Vietnam: 9a War on Two Fronts

It's impossible to tell the story of the Vietnam War without taking sides, so Sidney Lens doesn't bother. He was (and remains) against the war for moral reasons, depicting the US as an imperialist power that stood in the way of Vietnamese independence after the Vietminh defeated the French. Lens traces the history of US involvement, including the lies surrounding the Gulf of Tonkin, the rise of the peace movement, the spread of the war into Cambodia and Laos, and the Strategic Hamlets that the US military used to control the Vietnamese peasants they were supposed to be protecting.It's surprising how much important information he covers in just 100-odd pages. The result is an excellent introduction to the topic. If you haven't read about the Vietnam War, start here. You'll get through this book easily, and you'll see the war for what is was. After this one, try Marilyn Young's "The Vietnam Wars," which covers the same ground as this book, but in much more detail.