The Vietnam War

By: John C. McManus, The Great Courses

Narrated by: John C. McManus

The war in Vietnam was initially a localized civil conflict—a bloody and brutal contest for state control between the communist government in the north and a Western-backed republican government in the south. But the war quickly became a global event. American involvement in the skies and on the ground sowed deep discontent and discord back home. Bombing campaigns spilled into neighboring Laos and Cambodia. Defense systems and new tech flowed to North Vietnam from major communist powers like China and the USSR. And a broad swath of ordinary people both inside of and beyond Vietnam—private citizens, army grunts, peace activists—were profoundly impacted by the fighting there.

In The Vietnam War, you will learn about the causes and consequences of the war in Vietnam. You will explore the scope of American intervention from air campaigns to large-scale military operations on the ground. You will survey the history of Vietnam from colonial Indochina onward, getting to know the homegrown ideas, personalities, and politics that would come to shape the conflict. You will reconstruct major military operations like the Tet Offensive and Rolling Thunder. You will examine the strategies used by US, South Vietnamese, and VC troops and determine their effectiveness in both the short and long term. And you will head to America to investigate the domestic politics of war, alongside the rise of a powerful anti-war movement that would come to define the decade.

That’s not all. Dive into the human dimensions of war, unearthing the experiences of everyday people bound up in and touched by the conflict in Vietnam. Explore the everyday life of a US combat soldier living and warring in Vietnam. Construct a portrait of your everyday VC soldier, from his socioeconomic background to the kinds of food he ate along the Ho Chi Minh Trail. And follow veterans as they resettle back into American society, despite maltreatment and personal trauma. The Vietnam War is not just a history lesson on one singular event; you will engage in an exploration of war itself and the kind of impact it can have on ordinary hearts, minds, and spirits.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2022 The Great Courses (P)2022 The Teaching Company, LLC

The best American-Vietnam War audiobook

The enigma of the Vietnam War keeps me coming back to old and new sources alike, but rarely does one commentary encapsulate all of the facets in one go. I am often left dissatisfied because of the biased perspective of the author or filmmaker. Still, I can’t blame them, because the desire for a simple story that wraps up all the loose ends of this war is the main reason I keep returning to it year after year. While this book fails to give us a simple and clean story, it gives us what is too often sacrificed for such: a fair telling of the various perspectives of those whose lives were forever impacted by this war.

Highly recommend!

Interesting and open minded

I listen to classes in the car and rarely follow/rehearse the written compendium. I feel that this is one of the classes where I would have learned and retained much more if I had prepared myself using the lecturer’s prepared notes, as there are quite a few names involved, which are important to know for keeping the story together. Overall, it was still a really good set of lectures.

An excellent course.

This course was very thorough and thoughtful. It did a good job in covering a complex and little understood part of American history. We should always remember all of those who died with honor and love. We need to know our past so we may learn from it and this course accomplishes these worthwhile goals.

Excellent Story

Author has done a fantastic job of explaining a story thoroughly that gives the listener a linear view of a tragic event that helped reshape much of modern history. Shows all sides of the story and is ironically a pleasure to listen to despite the grim backdrop.

Great Overview

It is worth the time to listen to this course. It covers the war from start to finish. Even though there are thousands more stories/histories to read, this is a great new start point.

Outstanding analysis

I’m of the Vietnam era. I had a student deferment my best friend was a combat veteran. I’ve read many books about this era and stories about the war. This by far was the most concise and objective book about this era and war that I have ever read. The author did his best to be both analytical and informative about this struggle. The part I liked best was he always kept you informed of the thinking of the time. It’s easy to point out errors in hindsight but why did the leaders make those choices. The author also informs you about what the North Vietnamese people were doing and why. He points out the serious mistakes they made and the consequences they suffered. In summary if you are looking for an adventure book this is not your read but if you’re interested in an analytical look back this is a great book.

Interesting details about both sides.

I really enjoyed the entire book except for the last chapter where the author seemed to have missed the entire story of the war for the independence of the country of Vietnam. This colonized country had some dignity and his own destiny to decide by itself, instead of being told what to do by the French of the Americans. The road to capitalism and success, as the author says, is not paved with good intentions in spite of his last comments.

Good even handed treatment

This course answered a question I always had of why the US never took off the kid gloves to finish the North. I missed going to Vietnam enlisting the year it ended. My Dad went though and spent his tour there. We need to remember Vietnam and why we should not enter these asymmetrical warfare situations.

Excellent presentation

Very organized. Concise. Non-judgmental. Fascinating. I would recommend it to anybody who loves history. The summary and the aftermath at the end, put it all together very nicely.

Excellent Relatively Evenhanded

Evenhanded, informative, and engaging coverage of the Vietnam War. Narration is excellent except sound quality is sometimes poor.