Publisher's Weekly Review
Spector ( Eagle Against the Sun ) maintains that the months following the Tet offensive (January and February 1968) illuminated the true nature of the war in Vietnam and largely determined its course during the five years that followed. In '68 both sides launched their most powerful efforts to break the military and political stalemate, and the U.S., furthermore, began to recognize potentially disastrous problems of racial tension and drug abuse among its troops. Spector analyzes the ultimately futile tactics of U.S. military operations, the ``other war'' effort to win hearts and minds, and the race riots at the Long Binh stockade and Danang brig, among other developments of that fateful year. He is perhaps the first major historian to scrutinize the Combined Action Program, in which Marine squads lived for indefinite periods in villages, providing aid and protection. The Army high command in Saigon regarded the program as well-meaning but misguided; according to Spector, however, it was the most effective, imaginative and humane approach the Americans devised. By concentrating on its most representative year, Spector has produced a first-rate history of the war. BOMC and History Book Club alternates. (Dec.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
A wide-ranging and revelatory probe of conventional wisdom on America's involvement in Vietnam. Spector (History/George Washington Univ.; The American War with Japan, 1984) begins by addressing the consensus view that the Tet offensive--launched in 1968 at near-ruinous cost by Communist forces against Saigon, Hue, and other urban centers throughout South Vietnam--signaled a turning point in the war. As a practical matter, he argues, the year's bloody engagements (which did yield the North a considerable political victory) were decisive mainly because they were so inconclusive. Focusing on the events of the nine months that followed LBJ's announcement of a bombing halt and his decision not to seek reelection, Spector (who was in country as a USMC field historian during this period) characterizes the Vietnam War as being more like WW I than WW II or the Korean conflict, to which it is often compared. Despite Hanoi's almost immediate acceptance of an offer to begin peace talks, Spector points out, record killed-in-action rates on both sides attested to the fact that the war's fiercest fighting occurred shortly after Tet. Nor, he observes, did the guns fall silent until 1973. Meanwhile, American GIs endured problems related to drug abuse, racism, and the continuing stress of fighting a front-free war whose objectives were never clearly defined by Washington or the corrupt regime in Saigon. An illuminating assessment of the climactic military stalemates and diplomatic deadlocks that not only exemplified the complexities of the protracted struggle but also shaped its course and outcome. (Maps--not seen.)
Booklist Review
This is a comparatively concise but thorough study of 1968, the year that opened with the Tet Offensive and, in the end, was the bloodiest of the Vietnam War. Spector covers in appropriate detail both individual battles and more general developments, including the eclipse of the NLF in favor of the PAVN, the discipline and drug problems that afflicted U.S. forces, the crisis of domestic dissent, and the growing evidence against Westmoreland's strategic priorities. As in his other books, Spector offers cogent judgments, clear writing, thorough research, and his personal experience as a Marine in the field, especially, in this book, during the year in question. A high-priority acquisition for most Vietnam collections. ~--Roland Green
Choice Review
Spector, who served as a field historian for the US Marines in 1968, analyzes the course of the Vietnam war during the nine months that followed the Tet Offensive and President Johnson's decision not to seek reelection. Spector bases his study on both his own observations and on research in an impressive array of military records. Hard fighting characterized the period, as US forces repelled renewed communist offensives in May and August of 1968. Despite these triumphs, the US could not pacify the country; the communists proved resilient and the South Vietnamese again demonstrated their inability to consolidate US battlefield gains. The result of the "bloodiest year" of the conflict was that the war in Vietnam was still a stalemate and would remain so until the US retreated in 1973. Beyond recounting the key battles, Spector expertly details the strengths and weaknesses of the opposing forces and the unremitting suffering inflicted upon South Vietnamese peasants. Although it does not push the point, Spector's work indicts the US for pursuing bitter, futile, and ghastly policies in Vietnam. Useful maps, note on sources. General; undergraduate; graduate; faculty. S. G. Rabe; University of Texas at Dallas
Library Journal Review
America's fighting forces suffered their greatest losses of the Vietnam War in the year following the Viet Cong/North Vietnam Army's February 1968 Tet Offensive. Spector's thorough examination of this period carries some surprising conclusions about motives and methods on both sides and reinforces many accepted ones. In the overall history he focuses on some of the more important actions, like Dai Do and the siege of Kham Duo, to outline each side's tactics. Equally interesting to students of the conflict is his description of support unit life in the major urban areas, reviled by the combat troops but dangerous nonetheless. The year 1968 also saw a decline in racial harmony and an increase in drug use. This readable, insightful, comprehensive work is a step forward in Vietnam War histories. BOMC and History Book Club alternates.-- Mel D. Lane, Sacramento, Cal. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.