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The Vietnam War

An Intimate History

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The Vietnam War

By: Geoffrey C. Ward, Ken Burns
Narrated by: Fred Sanders, Ken Burns, Brian Corrigan
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About this listen

From the award-winning historian and filmmakers of The Civil War, Baseball, The War, The Roosevelts, and others: a vivid, uniquely powerful history of the conflict that tore America apart - the companion volume to the major multipart PBS film to be aired in September 2017.

More than 40 years after it ended, the Vietnam War continues to haunt our country. We still argue over why we were there, whether we could have won, and who was right and wrong in their response to the conflict. When the war divided the country, it created deep political fault lines that continue to divide us today. Now, continuing in the tradition of their critically acclaimed collaborations, the authors draw on dozens and dozens of interviews in America and Vietnam to give us the perspectives of people involved at all levels of the war: US and Vietnamese soldiers and their families, high-level officials in America and Vietnam, antiwar protestors, POWs, and many more. The book plunges us into the chaos and intensity of combat, even as it explains the rationale that got us into Vietnam and kept us there for so many years. Rather than taking sides, the book seeks to understand why the war happened the way it did and to clarify its complicated legacy. Beautifully written, this is a tour de force that is certain to launch a new national conversation.

©2017 Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns (P)2017 Random House Audio
Military Southeast Asia United States War Vietnam War Roosevelt Family Thought-Provoking Emotionally Gripping Inspiring Imperialism Air Force
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Critic reviews

"Lucid, flowing, and dramatic...robustly detailed writing...eye-opening...powerful in its own right.... In their new 'intimate' yet capacious history, the award-winning, audience-enthralling duo of historian and screenwriter Ward and documentarian extraordinaire Burns investigate the complex, divisive, and tragic Vietnam War from a unique plurality of perspectives." (Donna Seaman, Booklist)

"The melancholy tone of Ken Burns's voice exactly suits the mood of this history of the Vietnam War... Burns adds no false drama but always reads with a tone of respect for the front-line combatants and the earnest opponents.... Overall, the audio does the print version full justice." (AudioFile)

What listeners say about The Vietnam War

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Fantastic book

The depth and quality was truly astonishing. I learned so much more about the conflict. Highly recommended

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Thoroughly enjoyable

I found this book detailed but not overwhelming. The delicate interplay between historical events and personal experiences is very absorbing. It breathes life

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exceptional and thorough

truly majestic. gets sadder and sadder. the death of the babies on that flight made me need to stop for a while. just total misery.great coverage of the common folk and the leadership. the change of voices makes this long work more interesting to listen to. poor Vietnam: what it has endured beggars belief.

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Great read

One of the best things I have read in a long time I would recommend anyone to try this

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Deeply shocked and moved!

I did not know! I was born in 1955 and this is the first time I have got to know and understand the appalling story of Vietnam, its violence and its victims. Theres no glory in any war and the brutality all around is a stark message to humanity that no country anywhere can take the moral highground. We are all fallible. Although a long book, it is very well broken up into manageable chunks. Thoroughly recommend! Lest we forget!

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An absorbing account, perfectly narrated.

As soon as I heard the final chapter, I went straight back to the start again. An enthrawling study detailing an incredible period of military and political turmoil narrated so well as to immerse the listener in the horror and intensity of the action, the front of the demonstration, the distress of the kin and the frustration of politics; the story unfurling in a torrent of interest that has kept me hooked. Fascinating.

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Excellent

One of the most interesting and comprehensive accounts of the war in Vietnam I have followed.

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Stunning account of Vietnam War

This is a must listen account of the Vietnam War told through the people who made and experienced it. The complexities of its beginning are clearly explained and the futility of the military actions revealed. However the it's the interweaving of secret records, personal accounts, verbatim conversations

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brilliant

the narration was fantastic I was totally gripped, a story told with total impartiality.
thoroughly reccomend

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epic

fantastic book which helped me completely understand a very complicated war and brilliantly Narrated also.

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