The New York Times Book Review - David Greenberg
Perhaps the most worthwhile contribution of The Vietnam War is its compilation of hundreds of astonishing photographs. Ward and Burns reproduce now-famous images like Eddie Adams's picture of a Vietcong prisoner being shot in the head at close range and Nick Ut's shot of a naked Vietnamese girl fleeing a napalm raid. But they also include powerful and less familiar scenes of rubble-strewn streets, desperate villagers, bewildered squadrons, and Americans and Vietnamese alike who are wounded, maimed, dying or freshly killed…The Vietnam War [is]…a vivid and often captivating volume…
Publishers Weekly - Audio
10/30/2017
Emmy Award–winning filmmaker Burns continues his tradition of narrating the audio abridgment of his documentary work, as he has done before with The Civil War, The National Parks, and other projects. The results are mixed, but that’s not because Burns lacks talent as a narrator; he has a measured, clear voice, and a strong delivery. Rather, the abridgment itself and the limitations of the audio format cause this product to falter—missing are the intense battle images, the unforgettable music of the 1960s and ’70s, and the personal interviews with Vietnamese speakers. Here, the only eyewitness recordings spliced in with the narration are ones by Americans. As a result, Burns, with his natural American accent, becomes the mouthpiece for Vietnamese soldiers and civilians, which creates a distance for the listener. The recordings of U.S. presidents with various generals and advisers becomes tedious in the audiobook, with Burns merely reading “Johnson” and “McNamara” followed by a rendering of their remarks. A Knopf hardcover. (Sept.)
Publishers Weekly
08/21/2017
This lavishly illustrated large-format book from frequent collaborators Ward and Burns (The Roosevelts) serves as the companion volume to the eponymous 18-hour, 10-part PBS documentary from Burns and Lynn Novick. The work follows the usual Ward and Burns formula of mixing solid historical narrative with personal stories of both the famous (in this case, mainly politicians and military leaders from all sides of the conflict) and the ordinary (troops, war journalists, and anti-war activists). Well-written and deeply researched, this history covers virtually every aspect of the French and American wars in Vietnam from 1945 to 1975, focusing mainly on military, diplomatic, and political issues. Individual tales of Army infantrymen, Marine grunts, and other combatants are woven throughout the larger narrative. There is virtually no new history here, however, and a number of the personal stories included here can be readily found in memoirs and other books, including those of Vietnam War veteran writers Philip Caputo, Tobias Wolff, Karl Marlantes, W.D. Ehrhart, Tim O’Brien, Joan Furey, and John Musgrave, and the Vietnamese novelist Bo Ninh, as well as the work of the former war correspondents Neil Sheehan, John Laurence, and Joe Galloway. Nevertheless, anyone looking for an expansive overview of the Vietnam War will find much to admire here. Maps & photos. (Sept.)
From the Publisher
"The companion volume to Burns’ Vietnam War documentary series on PBS, the book stands alone as a powerful summary of the whole conflict. It tells the story of the war from every conceivable angle, including that of the young Vietnamese fighters. It’s extraordinarily well-reported and written, and filled with memorable photographs and illustrations—a reminder that the war was, perhaps for the first time, shaped as much by powerful images as written reports."
—Lancaster Online, Mark Bowden's "Ten Favorite Books on the Vietnam War"
"A vivid and often captivating volume…a valuable resource."
—David Greenberg, The New York Times Book Review
"Once again Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns deliver the grand historical goods in this feast of a book. For those too young to remember the Vietnam War, this is the essential primer. For those old enough to have Vietnam flashbacks or battle scars, read it and weep. Highly recommended!!"
—Douglas Brinkley
"A sweeping, richly illustrated narrative of a conflict fast retreating in memory... As they have done in numerous collaborations, Ward and Burns take a vast topic and personalize it... Of particular value is the inclusion of Vietnamese voices on both sides of the conflict, most of whom agree more than four decades later that the question of who won or lost is less important than the fact that no one really prevailed... The text is accompanied by more than 500 photographs, some of them immediately recognizable...many others fresh... Accompanying the PBS series to be aired in September 2017, this is an outstanding, indispensable survey of the Vietnam War."
—Kirkus, (starred review)
"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… This is a vivid, affecting, definitive, and essential illustrated history."
—Donna Seaman, Booklist (starred review)
"Lavishly illustrated…. Well-written and deeply researched, this history covers virtually every aspect of the French and American wars in Vietnam from 1945-1975, focusing mainly on military, diplomatic, and political issues…. Anyone looking for an expansive overview of the Vietnam War will find much to admire here."
—Publishers Weekly
Library Journal
★ 09/01/2017
In their latest collaboration (after The Civil War: An Illustrated History), Burns and Ward present the details of the Vietnam War (November 1, 1955-April 30, 1975). This companion volume to the ten-part film series airing on PBS this September will enlighten readers to the events that led up to the war, the combat itself, and its aftermath. The authors use archived material and interviews with soldiers and antiwar protestors to tell the story; brief essays by historians and Vietnamese fighters are also offered throughout. Further included are newly classified transcripts from American and Vietnamese politicians revealing the event from all sides, including perspectives of the North Vietnamese soldiers. The finest aspect of the volume may be the stunning yet devastating pictures of the time period. Unique details include artist Maya Lin's model for the Vietnam Memorial and the contact sheet of Eddie Adams's Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph of the death of a North Vietnamese man. VERDICT A powerful work that adds value and insight to any collection. Fans of Burns and Ward will be awed by their mastery in creating an accurate, thorough historical narrative.—Jason L. Steagall, Gateway Technical Coll. Lib., Elkhorn, WI
AUGUST 2017 - AudioFile
The melancholy tone of Ken Burns’s voice exactly suits the mood of this history of the Vietnam War, which precedes his newest documentary, coming to PBS in September 2017. The book takes a nonjudgmental approach, but it’s clear the war’s outcome was shaped by actions taken decades earlier—as if the result were inevitable. Burns adds no false drama but always reads with a tone of respect for the front-line combatants and the earnest opponents. He varies his pace only slightly to keep listeners engaged. Overall, he lets the story speak for itself. It would have been easy to dismiss the choice of Burns as narrator as a vanity project, but this would be unfair. His voice suits the work. Overall, the audio does the print version full justice. R.C.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2017-07-17
A sweeping, richly illustrated narrative of a conflict fast retreating in memory, one that noted documentarian Burns calls a "lamentable chapter in history."As they have done in numerous collaborations (The Roosevelts: An Intimate History, 2014, etc.), Ward and Burns take a vast topic and personalize it. Regarding the Vietnam War, this involved tracking down veterans of the war and recounting their experiences to gain insight into how great events play out on the individual level—thus the "intimate" element of the subtitle. Of particular value is the inclusion of Vietnamese voices on both sides of the conflict, most of whom agree more than four decades later that the question of who won or lost is less important than the fact that no one really prevailed. Ward and Burns use several of these figures as returning characters in the narrative. One, for instance, is Vincent Okamoto, a Japanese-American soldier born in a relocation camp during World War II, who recalls a Southern soldier's advice for not being confused for one of the enemy: "Hey, no offense, partner; but if I was you I'd dye my hair blond and whistle ‘Dixie' when it gets dark." Other figures are relegated to revealing walk-on roles, such as a Vietnamese operative who, with the "pride of a revolutionary," coordinated the assassinations of hundreds of South Vietnamese and American soldiers and officials. The text is accompanied by more than 500 photographs, some of them immediately recognizable—the execution of a Viet Cong on the streets of Saigon, children running to greet a returning American prisoner of war—many others fresh. As ever, Ward and Burns aim for a middle-of-the-road, descriptive path, but the very nature of this enterprise courts controversy, as when they remind readers of Richard Nixon's secret negotiations with North Vietnam while he was a candidate for president, an act that Lyndon Johnson privately deemed treasonous. Accompanying the PBS series to be aired in September 2017, this is an outstanding, indispensable survey of the Vietnam War.
