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I was born the year the last American soldier left Vietnam, and I have grown up under the pall that the Vietnam War continues to cast over this nation. The regret and confusion in my parents generation continues in the nation's subconscious, blackening our memories and passing its scars on to the next generation.

I read this book after a visit to the Vietnam Memorial in Washington D.C. in order to understand the passion and emotion that sit deep in our nation's heart. I was not disappointed.

Karnow not only provides a supurb history of Vietnam and its most recently fought war, but also speaks of the intensity of emotion that seared this war into the national consiousness. Karnow provides a textbook understanding of the war with the objectivity of a reporter who followed the events in Vietnam since its French occupation just after World War II.

The strength of Karnow's book is that he places the Vietnam War in context of the history of Vietnam. This historical knowledge is essential in understanding America's experience and the many miscalculations made during the conflict. Karnow's book will be read by many generations of people who want to understand this defining moment in American history.

"Vietnam: A History" is a masterfully written history of America's involvement in Vietnam - certainly one of the two best single-volume histories (along with "A Bright Shining Lie," by Neil Sheehan) of America's most regrettable war that I've read. Written by Stanley Karnow, a former Southeast Asian correspondent for "Time" and "Life" magazines, and "The Washington Post," this book is a comprehensive and fascinating look at the Vietnam war, from its underlying causes at the end of World War II, to the final takeover of South Vietnam by its Communist neighbor, North Vietnam, in April 1975.

Karnow delivers with crisp and precise prose an account of the Vietnam War which is both fair and objective. He analyzes the conflict from both the political and military standpoint, and is unsparing in his criticism of errors made by political and military leaders on all sides of the conflict. Three areas of this book were especially interesting to me: first, the author's account of the conflict between the French and Viet Minh, and how the French were defeated at Dienbienphu in 1954; second, how the U.S. government formulated its Vietnam policy under the Kennedy administration, and how that policy ultimately failed; and third, how Richard Nixon, upon becoming President in 1969, changed America's Vietnam policy and began the process of "Vietnamizing" the war. (Karnow's candid description of how the Kennedy administration initially supported South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem, then tacitly approved of the 1963 coup d'etat which resulted in Diem's murder is fascinating.)

"Vietnam: A History" is an essential book for the reader interested in gaining a good understanding of the war and its causes. Highly recommendable reading!

This book is an excellent factual overview of the American experience in Vietnam. Stanley Karnow was there, as a reporter, and this book has become a staple in the vast collection of American Vietnam War books.

This is an excellent primer for those looking for a basic chronological understanding of the events of the war. Unlike so many of the more recent volumes on the subject, this book contains almost no speculation. This book is well researched, well written, and pretty safe, in that you can rely on the factual veracity of its contents.

If you're looking for complex political theories, you'll need to dive deeper into the subject, such as Logevall's Choosing War, or Kaiser's American Tragedy.

This book also contains some excellent, if standard, photographs, a basic chronology, and a very brief 'cast of characters' that are all of use to the beginner. If you are said beginner, you also want to tackle Sheehan's A Bright Shining Lie.