Vietnams High Ground

Download Vietnams High Ground full books in PDF, epub, and Kindle. Read online Vietnams High Ground ebook anywhere anytime directly on your device. Fast Download speed and no annoying ads. We cannot guarantee that every ebooks is available!

Vietnam's High Ground

Author : J. P. Harris
Publisher : University Press of Kansas
ISBN 13 : 0700622837
Total Pages : 552 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (6 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Vietnam's High Ground by : J. P. Harris

Download or read book Vietnam's High Ground written by J. P. Harris and published by University Press of Kansas. This book was released on 2016-09-12 with total page 552 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During its struggle for survival from 1954 to 1975, the region known as the Central Highlands was the strategically vital high ground for the South Vietnamese state. Successive South Vietnamese governments, their American allies, and their Communist enemies all realized early on the fundamental importance of this region. Paul Harris's new book, based on research in American archives and the use of Vietnamese Communist literature on a very large scale, examines the struggle for this region from the mid-1950s, tracing its evolution from subversion through insurgency and counterinsurgency to the bigger battles of 1965. The rugged mountains, high plateaus, and dense jungles of the Central Highlands seemed as forbidding to most Vietnamese as it did to most Americans. During 1954 to 1965, the great majority of its inhabitants were not ethnic Vietnamese. Ngo Dinh Diem’s regime initially supported an American counterinsurgency alliance with the Highlanders only to turn dramatically against it. As the war progressed, however, the Central Highlands became increasingly important. It was the area through which most branches of the Ho Chi Minh Trail passed. With its rugged, jungle-clad terrain, it also seemed to the North Vietnamese the best place to destroy the elite of South Vietnam's armed forces and to fight initial battles with the Americans. For many North Vietnamese, however, the Central Highlands became a living hell of starvation and disease. Even before the arrival of the American 1st Cavalry Division, the Communists were generally unable to win the decisive victories they sought in this region. Harris's study culminates with an account of the campaign in Pleiku province in October to November—a campaign that led to dramatic clashes between the Americans and the North Vietnamese in the Ia Drang valley. Harris's analysis overturns many of the accepted accounts about NVA, US, and ARVN performances.

Boots on the Ground

Author : Elizabeth Partridge
Publisher : Penguin
ISBN 13 : 0670785067
Total Pages : 226 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (77 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Boots on the Ground by : Elizabeth Partridge

Download or read book Boots on the Ground written by Elizabeth Partridge and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2018-04-10 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ★ "Partridge proves once again that nonfiction can be every bit as dramatic as the best fiction."* America's war in Vietnam. In over a decade of bitter fighting, it claimed the lives of more than 58,000 American soldiers and beleaguered four US presidents. More than forty years after America left Vietnam in defeat in 1975, the war remains controversial and divisive both in the United States and abroad. The history of this era is complex; the cultural impact extraordinary. But it's the personal stories of eight people—six American soldiers, one American military nurse, and one Vietnamese refugee—that create the heartbeat of Boots on the Ground. From dense jungles and terrifying firefights to chaotic helicopter rescues and harrowing escapes, each individual experience reveals a different facet of the war and moves us forward in time. Alternating with these chapters are profiles of key American leaders and events, reminding us of all that was happening at home during the war, including peace protests, presidential scandals, and veterans' struggles to acclimate to life after Vietnam. With more than one hundred photographs, award-winning author Elizabeth Partridge's unflinching book captures the intensity, frustration, and lasting impacts of one of the most tumultuous periods of American history. *Kirkus Reviews, starred review of Marching for Freedom

Dangerous Grounds

Author : David L. Parsons
Publisher : UNC Press Books
ISBN 13 : 1469632020
Total Pages : 172 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (696 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Dangerous Grounds by : David L. Parsons

Download or read book Dangerous Grounds written by David L. Parsons and published by UNC Press Books. This book was released on 2017-03-13 with total page 172 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As the Vietnam War divided the nation, a network of antiwar coffeehouses appeared in the towns and cities outside American military bases. Owned and operated by civilian activists, GI coffeehouses served as off-base refuges for the growing number of active-duty soldiers resisting the war. In the first history of this network, David L. Parsons shows how antiwar GIs and civilians united to battle local authorities, vigilante groups, and the military establishment itself by building a dynamic peace movement within the armed forces. Peopled with lively characters and set in the tense environs of base towns around the country, this book complicates the often misunderstood relationship between the civilian antiwar movement, U.S. soldiers, and military officials during the Vietnam era. Using a broad set of primary and secondary sources, Parsons shows us a critical moment in the history of the Vietnam-era antiwar movement, when a chain of counterculture coffeehouses brought the war's turbulent politics directly to the American military's doorstep.

Escape from Saigon

Author : Andrea Warren
Publisher : Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
ISBN 13 : 146683448X
Total Pages : 134 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (668 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Escape from Saigon by : Andrea Warren

Download or read book Escape from Saigon written by Andrea Warren and published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR). This book was released on 2008-09-02 with total page 134 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An unforgettable true story of an orphan caught in the midst of war Over a million South Vietnamese children were orphaned by the Vietnam War. This affecting true account tells the story of Long, who, like more than 40,000 other orphans, is Amerasian -- a mixed-race child -- with little future in Vietnam. Escape from Saigon allows readers to experience Long's struggle to survive in war-torn Vietnam, his dramatic escape to America as part of "Operation Babylift" during the last chaotic days before the fall of Saigon, and his life in the United States as "Matt," part of a loving Ohio family. Finally, as a young doctor, he journeys back to Vietnam, ready to reconcile his Vietnamese past with his American present. As the thirtieth anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War approaches, this compelling account provides a fascinating introduction to the war and the plight of children caught in the middle of it.

Death in the Highlands

Author : J. Keith Saliba
Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN 13 : 0811768880
Total Pages : 281 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (117 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Death in the Highlands by : J. Keith Saliba

Download or read book Death in the Highlands written by J. Keith Saliba and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2023-06-14 with total page 281 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A history of the first engagement between the U.S. Army and the North Vietnamese Army at the beginning of the Vietnam War in 1965. In fall 1965, North Vietnam’s high command smelled blood in the water. The South Vietnamese republic was on the verge of collapse, and Hanoi resolved to crush it once and for all. The communists set their sights on South Vietnam’s strategically vital West-Central Highlands. Annihilate ARVN’s defenses in Kontum and Pleiku provinces, the communists surmised, and the region’s remaining provinces would topple like dominoes. Their first target was the American Special Forces camp at Plei Me, remote and isolated along the Cambodian border. As darkness fell on 19 October, 1965, two North Vietnamese Army regiments—some four thousand troops— crept into their final strike positions. The plan was as simple as it was audacious: one regiment would bring the frontier fortress under murderous siege while the other would lie in wait to destroy the inevitable rescue force. Initially, all that stood athwart Hanoi’s grand scheme was a handful of American Green Berets, a few hundred Montagnard allies—and burgeoning U.S. airpower. Cut off and beleaguered, Plei Me’s defenders fought for their lives, while a daring band of close air support and resupply pilots helped keep the beast at bay. But as the overland relief force bogged down, 5th Group ordered in the legendary “Chargin” Charlie Beckwith and his elite Project Delta to help hold the line. Soon, the 1st Cavalry Division would also join the fray, setting the stage for its bloody Ia Drang Valley fights a few weeks later. Before it was over, the siege of Plei Me would push its defenders to the brink and usher in the first major clashes between the U.S. and North Vietnamese armies. Drawing on archival research and interviews with combat veterans, J. Keith Saliba reconstructs this pivotal battle in vivid, gut-wrenching detail and illustrates where the siege fit in the war’s strategic picture. Praise for Death in the Highlands Winner, 2021 Gold Medal in history, Military Writers Society of America “This story has it all: the bravery and suffering of men in extreme peril and how they lived and died. Plei Me was the prelude to the bloody battles of the 1st Cavalry Division troopers in the nearby Ia Drang Valley just weeks later. Keith Saliba has done them all proud.” —Joseph L. Galloway, co-author of the New York Times bestseller We Were Soldiers Once . . . and Young “Military history at its best . . . a clear, detailed, and highly readable account of an important but little understood battle of the Vietnam War.” —Col. Andrew R. Finlayson, USMC (Ret.), author of Killer Kane: A Marine Long-Range Recon Team Leader in Vietnam, 1967–1968 and winner of the CIA’s Studies in Intelligence Award

Ia Drang 1965

Author : J. P. Harris
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1472835131
Total Pages : 97 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (728 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Ia Drang 1965 by : J. P. Harris

Download or read book Ia Drang 1965 written by J. P. Harris and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2020-01-23 with total page 97 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Pleiku campaign of October–November 1965 was a major event in the Vietnam War, and it is usually regarded as the first substantial battle between the US Army and the People's Army of Vietnam. The brigade-sized actions involving elements of the US 1st Cavalry Division at Landing Zones X-Ray and Albany in the valley of the river Drang have become iconic episodes in the military history of the United States. In 1965, in an effort to stem the Communist tide, the Americans began to commit substantial conventional ground forces to the war in Vietnam. Amongst these was the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), a new type of formation equipped with a large fleet of helicopters. On 19 October, North Vietnamese forces besieged a Special Forces camp at Plei Me, and after the base was relieved days later, the commander of the 1st Cavalry Division, General Harry Kinnard, advocated using his troops to pursue the retreating Communist forces. A substantial North Vietnamese concentration was discovered, but rather than the badly battered troops the US expected, these were relatively fresh troops that had recently arrived in the Central Highlands. On the morning of 14 November 1965, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, commanded by Lt. Col. Hal Moore, landed at LZ X-Ray to start the first major set-piece battle of the Vietnam War. This title explores the events of the campaign that followed, using detailed maps, specially-commissioned bird's-eye views, and full-colour battlescenes to bring the narrative to life.

Boots on the Ground

Author : Elizabeth Partridge
Publisher : Penguin
ISBN 13 : 0425291782
Total Pages : 224 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (252 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Boots on the Ground by : Elizabeth Partridge

Download or read book Boots on the Ground written by Elizabeth Partridge and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2018-04-10 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ★ "Partridge proves once again that nonfiction can be every bit as dramatic as the best fiction."* America's war in Vietnam. In over a decade of bitter fighting, it claimed the lives of more than 58,000 American soldiers and beleaguered four US presidents. More than forty years after America left Vietnam in defeat in 1975, the war remains controversial and divisive both in the United States and abroad. The history of this era is complex; the cultural impact extraordinary. But it's the personal stories of eight people—six American soldiers, one American military nurse, and one Vietnamese refugee—that create the heartbeat of Boots on the Ground. From dense jungles and terrifying firefights to chaotic helicopter rescues and harrowing escapes, each individual experience reveals a different facet of the war and moves us forward in time. Alternating with these chapters are profiles of key American leaders and events, reminding us of all that was happening at home during the war, including peace protests, presidential scandals, and veterans' struggles to acclimate to life after Vietnam. With more than one hundred photographs, award-winning author Elizabeth Partridge's unflinching book captures the intensity, frustration, and lasting impacts of one of the most tumultuous periods of American history. *Kirkus Reviews, starred review of Marching for Freedom

Vietnam: An Epic History of a Divisive War 1945-1975

Author : Max Hastings
Publisher : HarperCollins UK
ISBN 13 : 000813300X
Total Pages : 752 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (81 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Vietnam: An Epic History of a Divisive War 1945-1975 by : Max Hastings

Download or read book Vietnam: An Epic History of a Divisive War 1945-1975 written by Max Hastings and published by HarperCollins UK. This book was released on 2018-09-20 with total page 752 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER ‘His masterpiece’ Antony Beevor, Spectator ‘A masterful performance’ Sunday Times ‘By far the best book on the Vietnam War’ Gerald Degroot, The Times, Book of the Year

The High Ground

Author : Daryl Fisher
Publisher : iUniverse
ISBN 13 : 0595881106
Total Pages : 354 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (958 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis The High Ground by : Daryl Fisher

Download or read book The High Ground written by Daryl Fisher and published by iUniverse. This book was released on 2007-04-25 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The High Ground is the story of Private Ty Nichols' 365-day tour of duty in Vietnam, told with the honesty of a youthful infantryman simply trying to make it to the next day. Ty spends time with all the players, including the draftees who could have cared less, the lifers who were determined to stop Communism dead in its tracks, the enemy, and the freedom loving civilians of South Vietnam. It's all here. The fighting, dying, massage parlors, whorehouses, the racism, the homophobia, the conflicts between officers and enlisted men, the heroes and the cowards, the fear and the chaos, and the friendships that made it all bearable. The lessons Ty learns are costly, but he leaves knowing that there are heroes amongst us; that finding the love of your life will happen when you least expect it; that there will always be another war because there will always be men and there causes; and, that life, just like war, is all about finding a way to take the high ground.

Vietnam Order of Battle

Author : Shelby L. Stanton
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 0811700712
Total Pages : 396 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (117 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Vietnam Order of Battle by : Shelby L. Stanton

Download or read book Vietnam Order of Battle written by Shelby L. Stanton and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page 396 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is a monumental, encyclopedic work of immense detail concerning U.S. and allied forces that fought in the Vietnam War from 1962 through 1973. Includes extensive lists of units (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and allied countries) when they arrived and when they left the theater, shoulder patches and distinctive unit insignia of all divisions and battalions. Also extensive maps portraying unit locations at each six-month interval, lists of friendly and enemy casualties by campaign or phase of the war, and photographs and descriptions of all major types of equipment employed in the conflict.

Year Of The Hawk

Author : James A. Warren
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
ISBN 13 : 198212296X
Total Pages : 320 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (821 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Year Of The Hawk by : James A. Warren

Download or read book Year Of The Hawk written by James A. Warren and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2021-11-16 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From a celebrated military historian, a powerful, “highly recommended” (Library Journal, starred review) account of the most pivotal year of the Vietnam War—the cataclysm that “continues to haunt American politics and culture” (Publishers Weekly). The Vietnam War was the greatest disaster in the history of American foreign policy. The conflict shook the nation to its foundations, exacerbating already deep cleavages in American society, and left the country baffled and ambivalent about its role in the world. Year of the Hawk is a military and political history of the war in Vietnam during 1965—the pivotal first year of the American conflict, when the United States decided to intervene directly with combat units in a struggle between communist and pro-Western forces in South Vietnam that had raged on and off for twenty years. By December 1965, a powerful communist offensive had been turned back, and the US Army had prevailed in one of the most dramatic battles in American military history, but nonetheless there were many signs and portents that US involvement would soon slide toward the tipping point of tragedy. Vividly interweaving events in the US capital with action in Southeast Asia, historian James A. Warren explores the mindsets and strategies of the adversaries and concludes that, in the end, Washington was not so much outfought in Vietnam as outthought by revolutionaries pursuing a brilliant, protracted war strategy. Based on new research, Year of the Hawk offers fresh insight into how a nationalist movement led by communists in a small country defeated the most powerful nation on earth and is “a well-researched overview of how America got into Vietnam—and why it shouldn’t have” (Kirkus Reviews).

Armed with Abundance

Author : Meredith H. Lair
Publisher : Univ of North Carolina Press
ISBN 13 : 0807834815
Total Pages : 315 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (78 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Armed with Abundance by : Meredith H. Lair

Download or read book Armed with Abundance written by Meredith H. Lair and published by Univ of North Carolina Press. This book was released on 2011 with total page 315 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Popular representations of the Vietnam War tend to emphasize violence, deprivation, and trauma. By contrast, in Armed with Abundance, Meredith Lair focuses on the noncombat experiences of U.S. soldiers in Vietnam, redrawing the landscape of the war

Last Stand at Khe Sanh

Author : Gregg Jones
Publisher : Da Capo Press
ISBN 13 : 0306821400
Total Pages : 400 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (68 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Last Stand at Khe Sanh by : Gregg Jones

Download or read book Last Stand at Khe Sanh written by Gregg Jones and published by Da Capo Press. This book was released on 2014-04-22 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In a remote mountain stronghold in 1968, six thousand US Marines awoke one January morning to find themselves surrounded by 20,000 enemy troops. Their only road to the coast was cut, and bad weather and enemy fire threatened their fragile air lifeline. The siege of Khe Sanh-the Vietnam War's epic confrontation-was under way. For seventy-seven days, the Marines and a contingent of US Army Special Forces endured artillery barrages, sniper fire, ground assaults, and ambushes. Air Force, Marine, and Navy pilots braved perilous flying conditions to deliver supplies, evacuate casualties, and stem the North Vietnamese Army's onslaught. As President Lyndon B. Johnson weighed the use of tactical nuclear weapons, Americans watched the shocking drama unfold on nightly newscasts. Through it all, the bloodied defenders of Khe Sanh held firm and prepared for an Alamo-like last stand. Now, Gregg Jones takes readers into the trenches and bunkers at Khe Sanh to tell the story of this extraordinary moment in American history. Last Stand at Khe Sanh captures the exceptional courage and brotherhood that sustained the American fighting men throughout the ordeal. It brings to life an unforgettable cast of characters-young high school dropouts and rootless rebels in search of John Wayne glory; grizzled Korean War veterans; daredevil pilots; gritty platoon leaders and company commanders; and courageous Navy surgeons who volunteered to serve in combat with the storied Marines. Drawing on in-depth interviews with siege survivors, thousands of pages of archival documents, and scores of oral history accounts, Gregg Jones delivers a poignant and heart-pounding narrative worthy of the heroic defense of Khe Sanh.

The Vietnam War

Author : Geoffrey Ward
Publisher : Vintage
ISBN 13 : 1984897748
Total Pages : 866 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (848 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis The Vietnam War by : Geoffrey Ward

Download or read book The Vietnam War written by Geoffrey Ward and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2020-03-24 with total page 866 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NATIONAL BESTSELLER • Based on the celebrated PBS television series, the complete text of an engrossing history of America’s least-understood conflict, “a significant milestone [that] will no doubt do much to determine how the war is understood for years to come.” —The Washington Post More than forty years have passed since the end of the Vietnam War, but its memory continues to loom large in the national psyche. In this intimate history, Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns have crafted a fresh and insightful account of the long and brutal conflict that reunited Vietnam while dividing the United States as nothing else had since the Civil War. From the Gulf of Tonkin and the Tet Offensive to Hamburger Hill and the fall of Saigon, Ward and Burns trace the conflict that dogged three American presidents and their advisers. But most of the voices that echo from these pages belong to less exalted men and women—those who fought in the war as well as those who fought against it, both victims and victors—willing for the first time to share their memories of Vietnam as it really was. A magisterial tour de force, The Vietnam War is an engrossing history of America’s least-understood conflict.

America and Vietnam, 1954-1963

Author : Michael M. Walker, Col., USMC (Ret.)
Publisher : McFarland
ISBN 13 : 1476689555
Total Pages : 392 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (766 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis America and Vietnam, 1954-1963 by : Michael M. Walker, Col., USMC (Ret.)

Download or read book America and Vietnam, 1954-1963 written by Michael M. Walker, Col., USMC (Ret.) and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2022-08-31 with total page 392 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The conventional narrative of the Vietnam War often glosses over the decade leading up to it. Covering the years 1954-1963, this book presents a thought-provoking reexamination of the war's long prelude--from the aftermath of French defeat at Dien Bien Phu--through Hanoi's decision to begin reunification by force--to the assassination of South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem. Established narratives of key events are given critical reappraisal and new light is shed on neglected factors. The strategic importance of Laos is revealed as central to understanding how the war in the South developed.

Hue 1968

Author : Mark Bowden
Publisher : Atlantic Monthly Press
ISBN 13 : 0802189245
Total Pages : 676 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (21 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Hue 1968 by : Mark Bowden

Download or read book Hue 1968 written by Mark Bowden and published by Atlantic Monthly Press. This book was released on 2017-06-06 with total page 676 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The author of Black Hawk Down vividly recounts a pivotal Vietnam War battle in this New York Times bestseller: “An extraordinary feat of journalism”. —Karl Marlantes, Wall Street Journal In Hue 1968, Mark Bowden presents a detailed, day-by-day reconstruction of the most critical battle of the Tet Offensive. In the early hours of January 31, 1968, the North Vietnamese launched attacks across South Vietnam. The lynchpin of this campaign was the capture of Hue, Vietnam’s intellectual and cultural capital. 10,000 troops descended from hidden camps and surged across the city, taking everything but two small military outposts. American commanders refused to believe the size and scope of the siege, ordering small companies of marines against thousands of entrenched enemy troops. After several futile and deadly days, Lieutenant Colonel Ernie Cheatham would finally come up with a strategy to retake the city block by block, in some of the most intense urban combat since World War II. With unprecedented access to war archives in the United States and Vietnam and interviews with participants from both sides, Bowden narrates each stage of this crucial battle through multiple viewpoints. Played out over 24 days and ultimately costing 10,000 lives, the Battle of Hue was by far the bloodiest of the entire war. When it ended, the American debate was never again about winning, only about how to leave. A Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist in History Winner of the 2018 Marine Corps Heritage Foundation Greene Award for a distinguished work of nonfiction

Steinbeck in Vietnam

Author : John Steinbeck
Publisher : University of Virginia Press
ISBN 13 : 081393270X
Total Pages : 224 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (139 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Steinbeck in Vietnam by : John Steinbeck

Download or read book Steinbeck in Vietnam written by John Steinbeck and published by University of Virginia Press. This book was released on 2012-03-29 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Although his career continued for almost three decades after the 1939 publication of The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck is still most closely associated with his Depression-era works of social struggle. But from Pearl Harbor on, he often wrote passionate accounts of America’s wars based on his own firsthand experience. Vietnam was no exception. Thomas E. Barden’s Steinbeck in Vietnam offers for the first time a complete collection of the dispatches Steinbeck wrote as a war correspondent for Newsday. Rejected by the military because of his reputation as a subversive, and reticent to document the war officially for the Johnson administration, Steinbeck saw in Newsday a unique opportunity to put his skills to use. Between December 1966 and May 1967, the sixty-four-year-old Steinbeck toured the major combat areas of South Vietnam and traveled to the north of Thailand and into Laos, documenting his experiences in a series of columns titled Letters to Alicia, in reference to Newsday publisher Harry F. Guggenheim’s deceased wife. His columns were controversial, coming at a time when opposition to the conflict was growing and even ardent supporters were beginning to question its course. As he dared to go into the field, rode in helicopter gunships, and even fired artillery pieces, many detractors called him a warmonger and worse. Readers today might be surprised that the celebrated author would risk his literary reputation to document such a divisive war, particularly at the end of his career. Drawing on four primary-source archives—the Steinbeck collection at Princeton, the Papers of Harry F. Guggenheim at the Library of Congress, the Pierpont Morgan Library’s Steinbeck holdings, and the archives of Newsday—Barden’s collection brings together the last published writings of this American author of enduring national and international stature. In addition to offering a definitive edition of these essays, Barden includes extensive notes as well as an introduction that provides background on the essays themselves, the military situation, the social context of the 1960s, and Steinbeck’s personal and political attitudes at the time.