Description

Immediate dispatch from Somerset. Nice book in great condition. Lovely example of this book. Hardcover. English. See images for condition.

About the book >.>.> This is a brief but comprehensive account of the ‘half-war’ fought in Vietnam between 1954 and 1973. The struggle was a classic example of how conventional forces can be sucked into the guerilla morass. Anxious to stem the tide of communism flooding eastwards America gave increasing military and economic aid to South Vietnam in the mistaken belief that a little more would tip the scales in her favour. That it never did is a sign that sophisticated weaponry is useless against an elusive dedicated and brainwashed enemy nurtured on the teachings of Mao Tse Tung and Ho Chi Minh. It was a crusading era against world communism at the height of the Cold War but the Americans were conditioned by possible Soviet reaction and concerned with the avoidance of a third World War. In 1973 America thankfully extricated her forces from the morass but the cost was untold loss of life; destruction and human misery: nearly 50000 Americans were killed in combat. The main events of the war are narrated in chronological sequence producing a clear logical account readily understood by the in- terested layman. The distinguished commen- tator Major Edgar O’Ballance discusses US strategy and tactics the decisions and actions of the various commanders the capabilities of the various weapons in the jungle and the problems associated with the raising and train- ing of the neglected and abused Army of the Republic of Vietnam as well as many other aspects of the war. Failures and shortcomings have not been glossed over. (SP)