You won't find the information you get in "Sacred War" in many other books. Whereas most Vietnam literature concentrates on American decision-making, this book reminds us that there was another side to the Vietnam War. A very detailed account of Vietminh and Viet Cong thinking and insightful as into why we didn't win the war.

In the beginning it's like they talked about the people. There are kings one is a King and one is a Lord. There are kids and it seems lie some are bothers and sisters and also some are friends and they all live in like a little kingdom. It talks about where they go on this big nice hill and it tells sercets.

This is book a must for anyone who wants to understand what happened in Vietnam. The author, a Pentagon staffer in the early 1980's, based his work on interviews of U.S. Army Vietnam vets at all ranks; because so many of them would only speak off record, he decided to make all of his sources anonymous.

Beginning with the assertion that every country which finds itself in the aftermath of defeat must absorb the lessons inherent in its failure, "Cincinnatus" looks at the military errors, both tactical and strategic. There is no discussion of errors by the politicians - save for the assertion that the top brass should have spoken up when ordered to do foolish things, and in failing to do so let down their country. Likewise, there is no discussion of the effect of the anti-war movement on the conflict's outcome. No, "Cincinnatus" asserts that Vietnam was lost ON THE BATTLEFIELD, and rejects the "stabbed in the back" argument with vehemence, arguing that it serves no good purpose, and indeed might well harm the nation in the years to come.

So this book speaks in considerable detail of how the military blundered. From "ticket-punching" careerism and the devaluation of medals into "gongs", to ignorance of the culture, language, and history of Vietnam, to an excessive reliance on firepower combined with an inability to fight at effectively at night or join battle with the enemy at times and places of OUR choosing, "Cincinnatus" is scathing in his criticism of our military performance.

It's a powerful indictment of the U.S. military; but what makes this book even more incredible is how "Cincinnatus" speaks of what must be done to correct the problems. It's clear that he wrote this book, not out of bitterness, but in hopes that it would be read and changes made. His book ends sounding a warning, calling upon the military to repair the damage, in hopes of avoiding another defeat.

SOMEONE heard him: the book was published shortly after the invasion of Granada, and within the next 6-7 years sweeping changes were made, with the result that, when war came again in 1990 (in the Gulf), almost NONE of the mistakes cited by "Cincinnatus" were committed, and a stunning victory was won as a consequence.

And that, to me, is the REAL value of this book. It not only explains the tragedy of Vietnam, but the heady victory that American arms won just 15 years later on the sands of Southern Iraq and Kuwait.

Any serious military historan will want to have this book in her/his collection.

This is a great book that captures all of the heartbreak, glory and tragedy as the Marines battle in Vietnam. This book begins at an important point history, US Marines entered Vietnam not as "advisors" but as elite warriors to directly fight the communists. Just about every major Marine operation is covered in this book. The Marines are Americas premier shock troops and they fought boldly and skillfully for ten long years. They were forced to use tactics they didn't want to use. The Army wanted a war of attrition, while the Marines wanted to provide security to the villages and win the peoples "hearts & minds. The Marines first went on the offensive with Operation Starlite. 614 VC died while the Marines lost 45. Based on numbers like this the war heated up and the war of attrition began. Ultimately the 1st & 3rd Marine Divisions were commited to this "police action." Many of the battles they fought over the next bloody years were among the most brutal in history including the battle of Mutter's Ridge, The Hill Fights, Operation Buffalo, Con Thien, The siege of Khe Sanh, retaking Hue City, Dai Do, the Que Sons and the endless DMZ campaign. Many of the battles were fought on the same blood soaked ground over and over again. Despite being saddled by rules by politicians that wouldn't let them win, the Marines raked up an unsurpassed record of victory. Marines were in Vietnam right until the bitter end as they evacuated Saigon. The Marines suffered more casualties in Vietnam than they did in WWII. This book perfectly captures their long war and struggle. This is a great read and an essential book for any collection.

The book I read, Seven Firefights in Vietnam, was a very interesting book. I enjoyed this book very much and was always anxious to read on to see what would happen next. Books on Vietnam, such as this one, had always caught my interest. This book, written by John A. Cash, John Albright and Allan W. Sandstrum, all Vietnam veterans, was always action-packed and very detailed keeping this book very exciting. As I read on, the book kept pulling me in and in, and by that time it felt like that I was in the frontlines fighting alongside. With this book, with such excellent quality. I would recommend Seven Firefights in Vietnam to anyone who is interested in warfare.

This collection is a monument to its pieces, smaller works of which Mary McCarthy herself could rightly complain, "One of my friends tried to get it that summer when she was in Idaho (the home state of war critic Senator Frank Church) visiting relations ~ no luck. When she passed through New York in the fall, same story." On a personal level, this is a complaint by someone of immense popularity that her own views on the war wouldn't sell, or weren't being sold. The highest irony of this book is its final sentence, at the end of a review of a very explicit book by David Halberstam, "In career terms, which in my view interest Halberstam excessively, how dead is 'dead'?" Please be assured that I feel the same way whenever a representative of my government calls me and asks where I am working, and then wonders why I would mention Richard Nixon. I only mention this book the way dubious achievements might be associated with Nixon and the question, "Why is this dead man laughing?" I promise that this book is easier to understand than the death of Homer, a famous Greek poet who was so blind he couldn't tell what two boys were doing when they said, "That which we see and catch, we leave behind, but what we neither see nor catch, we carry with us." McCarthy mentions Homer on page 235 to support the idea that "at the front, war itself appears senseless, a confused butchery that only the gods can understand." On page 268, she is more explicitly into Homeric epithets, comparing his use of the godly phrase "cloud-gathering Zeus" to "the air pirates," (one of "the set phrases of North Vietnamese diction.") Never again should we try to go to war without our Homer, whoever that might be. My vote for the Homer of Nam would be Bernard Fall, a smiling fellow in the picture of the author on the back of the jacket for this book. The picture might be more famous than the book. The caption under the picture says, "Mary McCarthy in Vietnam with Bernard Fall, February, 1967 (Fall was killed under fire shortly afterward.) Newsweek, Francoise Sully copyright 1967." It is a bit late to read this book now, but the calculation of the number of people who haven't read this book can only go one way, up, and it is going to do that forever, as sure as Homer is dead.

If you were in Vietnam you can relate to this. As a former MP I can tell you that "Shack Rat" is right on. For those of you who never spent a day in-country you will find this an exotic adventure filled with details of this beautiful country and its beautiful people. The story is captivating. It's the "From Here to Eternity," of the Vietnam war.

The author demonstrates convincingly that not only did the Civil War soldier suffer maladies hauntingly similar to Vietnam vets', but suggests, by extension, that these may be a consequence of war from time immemorial.
Dean, in his careful attempts to define and delineate the problem, notes that the character and dimensions of PTSD are not clear, and that there are powerful interests, with monetary incentives and ideological agendas, to encourage continued attention to, and perhaps promote, the problem. His research is impressive (Dean seems to have read everything ever written on the subject); his writing clear and compelling, and the flaws inconsequential. It might have been instructive to learn whether "McNamara's Hundred Thousand" (a cohort of draftees of low mental ability) are significantly represented in the prevalence of PTSD, and a formal bibliography would be useful, even though extensive source notes are provided. These are quibbles: Dean's work is highly recommended for anyone interested in the effects of war on the individual.

(The "score" rating is an ineradicable feature of the page. This reviewer does not "score" books.)

Anderegg hits the bull's eye with his latest must-read book for anyone who shares his interest in aviation, the Air Force, fighter pilots, precision guided munitions, aerial combat, the Vietnam War, or the Gulf War. Far from being dry history, this chronicle was written by an insider who participated in the transformation of America's fighter force. He makes the fighter culture come alive with vivid descriptions of both the plays and the players.

Both a graduate of and a returning instructor to the Weapons School, Anderegg has transitioned from accomplished fighter pilot to laudable historian. As a narrative researcher and writer, he is second to none. This book rivals his first, Ash Warriors, for first place among the best of military history. He even includes the true story of Jeremiah Weed!

The best of its kind I've ever read! I swear on the pinky switch.

R.L. Barth knows his classics, and in this wonderful chapbook he writes about the Viet Nam war as only one other veteran has: in the form and sensibility of Greek epigrams. They are by turn ironic, tragic, baleful, and meditative. These fine, nuanced poems go well past the particularities of Viet Nam, especially as they have become cliches in much veteran writing, to reach the universal themes. These poems are marked by a profound humanism, an identification with the common soldier, a hard earned cynicism about people in power, and a subtle wit. I have never tired of these poems.