The Tunnels of Cu-Chi

You learn what it was like for the "heroic Viet Cong battling the huge American invaders" from their tunnel complexes. If you can stomach the authors' overt bias, then this is a good read.

Good book about the tunnels in vietnam. I didn't know much about these tunnels until this book. Those rats had big balls to go in there. Worth your money.

I went to Viet Nam last year, and bought this book from a street kid outside the former US Embassy, now a museum, with a decidedly different perspective from the US's. The book was a xeroxed version of the real thing. The book, in combination with seeing the tunnels themselves (and reading another book "When Heaven and Earth Changed Places"), gave me great insight into the problems we faced there, and how we might actually have come out on top, and why we didn't. It's a well written, exciting book. It focuses some on the strategies and problems surrounding the tunnels, but mostly on the tunnels themselves, and those that fought the wars in the tunnels. Seeing the tunnels is surreal. There is an AK47 shooting range nearby where the Vietnamese can relive moments of former glory, and as you visit, you can hear shots ringing out. They are proud of their victory, but in some ways look up to America, or at least want to have certain things America has. I've heard so many arguments on Viet Nam. We could have won.. we never could have won. Through this book and some other data points, I learned for the first time the military issues involved(not just political science stuff.) I learned how the tunnels were key in launching the Tet offensive, which broke us politically, although according to this book, and the Vets on the trip, not militarily. Our failure to properly understand the people and their use of these tunnels cost us dearly.

This is a very educational book on the Vietnam war - a topic most people have at best a fuzzy understanding of. The American tunnel rats were incredibly brave (and at least a tad crazy), fighting against the clever and dedicated Viet Cong enemy on their own turf - actually, under their turf, in tunnels rigged with booby traps and other dangers. I learned a lot about the war with perspectives from both sides of the conflict.

This is a great book which can compliment your viewing of Mickey Grant's 1 hour film shot in Vietnam titled, "The Cu Chi Tunnels." Tom's book also includes much about the "Tunnel Rats". The film deals much more with the Vietnamese side which has been so often not been revealed.

As a Tunnel Rat that spent time in the tunnels in the Iron Triangle, the "Tunnels of Cu Chi" recounts many of the episodes that happened in the area. I used this book to explain the what part of my duties in VietNam was like. It tells the tale with out embelishment nor as a typical war story. I recommend it to all "Rats" familys to give them better understanding of what being a "Tunnel Rat" was like in VietNam.