A Better War

The Unexamined Victories and Final Tragedy of America's Last Years in Vietnam

By: Lewis Sorley

Narrated by: Basil Sands

Neglected by scholars and journalists alike, the years of conflict in Vietnam from 1968 to 1975 offer surprises not only about how the war was fought, but about what was achieved. Drawing on authoritative materials not previously available, including thousands of hours of tape-recorded allied councils of war, award-winning military historian Lewis Sorley has given us what has long been needed - an insightful, factual, and superbly documented history of these important years. Among his findings is that the war was being won on the ground even as it was being lost at the peace table and in the U.S. Congress. The story is a great human drama of purposeful and principled service in the face of an agonizing succession of lost opportunities, told with uncommon understanding and compassion. Sorley documents the dramatic differences in conception, conduct, and - at least for a time - results between the early and the later war. Meticulously researched and movingly told, A Better War is sure to stimulate controversy as it sheds brilliant new light on the war in Vietnam.

©1999 Lewis Sorley (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Solid Audiobook!

This book enhanced my understanding of the decisions of key military and political leaders during the Vietnam War. You will hear yourself saying, what if, a lot.

The Part Ken Burns Chose to Hide Away

This book is a must read/listen for anyone trying understand the American experience in Vietnam. It doesn’t fit in the liberal historical narrative about the war, but shows it’s authenticity via its wide array of sources. It echoes what several older friends and relatives who served there after Tet 1968. A war on the brink of total victory, yet the White House and Congress did everything they could to tie our military down, and condemn South Vietnam to communism.

A Better Book!

What did you love best about A Better War?

I have never, in many member reviews, rated any Book as a % star, rxcepting this one! Not only is it a terrific story, it is read with feeling. As a Marine Vet I follow Vietbam History very closely. This one is not to be missed. Most revealing. Great Book that should be read by all Historians & the public as a whole. It paints an impressive story to much unpublished materials on this era. I am so glaad I fell into it. NDJohn

What did you like best about this story?

Listening to the Veitnam War tume frame of 1969 to 1971. Plus about Nixon. All Vets will enjoy this Book.

Which character – as performed by Basil Sands – was your favorite?

General Abrams by far! He gave me renewed hope.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Yes, the Oh so sad ending!

Any additional comments?

Please give this Book some attention, NDJohn

Old war, fresh view

This book was assigned college reading material, but it quickly became a book I was eager to read.

It was refreshing to read about Vietnam from the viewpoint of the warfighters, the people who actually saw everything as it was. This book is not steeped in political opinions but rather reads the facts straight from extensive research.

I learned a lot about Vietnam and highly recommend this book to everyone.

Great read

Where does A Better War rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

One of the best recollections of the Vietnam War I've ever read.

What other book might you compare A Better War to and why?

It's hard to think of a comparison.

Have you listened to any of Basil Sands’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes.

Any additional comments?

Too many parallels to what is happening today. Where have all the war fighters gone? If one is in fact, a slave to the rules of war, he will surely fail and the young men and women in our military will, once again, suffer the consequences.

well researched and well told

It's an excellent work about an obscure period that the author has obviously mastered. I high it recommend it for those seeking a different perspective than the traditional Vietnam account.

Good book!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I read the book a few years ago in hardcopy.
I was in Vietnam in ’69 & ’70 [ at IFFV HQ ] and can confirm that most everything Bob Sorely writes is “spot on.” If you want to know why the Vietnam War was as good as won, but went wrong in the end, read this well-researched book.
HOWEVER – Don’t get the audio enhancement for Kindle! (~$4 extra⁉) It doesn’t work & is a waste of money.
The vanilla Kindle version (no audio) is fine.

As I said, this is a good book. 5 stars.

New information and angle of thought

Very informative from a different point of view. I honor the military. As for the politicians, karma will settle the score.

A thought-provoking history of the war 68-75

What made the experience of listening to A Better War the most enjoyable?

The story is well written and Basil Sands renders a solid performance that is captivating and leads you through a complicated story with a number of pivotal events, Tet, Tet2, the logistical war into Cambodia and Laos, Quang Tri, the Cease-Fire, the "peace", and the downfall. Each is well told, and tied together nicely to explain why the war "after Cronkite" turned out the way it did.

What other book might you compare A Better War to and why?

In the introduction to the book, Sorley himself compares his work to Stanley Carnow's Vietnam: A History. Sorley's A Better War deals essentially with what was Nixon's war, the Geneva peace accords, and the abandonment of an ally under Ford and the post-Watergate congress.. Carnow's focus is on Johnson, Kennedy and earlier.

Have you listened to any of Basil Sands’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

This was my first experience with Basil Sand. Overall a very solid performance. I struggled with Henry Kissinger quotes in a de regueur German-accent -- too cliche, almost denigrating, but then his personification of General Abrams seemed to register -- part John Wayne, part Norman Schwarzkopf. I confess I've never heard an Abrams speech, but the tone and accent resonated. I can't have it both ways, so I'll give the performance a deserved credit -- it's captivating and well-paced.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The story of the "making of the peace" and the realization that domestic politics and a divided nation that seemly had grown tired of everything remotely associated with the war sold the South down the river with an agreement that not only surrendered everything that had been gained between 1968 and 1972 but essentially paved the way for the NVA conquest in 1975. Abrams truly deserved a better war -- he had delivered something desperately close to victory only to see it sold to Watergate politics and moral fatigue. We come out as a decidedly flawed ally in the fight against communism.

Any additional comments?

I found myself going back and relistening to the chapters covering the success of American-supported Vietnamization -- the interdiction of the Ho Chi Mihn trail in Cambodia and Laos in 1970-71 and how that essentially dictated the NVA reaction in 1972. The storyline leads the reader through the events one-by-one and shows how each event became interconnected with the eventual outcome.

The rest of the story

At the very beginning the author addresses the myopia of the current understanding of Vietnam. Most of the popular books and movies on the war like Best and the Brightest and Platoon etc cover the road to war up to around Tet. There's much less covering the latter part of the war. I can think of a few reasons why but this is so but this book does fill in the rest of the story. It does challenge some of the popular notions of the war. This book gets me thinking a lot more some parallels from Iraq and Afghanistan.