B. Fall, Don Oberdorfer ISBN: 0811709043 Publisher: Stackpole Books Pub. Date: March, 2000 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
