The Vietnam War: An Intimate History
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The Vietnam War: An Intimate History Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

Geoffrey C. Ward (Author), Ken Burns (Author, Narrator), Fred Sanders (Narrator),
4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars 1,212 ratings
#1 Best Seller in Southeast Asian History
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From the award-winning historian and filmmakers of The Civil War, Baseball, The War, The Roosevelts, and others: a vivid, uniquely powerful history of the conflict that tore America apart - the companion volume to the major multipart PBS film to be aired in September 2017.

More than 40 years after it ended, the Vietnam War continues to haunt our country. We still argue over why we were there, whether we could have won, and who was right and wrong in their response to the conflict. When the war divided the country, it created deep political fault lines that continue to divide us today. Now, continuing in the tradition of their critically acclaimed collaborations, the authors draw on dozens and dozens of interviews in America and Vietnam to give us the perspectives of people involved at all levels of the war: US and Vietnamese soldiers and their families, high-level officials in America and Vietnam, antiwar protestors, POWs, and many more. The book plunges us into the chaos and intensity of combat, even as it explains the rationale that got us into Vietnam and kept us there for so many years. Rather than taking sides, the book seeks to understand why the war happened the way it did and to clarify its complicated legacy. Beautifully written, this is a tour de force that is certain to launch a new national conversation.

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  1. Listening Length
    31 hours and 15 minutes
  2. Author
    Geoffrey C. Ward, see all
  3. Narrator
    Fred Sanders, see all
  4. Audible release date
    September 5, 2017
  5. Language
    English
  6. Publisher
    Random House Audio
  7. ASIN
    B074G5BP9X
  8. Version
    Unabridged
  9. Program Type
    Audiobook
  10. See all details
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Product details

Listening Length 31 hours and 15 minutes
Author Geoffrey C. Ward, Ken Burns
Narrator Ken Burns, Fred Sanders, Brian Corrigan
Audible.com Release Date September 05, 2017
Publisher Random House Audio
Program Type Audiobook
Version Unabridged
Language English
ASIN B074G5BP9X
Best Sellers Rank #5,634 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals)
#1 in Southeast Asian History
#5 in Vietnam War
#6 in Southeast Asia History

Customer reviews

4.8 out of 5 stars
4.8 out of 5
1,212 global ratings
The Vietnam War Memorial Photo
5 Stars
The Vietnam War Memorial Photo
That photo has my cousin's name. His name is on panel # 10W, line 83. I've included the photo that I took from the traveling war memorial. It was mentioned today on Memorial Dady in 2020. My cousin's wife, his SIL, bought the book, and after griping about the cost, he opened it to the page with his brother's name. A good recommendation.
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Top reviews from the United States

Tim
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book
Reviewed in the United States on March 26, 2024
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The is very well written and gives a real life look into the Vietnam war. If you really want a good understanding of what happened, both in the actual fighting and what was going on behind the scenes politically, then I strongly recommend reading this book.
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M Tucker
5.0 out of 5 stars The Vietnam War: An Intimate History From All Sides
Reviewed in the United States on September 26, 2017
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With this book Geoffrey Ward and Ken Burns have presented a very balanced account of America’s Vietnam War, but it is much more than that. The story begins with the French colonization of Vietnam in the 1850s and ends with the fall of Saigon in April of 1975. It actually ends with an examination of how the war is remembered in both the US and in Vietnam. Very well written, liberally adorned with stunning photographs, this large volume is both a deep sweeping coverage of the First and Second Indochina Wars and a beautifully produced piece of art. And, once the First Indochina War concludes, the story incorporates the personal stories of some of those directly involved. We hear from Americans and Vietnamese, civilians and soldiers, supporters and detractors, those from the winning side and those from the losing side. It really is the product of years of research and interviews, stunning to contemplate and a joy to read.

In some respects the book gives a better account of the developing history than the film it is a “companion” to. The reader will get a much better understanding of the changing Vietnamese government as the French desperately attempted to establish some sort of legitimacy within Vietnam and the transition of that government into the Republic of Vietnam under Diem.

I think this book will become a standard text on the history of the Vietnam War but I do have a criticism. My quibble is with a relatively small portion of the text and it really has nothing to do with the story. That is my quibble…

“Kennedy and What Might Have Been.” Why is this chapter included in this book? I find it interesting that after reviewing the diverse panoply of historiography Burns and Ward could not stay away from one of the counterfactual, what-if, perspectives that seems to be a real favorite among some historians: Kennedy would not have gone full and outright war on Vietnam. He was too smart, he was too good a guy, Camelot and all that. Well Kennedy might have inherited the war from Truman and Eisenhower but he is the one who began to Americanize the war. He is the one who sent something like seventeen thousand American military personal to operate as advisors to the RVNAF. He sent helicopter companies with the necessary pilots and crews. Americans were now directly involved in combat operations. Americans were dying in Vietnam and Kennedy kept all that secret from the American public. That is a big commitment to walk away from. American prestige was on the line and Kennedy had made several eloquent speeches proclaiming that America would “pay any price” to defend against communist aggression. After Truman, many Americans automatically believed that Democrats were reflexively soft on communism; it was in their political DNA. For Kennedy to walk away from Vietnam after ramping up the military commitment and eliminating Diem would have raised a big political ruckus. He would have had some explaining to do. History would also have viewed him harshly after supporting the coup and murder of Diem and his brother only to walk away from the mess that policy created. Diem’s blood is on Kennedy’s hands. I do happen to think Kennedy to have been a good president: the Peace Corps, commitment to land a man on the moon and bring him home alive; but please stop with the Kennedy was too pure, good and foresighted enough to involve America in a shooting war in Asia. This chapter is nothing more than fantasy. It is not history, it is fable. And, my only criticism of Mr Burns work: this is an example of ax-grinding, not the impartial umpire calling balls and strikes (two metaphors Burns frequently used during the speaking tour, in the run-up to release of the film, to characterize his approach). Truman, made a tremendous mistake by supporting French colonialism. Eisenhower supported that same mistake then went all-in with Diem. Johnson sent in the ground troops and ramped up the death and destruction. But we should give ol’ Kennedy a pass because he would have…We don’t know what he would have done! We know what he did and it was an exponential increase over what his predecessors had allowed. He gets no pass from me.

Since this is really not part of the story it can be ignored and does not change my rating of this monumental work.
The Vietnam War was a tragic mistake of enormous proportions. The death and destruction wrought, ending in failure, allows very little redeeming consequence. We did learn some important lessons but those lessons are easily forgotten. Ken Burns and his partner Lynn Novick would like to start a new conversation about the war. I think that can only be a good thing. I really hope it happens, even if on a small scale. We need to review the lessons to be learned from that awful war.

I am glad of one thing. We seem to have thoroughly learned to not blame our valiant warriors for the blunders of our leaders.
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Edward Ford
5.0 out of 5 stars Great companion to the DVD set.
Reviewed in the United States on January 6, 2024
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Great read gave more insight into the DVD series. Very good resource for anyone wanting to understand what happened during that conflict.
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Zane
5.0 out of 5 stars Great historical account of the Vietnam war
Reviewed in the United States on May 16, 2023
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I liked the chronological order the of the book. It tells the story of early Vietnam and how the U.S. got involved. It details not only the battles but also the political decisions that led to our escalated involvement. Finally, it also brings in the North Vietnamese leaders perspective and military strategy. The book provides a broad, comprehensive accounting of the war.
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Albert G. Smith Jr.
4.0 out of 5 stars Photo credits botched
Reviewed in the United States on September 30, 2017
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I watched the PBS series, and bought the dvd set to have the ability to watch it always, not being reliant on being able to find it on some medium that might not offer it. I also bought this book, because I was enthralled by the great still photography during the series. I was a fan of photo journalists the way many were fans of sports figures. I knew many of these photos, the subject, the photographer, the stories behind the shots. I have many books from many of these shooters, but bought this book to have a single volume with this great work.

I was happy to see virtually every shot from the series in this very thick book. I was disappointed however, and enough so to reduce the overall rating by one star, to see the well captioned photos do not include the photographer's name with the photo. This would have been so simple. No, to see who the photographer was requires you to go to the back of the book and look for the page number (and many pages are not numbered), then look for the shooter's name. Making this even less efficient, pages that have more than one photo make it hard to determine which name in the back of the book goes with which photo... the photos are not numbered.

The rest of the book is as good as the series, with each chapter exactly matching each chapter of the film.
8 people found this helpful
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MK
5.0 out of 5 stars good
Reviewed in the United States on December 13, 2023
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Normal book - no issues
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Seeking Disciple
5.0 out of 5 stars Long But Detailed Look at the Vietnam War
Reviewed in the United States on November 11, 2022
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Many books have been written about the American involvement in Vietnam. Most seem to take an anti-war view. This book seems to try to stay neutral in my estimation which should be the job of a true historical narrative of the Vietnam War.

The book chronicles the history of the United States involvement in Vietnam. It shows the countless mistakes made by the American government as well as the military. It shows the failures of the South Vietnam government and military as well.

My only complaint is that the ending of the book just briefly touches on the failures of the communist after the war ends in 1975. The communists have been abysmal failures leading Vietnam. Furthermore, the communists have been responsible for millions of deaths all over the world. This is often glossed over by the socialists.

Over all, I enjoyed the book and recommend it.
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Leonard S.
5.0 out of 5 stars Exactly as described!
Reviewed in the United States on September 29, 2023
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Good synopsis.
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Top reviews from other countries

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Larry Langgard
5.0 out of 5 stars Goes more deeply in the history than the documentary
Reviewed in Canada on October 29, 2023
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I’ve watched the documentary three times, and it is excellent in every way. But reading the book, I still learned a great deal. I have the hardcover, but I borrowed the Kindle version while I was away for the winter, and the Kindle version is very good.
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Dr. Rigoberto Ortiz Treviño
5.0 out of 5 stars Una historia visual de la guerra del Viet Nam objetiva
Reviewed in Mexico on April 4, 2023
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Me gustó mucho su cronología y claridad
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Akshay
5.0 out of 5 stars Bringing the Vietnam War to life!
Reviewed in India on December 11, 2023
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There are a lot of books on the war in Vietnam, both technical and illustrative, but this one stands out for its value in combining both the above aspects and its social implications to the wider society in the USA & Vietnam for decades.

I first came across the author after watching the documentary on the war covered in the book, but somehow I feel this book is more comprehensive with its visual representations and the power of written words to connect with emotions. If you are looking to understand battles, this is not the book to go to, but it gives a clear understanding of how the US got sucked deeper into a hellhole of its own making and creating war-scarred societies in both the countries.

Plus, the quality of the book is terrific, the pages are of the highest quality and the pictures tell a thousand stories with detailed explanations written alongside. A must read to understand the Vietnam war and the hollow silos it created in the minds of generations to never recover from its unfathomable traumas.
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Funkadoodlebingbong
5.0 out of 5 stars We did not learn
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 27, 2023
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All wars are a tragedy and the American war in Vietnam encapsulated the misery and pointlessness of all of those wars.
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Thistle
5.0 out of 5 stars Hard to put down once opened
Reviewed in Spain on August 8, 2022
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History like I had never read before. I had always wondered, upon reading many other history books cramming with kings and rulers of all kinds, dates, political events, stadistics, battles and so on, what the ordinary life at times of war was for ordinary people ( both soldiers in the battlefield and civilians of all kinds) and how they dealt with the death, horrors and misery brought about by all wars. Well, Geoffrey C. Ward does exactly that: he, in a wisely interwoven chronological depiction of events, takes you all along from the highest political decision makers in their safe and comfortable desks to the more realistic down-to-earth commanding officers in the battlefield, the VCs and GIs struggling ( and dying) in the mud of impenetrable jungles, and the exposed civilian population, mostly poor peasants in a poor godforsaken country, all of them ( save for the first) victims of a monstruous state of things which, at times, seems to have a mind of its own and go its own way out of control. One of those books hard to put down every time you turn over each and everyone of its leaves and one of those books which, if you ever or still had any, clears all doubts as to the true evil nature of humans. Quoting Karl Marlantes's ( a Marine first lieutenant in Vietnam) words in the book: "We are a very aggressive species. It is in us. People talk about how the military turn kids into killing machines. But I' ll always argue that it is just finishing school. What we do as a civilization is that we learn to inhibit and rope in these aggressive tendencies." In a nutshell: scratch the Russian and you will find the Tartar. Old as the hills.
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