Viet Nam War gets new take

      American researcher John Prados’ book Viet Nam: The History of an Unwinnable War, 1945-1975 has been released to the American public.
In the 600-page book’s 14 chapters, Prados covers various aspects of the war in Viet Nam and pieces together events and moments from the end of World War II until the US quit Viet Nam in 1975.
The books suggest the war was unwinnable due to opportunities lost, missed, ignored or refused.
He claims American administrations under Presidents from Truman through to Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon consistently ignored or misunderstood the realities in Southeast Asia and passed up every opportunity to avoid war or avoid becoming more deeply involved after it started.
In the preface, Prados says America’s involvement in Viet Nam remains controversial and that he considers the war a mistake and unwinnable. His research and wide analysis help support his claims.
During the book’s launch at the George Washington University where he works the author said he first wrote about the war in the mid 60s.
For his book, he researched many documents, in particular those written during Richard Nixon’s presidency. He interviewed people closely associated with the war and those in the anti-war movement.
He said that during the last decade no books were published about the war despite the declassification of several documents and other information becoming available.
Most American students at the ceremony said the book, released last month by the University Press of Kansas, gave them a better understanding of the war.
Christian G. Appy, author of Patriots: The Viet Nam War Remembered from All Sides said: "Prados has given us a great gift – a fresh, original, and fascinating synthesis of a long and complicated war by one of the nation’s foremost experts."
"A monumental work of passionately engaged scholarship, written in an easy, conversational style. There is no other history of the war like it," said Marilyn B. Young, author of The Viet Nam Wars, 1945-1990.
The website www.amazon.com said with its engaging narrative history, compelling analytic treatise and moving personal account, Prados challenged previous authors and that the book should take its place as the most comprehensive, up-to-date, and accurate one-volume account of a war.
The book is part of the Modern War Studies series.
Prados, a senior fellow of the university’s National Security Archive, has also penned The Blood Road: The Ho Chi Minh Trail and the Viet Nam War, The Hidden History of the Viet Nam War, and Safe for Democracy: The Secret Wars of the CIA.