Table of Contents
List of Maps xvii
Introduction xix
Note on Styles Adopted in the Text xxvii
Glossary of Common Acronyms and Military Terms xxix
1 Beauty and Many Beasts 1
1 Clinging to an Empire 1
2 The Vietminh March 10
2 The "Dirty War" 21
1 Steamroller Types 21
2 Washington Picks Up the Tab 32
3 Peasants 36
3 The Fortress that Never Was 45
1 Waiting for Giap 45
2 Disaster Beckons 55
4 Bloody Footprints 66
1 Quit or Bomb? 66
2 "A Triumph of the Will" 73
3 Geneva 82
5 The Twin Tyrannies 95
1 "A Regime of Terror" 95
2 "The Only Boy We Got" 104
3 Boom Time 110
4 A Recall to Arms 116
6 Some of the Way With JFK 127
1 "They're Going to Lose Their Country If …" 127
2 McNamara's Monarchy 141
3 Le Duan Raises His Stake 148
7 1963: Coffins for Two Presidents 155
1 Small Battle, Big Story: Ap Bac 155
2 The Buddhists Revolt 166
3 Killing Time 170
8 The Maze 185
1 "Enough War for Everybody" 185
2 Dodging Decisions 197
9 Into the Gulf 213
1 Lies 213
2 Hawks Ascendant 222
10 "We are Puzzled about How to Proceed" 234
1 Down the Trail 234
2 Committal 241
11 The Escalator 256
1 "Bottom of the Barrel" 256
2 New People, New War 268
12 "Trying to Grab Smoke" 288
1 Warriors and Water-Skiers 288
2 Unfriendly Fire 295
3 Traps and Trail Dust 302
13 Graft and Peppermint Oil 312
1 Stealing 312
2 Ruling 315
3 Gurus 321
14 Rolling Thunder 328
1 Stone Age, Missile Age 328
2 "Up North" 340
15 Taking the Pain 358
1 Best of Times, Worst of Times 358
2 Friends 364
16 "Waist Deep in the Big Muddy" 379
1 Peaceniks 379
2 Warniks 386
3 Fieldcraft 392
4 Guns 406
17 Our Guys, their Guys: The Vietnamese War 413
1 Song Qua Ngay-"Let's Just Get Through the Day" 413
2 Fighters 418
3 Saigon Soldiers 429
18 TET 434
1 Prelude 434
2 Fugue 444
3 A Symbolic Humiliation 455
19 The Giant Reels 461
1 Fighting Back 461
2 Surrender of a President 480
20 Continuous Replays 488
1 Dying 488
2 Talking 510
21 Nixon's Inheritance 516
1 A Crumbling Army 516
2 Aussies and Kiwis 533
3 Gods 544
4 Vietnamization 550
22 Losing by Installments 556
1 The Fishhook and the Parrot's Beak 556
2 Counterterror 564
3 Lam Son 719 572
23 Collateral Damage 585
1 Mary Ann 585
2 The "Goat" 593
3 "Let's Go Home" 597
24 The Biggest Battle 601
1 Le Duan Forces the Pace 601
2 The Storm Breaks 606
3 An Empty Victory 633
25 Big Ugly Fat Fellers 639
1 "It Will Absolutely, Totally, Wipe Out McGovern" 639
2 "We'll Bomb the Bejeezus out of Them" 649
26 A Kiss Before Dying 664
1 The Prisoner 664
2 "Peace" 668
3 War of the Flags 675
27 The Last Act 689
1 Invasion 689
2 "Ah, My Country, My Poor Country" 708
28 Afterward 726
1 Vengeance 726
2 The Audit of War 739
Acknowledgments 753
Notes 757
Select Bibliography 811
Index 827