Overview
In A Time for War, Schulzinger paints a vast yet intricate canvas of more than three decades of conflict in Vietnam, from the first rumblings of rebellion against the French colonialists to the American intervention and eventual withdrawal. His comprehensive narrative incorporates every aspect of the warfrom the military (as seen in his brisk account of the French failure at Dienbienphu) to the economic (such as the wage increase sparked by the draft in the United States) to the political. Drawing on massive research, he offers a vivid and insightful portrait of the changes in Vietnamese politics and society, from the rise of Ho Chi Minh, to the division of the country, to the struggles between South Vietnamese president Diem and heavily armed religious sects, to the infighting and corruption that plagued Saigon. Schulzinger reveals precisely how outside powers - first the French, then the Americans - committed themselves to war in Indochina, even against their own better judgment. Roosevelt, for example, derided the French efforts to reassert their colonial control after World War II, yet Truman, Eisenhower, and their advisers gradually came to believe that Vietnam was central to American interests. The author's account of Johnson is particularly telling and tragic, describing how the president would voice clear-headed, even prescient warnings about the dangers of intervention - then change his mind, committing America's prestige and military might to supporting a corrupt, unpopular regime. Schlzinger offers sharp criticism of the American military effort, and provides a fascinating look inside the Nixon White House, showing how the Republican president dragged out the war long past the point when he realized that the United States could not win. Finally, Schulzinger paints a brilliant political and social portrait of the times, illuminating the impact of the war on the lives of ordinary Americans and Vietnamese. Schulzinger shows what the war was like for a cThe first full-length history of the Vietnam War based on primary sources, this reference spans three decades, from the first rumblings against the French to the American intervention and ultimate withdrawal. A Time for War paints a brilliant political, diplomatic, and social portrait of the times. 10 illustrations. 432 pp. 15,000 print.
Editorials
Booknews
Schunzinger (history and international affairs, U. of Colorado- Boulder), draws on primary sources in private and public archives to recount the three decades of US involvement in southeast Asia. He describes military factors such as the French defeat at Dienvienphu, economic factors such as the rise in US wages because of the draft, and political factors such as president Nixon pursuing the war long after he knew the US could not win it. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.Kirkus Reviews
A sober, objective, detailed recounting and analysis of the American war in Vietnam, told almost exclusively from the American perspective.Schulzinger (History/Univ. of Colorado, Boulder) offers no new theory on why the US fought in Vietnam nor why this country came out on the losing end. But he has a different objective: offering a "compendium of the current state of scholarship on the Vietnam War." Leaning heavily on State Department cables, White House memoranda, and other primary sources, Schulzinger offers a strongly researched, cleanly written, chronological look at Vietnam and an analysis of why the war effort failed. In the main, he agrees with the assessment of former secretary of state Dean Rusk, who believed that the Vietnamese communists prevailed because American policymakers underestimated the will of the North Vietnamese and overestimated the patience of the American people. Schulzinger also believes that, given the tenacity of the enemy and the severe political and military shortcomings of our South Vietnamese ally, the war was unwinnable for America. Schulzinger asks rhetorically what the US could have done to win, given the realities of the time. The answer: "Nothing." Among the book's many strong points is Schulzinger's dispassionate analysis of the antiwar movement, in which he addresses the still hotly debated question of whether the protests helped end the war or prolonged it by comforting the enemy. The antiwar movement "did not end the war in Vietnam, but it did alter, almost irrevocably, the perceptions of ordinary citizens of their society and their government; it also altered the perceptions of leaders toward the public."
The first of a projected two-volume set; volume II will cover the Vietnam War's political, economic, social, and cultural legacies.