100 Best Vietnam War Books of All Time (Updated for 2026)

1

The Things They Carried

Tim O'Brien

5.0

A classic, life-changing meditation on war, memory, imagination, and the redemptive power of storytelling, with more than two-million copies in print

Depicting the men of Alpha Company—Jimmy Cross, Henry Dobbins, Rat Kiley, Mitchell Sanders, Norman Bowker, Kiowa, and the character Tim O’Brien, who survived his tour in Vietnam to become a father and writer at the age of forty-three—the stories in T

Recommended by Caroline Paul, Eugene Gu, Karl Marlantes, and 2 others.

Caroline Paul

A beautiful book by a writer who fought in Vietnam. [source]

Eugene Gu

@realDonaldTrump Tim O’Brien is the author of the book The Things They Carried, which was about the Vietnam War. Must be very triggering for Trump since he dodged the draft multiple times with fraudulent doctors’ notes for fake bone spurs like a coward. [source]

Karl Marlantes

But when O’Brien wrote The Things They Carried he came down to absolute real brass tacks. It was no longer surreal, it was like here’s a list of what a grunt carries, an infantry soldier… [source]

2

We Were Soldiers Once . . . and Young: Ia Drang-The Battle That Changed the War in Vietnam

Harold G. Moore

4.5

The New York Times bestseller, hailed as a “powerful and epic story . . . the best account of infantry combat I have ever read, and the most significant book to come out of the Vietnam War” by Col. David Hackworth, author of the bestseller About Face

In November 1965, some 450 men of the First Battalion, Seventh Cavalry, under the command of Lt. Col. Harold Moore, were dropped into a small clearing

Recommended by Stephane Grand.

Stephane Grand

When a look back at my career path, it is the one of an entrepreneur. I have built various businesses, from accounting and financial advisory firms to tech and security businesses. I have also spent most of my adult life in China, a country that is quite hostile to foreigners and very unfair. I have accepted to suffer the hardships of building my business without any investment from anybody, and stick very firmly to my values. I would recommend young people to read about adventure, hardships, and moral choices. Of course, it would be important to also read about the drivers of our humanity, hence the motley list below: … We were soldiers once, and young … because entrepreneurship is infantry combat. [source]

3

Matterhorn

Karl Marlantes

4.5

A big, powerful saga of men in combat, written over the course of thirty-five years by a highly decorated Vietnam veteran.

Intense, powerful, and compelling, Matterhorn is an epic war novel in the tradition of Norman Mailer's The Naked and the Dead and James Jones's The Thin Red Line. It is the timeless story of a young Marine lieutenant, Waino Mellas, and his comrades in Bravo Company, who are dro

4

A Rumor Of War

Philip Caputo

4.4

In March 1965, Marine Lieutnant Philip J. Caputo landed in Danang with the first ground combat unit committed to fight in Vietnam. Sixteen months later, having served on the line in one of modern history's ugliest wars, he returned home - physically whole, emotionally wasted, his youthful idealism shattered. A decade later, Caputo would write in A Rumor of War, 'This is simply a story about war, a

Recommended by Karl Marlantes.

Karl Marlantes

Philip Caputo was a marine who later became a very well-known journalist. In my mind it’s one of the first really well-written books that describe the moral ambiguities and difficulties faced by a young marine officer in this particular war. Before that you had World War II when they took Iwo Jima and, OK, there was horrendous fighting, but it was much more clear-cut. Caputo was the first one to describe the terrible ambiguities. He got into trouble over something that happened, I can’t remember what, but he spoke very honestly about the difficult part of trying to be a man leading troops in combat in a difficult war. [source]

5

Dispatches

Michael Herr

4.4

Written on the front lines in Vietnam, Dispatches became an immediate classic of war reportage when it was published in 1977.

From its terrifying opening pages to its final eloquent words, Dispatches makes us see, in unforgettable and unflinching detail, the chaos and fervor of the war and the surreal insanity of life in that singular combat zone. Michael Herr’s unsparing, unorthodox retellings of

Recommended by Lawrence Kaplan.

Lawrence Kaplan

Dispatches came out in 1977, soon after the fall of Saigon. It’s delivered in the voice of the New Journalism of the era. Herr takes us up close, on patrol with American troops. It’s so vivid that it reads like fiction. Herr’s book shows us the dark side of America’s foreign policy and the consequences of ideas hatched in air-conditioned conference rooms in Washington DC. [source]

6

The Sympathizer

Viet Thanh Nguyen

4.4

It is April 1975, and Saigon is in chaos. At his villa, a general of the South Vietnamese army is drinking whiskey and, with the help of his trusted captain, drawing up a list of those who will be given passage aboard the last flights out of the country. The general and his compatriots start a new life in Los Angeles, unaware that one among their number, the captain, is secretly observing and repo

Recommended by Bill Gates, Andrew Liveris, Michigan Students, and 1 others.

Bill Gates

CEO/Microsoft

Most of the books I’ve read and movies I’ve seen about the Vietnam War focused on the American perspective. Nguyen’s award-winning novel offers much-needed insight into what it was like to be Vietnamese and caught between both sides. Despite how dark it is, The Sympathizer is a gripping story about a double agent and the trouble he gets himself into. [source]

Andrew Liveris

CEO/Dow Chemical Company

Dow Chemical Company chairman and CEO Liveris will take this time to get away from heavier reading and enjoy some of the most highly acclaimed novels of the past year. [source]

Michigan Students

The Sympathizer by @viet_t_nguyen is another one of my favorite books. With influences from Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man, Nguyen tells a story not often heard by U.S. audiences in popular culture: the Vietnamese side of the Vietnam War. https://t.co/UzARPON6lL [source]

7

The Best and the Brightest

David Halberstam

4.4

The Best and the Brightest is David Halberstam's masterpiece, the defining history of the making of the Vietnam tragedy. Using portraits of America's flawed policy makers and accounts of the forces that drove them, The Best and the Brightest reckons magnificently with the most important abiding question of our country's recent history: Why did America become mired in Vietnam and why did it lose? A

Recommended by Barack Obama, Chad Dickerson, Martin Bell, and 1 others.

Barack Obama

Former USA President

According to the president’s Facebook page and a 2008 interview with the New York Times, these titles are among his most influential forever favorites: Moby Dick, Herman Melville Self-Reliance, Ralph Waldo Emerson Song Of Solomon, Toni Morrison Parting The Waters, Taylor Branch Gilead, Marylinne Robinson Best and the Brightest, David Halberstam The Federalist, Alexander Hamilton Souls of Black Folk, W.E.B. Du Bois The Power and the Glory, Graham Greene The Quiet American, Graham Greene Cancer Ward, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Gandhi’s autobiography Working, Studs Terkel Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith Theory of Moral Sentiments, Adam Smith All the King’s Men, Robert Penn Warren [source]

Chad Dickerson

Just finished Best and the Brightest (long and detailed book on the Vietnam War) & if I learned one thing it’s that many assume people in charge of a war have a clear plan that should be supported out of patriotic duty & it’s highly possible they don’t. Skepticism is patriotic. [source]

Martin Bell

I started off doing tribal massacres in Nigeria. Then in early 1967 I went to Vietnam and was back there in 1972. David Halberstam was the main New York Times correspondent in Vietnam during that time. Lyndon Johnson lent very heavily on the newspaper’s editor to get him withdrawn because he didn’t like his reports. Halberstam was very truthful about what he found. [source]

8

A Bright, Shining Lie

Neil Sheehan

4.4

Outspoken, professional and fearless, Lt. Col. John Paul Vann went to Vietnam in 1962, full of confidence in America's might and right to prevail. He was soon appalled by the South Vietnamese troops' unwillingness to fight, by their random slaughter of civilians and by the arrogance and corruption of the US military. He flouted his supervisors and leaked his sharply pessimistic - and, as it turned

Recommended by James Meek.

James Meek

It’s about the Vietnam war and it’s a masterpiece, a stone cold masterpiece. An amazing book. There’s this comparison between Vietnam and Afghanistan that’s been made so much, but it’s apposite. For a start, I think there’s a lot to be said concerning parallels between modern western perceptions of Islam and past perceptions of Communism. [source]

9

Vietnam: A History

Stanley Karnow

4.3

“A landmark work…The most complete account to date of the Vietnam tragedy.” –The Washington Post Book World

This monumental narrative clarifies, analyzes, and demystifies the tragic ordeal of the Vietnam war. Free of ideological bias, profound in its undertsanding, and compassionate in its human portrayals, it is filled with fresh revelations drawn from secret documents and from exclusive interview

10

Chickenhawk

Robert Mason

4.3

A true story from the battlefield that faithfully portrays the horror, the madness, and the trauma of the Vietnam War

More than half a million copies of Chickenhawk have been sold since it was first published in 1983. Now with a new afterword by the author and photographs taken by him during the conflict, this straight-from-the-shoulder account tells the electrifying truth about the helicopter war

11

Vietnam: An Epic Tragedy, 1945-1975

Max Hastings

4.3

An absorbing and definitive modern history of the Vietnam War from the acclaimed New York Times bestselling author of The Secret War.

Vietnam became the Western world’s most divisive modern conflict, precipitating a battlefield humiliation for France in 1954, then a vastly greater one for the United States in 1975. Max Hastings has spent the past three years interviewing scores of participants on b

12

Inside Out & Back Again

Thanhhà Lai

4.3

For all the ten years of her life, Hà has only known Saigon: the thrills of its markets, the joy of its traditions, and the warmth of her friends close by. But now the Vietnam War has reached her home. Hà and her family are forced to flee as Saigon falls, and they board a ship headed toward hope. In America, Hà discovers the foreign world of Alabama: the coldness of its strangers, the dullness of

13

Huế 1968: A Turning Point of the American War in Vietnam

Mark Bowden

4.3

The first battle book from Mark Bowden since his #1 New York Times bestseller Black Hawk Down, Hue 1968 is the story of the centerpiece of the Tet Offensive and a turning point in the American War in Vietnam.

In the early hours of January 31, 1968, the North Vietnamese launched over one hundred attacks across South Vietnam in what would become known as the Tet Offensive. The lynchpin of Tet was the

14

Marine Sniper: 93 Confirmed Kills

Charles Henderson

4.3

Tells the exciting true story of Sergeant Carlos Hathcock, a legendary Marine sniper in the Vietnam War.

He's silent, invisible. He lies in one position for days, barely twitching a muscle, able to control his heartbeat and breathing. His record has never been matched: 93 confirmed kills. This is the story of Sergeant Carlos Hathcock, Marine sniper, legend of military lore.

15

The Quiet American

Graham Greene, Robert Stone

4.3

Graham Greene's classic exploration of love, innocence, and morality in Vietnam

"I never knew a man who had better motives for all the trouble he caused," Graham Greene's narrator Fowler remarks of Alden Pyle, the eponymous "Quiet American" of what is perhaps the most controversial novel of his career. Pyle is the brash young idealist sent out by Washington on a mysterious mission to Saigon, where

Recommended by Barack Obama, Richard Branson, Cat Barton, and 2 others.

Barack Obama

Former USA President

"According to the president’s Facebook page and a 2008 interview with the New York Times, these titles are among his most influential forever favorites: Moby Dick, Herman Melville Self-Reliance, Ralph Waldo Emerson Song Of Solomon, Toni Morrison Parting The Waters, Taylor Branch Gilead, Marylinne Robinson Best and the Brightest, David Halberstam The Federalist, Alexander Hamilton Souls of Black Folk, W.E.B. Du Bois The Power and the Glory, Graham Greene The Quiet American, Graham Greene Cancer Ward, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Gandhi’s autobiography Working, Studs Terkel Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith Theory of Moral Sentiments, Adam Smith All the King’s Men, Robert Penn Warren " [source]

Richard Branson

Founder/Virgin Group

Today is World Book Day, a wonderful opportunity to address this #ChallengeRichard sent in by Mike Gonzalez of New Jersey: Make a list of your top 65 books to read in a lifetime. [source]

Cat Barton

It’s a fantastic novel, which is set in Saigon in the early 1950s and foreshadows the Vietnam War. It’s particularly nice to read when you’re in Ho Chi Minh now because Greene describes the city extraordinarily well. It’s obviously set in a very different time, but many of the buildings he writes about can still be seen today. [source]

16

Embers of War: The Fall of an Empire and the Making of America's Vietnam

Fredrik Logevall, Fred Sanders, et al

4.3

The struggle for Vietnam occupies a central place in the history of the twentieth century. Fought over a period of three decades, the conflict drew in all the world’s powers and saw two of them—first France, then the United States—attempt to subdue the revolutionary Vietnamese forces. For France, the defeat marked the effective end of her colonial empire, while for America the war left a gaping wo

17

Fields Of Fire

James Webb

4.2

Originally published in 1978, Webb's classic novel of the Vietnam War follows three soldiers from different worlds who are plunged into a white-hot murderous realm of jungle warfare as it was fought by one Marine platoon in the An Hoa Basin in 1969. In the heat and horror of battle, they took on new identities, took on each other, and were each reborn in the fields of fire.' to 'They each had thei

Recommended by Karl Marlantes.

Karl Marlantes

This is a book I like because Webb understands the warrior mentality. I’m not one. I’m a citizen soldier who gets drafted and I’ll do my bit and then I want out. But there are warriors born into the world, and thank God we’ve got them – I’m no pacifist. And the hero of this book, it’s what he wanted to do since he was a child. He’s Scots-Irish and Webb is proud of his heritage and the Marine Corps is filled with these people, disproportionately from the Southern states which is where the Scots-Irish settled. So he explores that aspect of the human psyche – a guy who wants to be a warrior. Then, obviously, as a warrior, he runs into all the issues a warrior runs into and he’s a thinking warrior. Webb is someone who does think, in spite of the fact that he’s a politician (it’s hard for me to swallow that contradiction), and he’s a good writer. A lot of people like to think that we all hate war, and warriors hate war too, but there’s something in them that makes them good at it, that makes them think: ‘I can’t wait for the next one.’ That’s the way they are and you can’t lay a moral judgment. [source]

18

The Sorrow of War: A novel of North Vietnam (War Promo)

Bao Ninh

4.2

Bao Ninh, a former North Vietnamese soldier, provides a strikingly honest look at how the Vietnam War forever changed his life, his country, and the people who live there. Originally published against government wishes in Vietnam because of its non-heroic, non-ideological tone, The Sorrow of War has won worldwide acclaim and become an international bestseller.

A novel of the Vietnam War written fro

Recommended by Karl Marlantes.

Karl Marlantes

He was born in North Vietnam, I was born in a logging town in Oregon. We end up in the same war on different sides and yet the experience of it is so similar for the individual soldier. [source]

19

Going After Cacciato

Tim O'Brien

4.2

Alternate cover for this ISBN can be found here

Winner of the 1979 National Book Award, Going After Cacciato captures the peculiar mixture of horror and hallucination that marked this strangest of wars.

In a blend of reality and fantasy, this novel tells the story of a young soldier who one day lays down his rifle and sets off on a quixotic journey from the jungles of Indochina to the streets of Par

Recommended by Vinay Prasad.

Vinay Prasad

@drjohnm @adamcifu Best vietnam book in my estimation. [source]

20

The Best We Could Do

Thi Bui

4.2

An intimate and poignant graphic novel portraying one family’s journey from war-torn Vietnam from debut author Thi Bui.

This beautifully illustrated and emotional story is an evocative memoir about the search for a better future and a longing for the past. Exploring the anguish of immigration and the lasting effects that displacement has on a child and her family, Bui documents the story of her fa

Recommended by Bill Gates.

Bill Gates

CEO/Microsoft

This gorgeous graphic novel is a deeply personal memoir that explores what it means to be a parent and a refugee. The author’s family fled Vietnam in 1978. After giving birth to her own child, she decides to learn more about her parents’ experiences growing up in a country torn apart by foreign occupiers. [source]

21

If I Die in a Combat Zone, Box Me Up and Ship Me Home

Tim O'Brien

4.2

Alternate cover for this ISBN can be found here

A CLASSIC FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE THINGS THEY CARRIED

Before writing his award-winning Going After Cacciato, Tim O'Brien gave us this intensely personal account of his year as a foot soldier in Vietnam. The author takes us with him to experience combat from behind an infantryman's rifle, to walk the minefields of My Lai, to cr

22

The Killing Zone: My Life in the Vietnam War

Frederick Downs Jr.

4.2

Among the best books ever written about men in combat, The Killing Zone tells the story of the platoon of Delta One-six, capturing what it meant to face lethal danger, to follow orders, and to search for the conviction and then the hope that this war was worth the sacrifice. The book includes a new chapter on what happened to the platoon members when they came home.

Recommended by Jocko Willink.

Jocko Willink

Founder/Echelon Front

Another good Vietnam one, The Killing Zone by Frederick Downs … Again, it’s not always clear that oh, here’s the leadership principle; here’s what you should be doing. No, it’s not always clear like that. But when you understand what people are going through emotionally and you start to get a glimpse at human nature and how people react in certain situations and how their egos flare up, that’s what makes these books good. Because it gives you a frame of reference. [source]

23

SOG: The Secret Wars of America's Commandos in Vietnam

John L. Plaster

4.2

John Plaster’s riveting account of his covert activities as a member of a special operations team during the Vietnam War is “a true insider’s account, this eye-opening report will leave readers feeling as if they’ve been given a hot scoop on a highly classified project” (Publishers Weekly).

Code-named the Studies and Observations Group, SOG was the most secret elite US military unit to serve in the

24

The Wednesday Wars

Gary D. Schmidt

4.2

In this Newbery Honor-winning novel, Gary D. Schmidt offers an unforgettable antihero. The Wednesday Wars is a wonderfully witty and compelling story about a teenage boy’s mishaps and adventures over the course of the 1967–68 school year in Long Island, New York.

Meet Holling Hoodhood, a seventh-grader at Camillo Junior High, who must spend Wednesday afternoons with his teacher, Mrs. Baker, while

25

Street Without Joy: The French Debacle in Indochina

Bernard B. Fall

4.2

This classic account of the French War in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia is back in hardcover. Includes an introduction by George C. Herring.

26

About Face: The Odyssey Of An American Warrior

Colonel David H. Hackworth, Julie Sherman

4.2

Called “everything a twentieth century war memoir could possibly be” by The New York Times, this national bestseller by Colonel David H. Hackworth presents a vivid and powerful portrait of a life of patriotism.

From age fifteen to forty David Hackworth devoted himself to the US Army and fast became a living legend. In 1971, however, he appeared on television to decry the doomed war effort in Vietna

Recommended by Jocko Willink.

Jocko Willink

Founder/Echelon Front

At some point about halfway through my 20-year career in the SEAL Teams, I read About Face by Colonel David H. Hackworth. I haven’t stopped reading it since. Hackworth came up through the ranks and served as an infantry officer in the Korean and Vietnam wars. He was revered by his men and respected by all who worked with him. While the stories of combat are incredible and there is so much to be learned about battlefield tactics in the book, the real lessons for me are about leadership. I adapted many of his leadership principles over the years and still continue to learn from his experiences. Thanks for everything, Colonel Hackworth. [source]

27

Hell in a Very Small Place: The Siege of Dien Bien Phu

Bernard Fall, Bernard B. Fall

4.2

From the acclaimed scholar and reporter, a thorough and revealing account of the historic turning point in Vietnam's long struggle--the 1954 battle for Dien Bien Phu

Like Gettysburg, Stalingrad, Midway, and Tet, the battle at Dien Bien Phu--a strategic attack launched by France against the Vietnamese in 1954 after eight long years of war--marked a historic turning point. By the end of the 56-day si

28

Okay for Now

Gary D. Schmidt

4.2

Midwesterner Gary D. Schmidt won Newbery Honor awards for Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boys and The Wednesday Wars, two coming-of-age novels about unlikely friends finding a bond. Okay For Now, his latest novel, explores another seemingly improbable alliance, this one between new outsider in town Doug Swieteck and Lil Spicer, the savvy spitfire daughter of his deli owner boss. With her challe

29

Steel My Soldiers' Hearts

David H. Hackworth, Eilhys England

4.2

Colonel David H. Hackworth, one of America's most decorated soldiers, lays bare his most daring and legendary tour of duty.
1966
With a full year of Vietnam combat and five months of in-country intense after-action analysis under his pistol belt, Hackworth pens the classic tactical handbook the "Vietnam Primer" with military historian Samuel Marshall. In a radical shift from the World War II-era ta

Recommended by Jocko Willink.

Jocko Willink

Founder/Echelon Front

Another book by Hackworth called Steal My Soldier’s Heart … Again, it’s not always clear that oh, here’s the leadership principle; here’s what you should be doing. No, it’s not always clear like that. But when you understand what people are going through emotionally and you start to get a glimpse at human nature and how people react in certain situations and how their egos flare up, that’s what makes these books good. Because it gives you a frame of reference. [source]

30

Dereliction of Duty: Lyndon Johnson, Robert McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Lies That Led to Vietnam

H. R. McMaster

4.2

"The war in Vietnam was not lost in the field, nor was it lost on the front pages of the New York Times or the college campuses. It was lost in Washington, D.C." - H. R. McMaster (from the Conclusion)

Dereliction Of Duty is a stunning new analysis of how and why the United States became involved in an all-out and disastrous war in Southeast Asia. Fully and convincingly researched, based on recently

31

The Long Gray Line: The American Journey of West Point's Class of 1966

Rick Atkinson

4.2

"A story of epic proportions [and] an awesome feat of biographical reconstruction."—The Boston Globe

A classic of its kind, The Long Gray Line is the twenty-five-year saga of the West Point class of 1966. With a novelist's eye for detail, Rick Atkinson illuminates this powerful story through the lives of three classmates and the women they loved—from the boisterous cadet years, to the fires of Viet

Recommended by Mark Hertling.

Mark Hertling

@Carter_PE @MattGallagher0 Yes, and this is a great book. Thanks for the reminder, Phil. [source]

32

Kill Anything That Moves: The Real American War in Vietnam

Nick Turse

4.2

Americans have long been taught that events such as the notorious My Lai massacre were isolated incidents in the Vietnam War, carried out by just a few "bad apples." But as award-winning journalist and historian Nick Turse demonstrates in this groundbreaking investigation, violence against Vietnamese noncombatants was not at all exceptional during the conflict. Rather, it was pervasive and systema

33

Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War

Steve Sheinkin

4.2

In 1964, Daniel Ellsberg was one of the Pentagon insiders helping to plan a war in Vietnam. The mountainous Asian country had long been a clandestine front in America's Cold War with the Soviet Union. The U.S. Government would do anything to stop the spread of communism--with or without the consent of the American people.

But as the fighting in Vietnam escalated. Ellsberg turned against the war. He

Recommended by Marc Favreau.

Marc Favreau

Steve Sheinkin is one of the most prolific and talented writers at work today. Sheinkin ingeniously uses Ellsberg’s quirks and his life story to give readers a unique look at America’s involvement in Vietnam. He does it as well as any adult writer could have handled this material. [source]

34

What It is Like to Go to War

Karl Marlantes

4.1

From the author of the New York Times bestseller Matterhorn, this is a powerful nonfiction book about the experience of combat and how inadequately we prepare our young men and women for war.

War is as old as humankind, but in the past, warriors were prepared for battle by ritual, religion and literature -- which also helped bring them home. In a compelling narrative, Marlantes weaves riveting acco

35

On Faith: A Play (Adapted from A Prayer for Owen Meany)

John Irving

4.1

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS A PLAY, NOT THE BOOK BY JOHN IRVING. FOR THE BOOK, PLEASE CLICK HERE.

Recommended by Carl Quintanilla.

Carl Quintanilla

@RickFolbaum @matthewjdowd amazing amazing book https://t.co/Hr5aSx4se4 [source]

36

Legend: The Incredible Story of Green Beret Sergeant Roy Benavidez's Heroic Mission to Rescue a Special Forces Team Caught Behind Enemy Lines

Eric Blehm

4.1

The unforgettable account and courageous actions of the U.S. Army’s 240th Assault Helicopter Company and Green Beret Staff Sergeant Roy Benavidez, who risked everything to rescue a Special Forces team trapped behind enemy lines.

In Legend, acclaimed bestselling author Eric Blehm takes as his canvas the Vietnam War, as seen through a single mission that occurred on May 2, 1968. A twelve-man Specia

37

All the Broken Pieces

Ann E. Burg

4.1

A remarkable literary debut by a stunning new voice in children's fiction.
Two years after being airlifted out of war-torn Vietnam, Matt Pin is haunted: by bombs that fell like dead crows, by the family -- and the terrible secret -- he left behind. Now, inside a caring adoptive home in the United States, a series of profound events force him to choose between silence and candor, blame and forgivene

38

The 13th Valley

John M. Del Vecchio

4.1

Praise for "The 13th Valley," a Finalist for the American Book Award: "There have been a number of excellent books about Vietnam...but none has managed to communicate in such detail the day-to-day pain, discomfort, frustration and exhilaration of the American military experience in Vietnam." --Joe Klein, "The New York Times Book Review"

" "The" novel about the Vietnam War...Del Vecchio has construc

39

The Tunnels of Cu Chi

Tom Mangold, John Penycate

4.1

One of the more remarkable but little-known campaigns of the Vietnam War was fought inside the 200 miles of secret tunnel networks around Saigon between Viet Cong guerrillas and special American forces known as "Tunnel Rats." This is the harrowing account of American soldiers of great courage who volunteered to enter black tunnels armed only with pistons and knives, and often fought in deadly hand

40

365 Days

Ronald J. Glasser

4.1

Recommended by Karl Marlantes.

Karl Marlantes

This was a book I read before I went to Vietnam and it was written by an army doctor who wasn’t even there. I think he was in Japan. But what he did was he interviewed the people he was treating and it was one of the great examples of breaking through the statistics. An army doctor can say: ‘I treated 33 head wounds, did 14 amputations… boom, boom, boom, boom.’ But if you talk to one of the 14 amputation cases and realise this is a real human being, with a real story about how he got there, it gives you this perspective. The next time you read the paper and it says, ‘We took light casualties’, you can take the next step and think: ‘I wonder who they were, I wonder what happened to them, I wonder if they kept their leg or they didn’t.’ So I was already in the reserve when I read this but it was like: ‘Oh my God, this is real stuff.’ It’s just an army doctor showing the human side of the word ‘casualties’. [source]

41

Bloods: An Oral History of the Vietnam War by Black Veterans

Wallace Terry

4.1

"Simply the most powerful and moving book that has emerged on this topic." UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL
The national bestseller that tells the truth of about Vietnam from the black soldiers' perspective. An oral history unlike any other, BLOODS features twenty black men who tell the story of how members of their race were sent off in disproportionate numbers and the special test of patriotism they fa

42

The Great Alone

Kristin Hannah

4.1

Alaska, 1974.
Unpredictable. Unforgiving. Untamed.
For a family in crisis, the ultimate test of survival.

Ernt Allbright, a former POW, comes home from the Vietnam war a changed and volatile man. When he loses yet another job, he makes an impulsive decision: he will move his family north, to Alaska, where they will live off the grid in America’s last true frontier.

Thirteen-year-old Leni, a girl comin

43

Born on the Fourth of July

Ron Kovic

4.1

“A great, courageous fellow, a man of deep moral convictions and an uncompromising disposition.”—John Kerry on Ron Kovic

“As relevant as ever, this book is an education. Ron is a true American, and his great heart and hard-won wisdom shine through these pages.” —Oliver Stone, filmmaker

“Born on the Fourth of July brings back the era of the Vietnam War at a time when the Establishment is trying to ma

44

In Pharaoh's Army: Memories of the Lost War

Tobias Wolff

4.1

Whether he is evoking the blind carnage of the Tet offensive, the theatrics of his fellow Americans, or the unraveling of his own illusions, Wolff brings to this work the same uncanny eye for detail, pitiless candor and mordant wit that made This Boy's Life a modern classic.

45

Fire in the Lake: The Vietnamese and the Americans in Vietnam

Frances FitzGerald

4.1

Frances FitzGerald's landmark history of Vietnam and the Vietnam War, "A compassionate and penetrating account of the collision of two societies that remain untranslatable to one another." (New York Times Book Review)

This magisterial work, based on Frances FitzGerald's many years of research and travels, takes us inside the history of Vietnam--the traditional, ancestor-worshiping villages, the con

46

Cracker!: The Best Dog in Vietnam

Cynthia Kadohata

4.1

CRACKER IS ONE OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY'S MOST VALUABLE WEAPONS:

a German shepherd trained to sniff out bombs, traps, and the enemy. The fate of entire platoons rests on her keen sense of smell. She's a Big Deal, and she likes it that way. Sometimes Cracker remembers when she was younger, and her previous owner would feed her hot dogs and let her sleep in his bed. That was nice, too.

Rick Hanski

47

Across the Fence: The Secret War in Vietnam (Expanded Edition)

John Stryker Meyer

4.1

48

The Lotus Eaters

Tatjana Soli

4.1

A unique and sweeping debut novel of an American female combat photographer in the Vietnam War, as she captures the wrenching chaos and finds herself torn between the love of two men.

On a stifling day in 1975, the North Vietnamese army is poised to roll into Saigon. As the fall of the city begins, two lovers make their way through the streets to escape to a new life. Helen Adams, an American photo

49

Nam: The Vietnam War in the Words of the Men and Women Who Fought There

Mark Baker

4.1

Numerous people who experienced the Vietnam War firsthand share their stories in this oral history. Men and women, officers and draftees, prowar and antiwar veterans, all give personal accounts of the bloodshed they witnessed, and the horrifying circumstances they survived. Grunts recount losing their friends in combat; doctors remember the patients whose lives they desperately tried to save; sold

50

Platoon Leader: A Memoir of Command in Combat

James R. McDonough

4.1

A remarkable memoir of small-unit leadership and the coming of age of a young soldier in combat in Vietnam.'

"Using a lean style and a sense of pacing drawn from the tautest of novels, McDonough has produced a gripping account of his first command, a U.S. platoon taking part in the 'strategic hamlet' program. . . . Rather than present a potpourri of combat yarns. . . McDonough has focused a seasone

51

The Village

Bing West

4.1

In Black Hawk Down, the fight went on for a day. In We Were Soldiers Once & Young, the fighting lasted three days. In The Village, one Marine squad fought for 495 days-half of them died.

Few American battles have been so extended, savage and personal. A handful of Americans volunteered to live among six thousand Vietnamese, training farmers to defend their village. Such "Combined Action Platoons" (

52

When Heaven and Earth Changed Places: A Vietnamese Woman's Journey from War to Peace

Le Ly Hayslip, Jay Wurts

4.1

It is said that in war heaven and earth change places not once, but many times. When Heaven and Earth Changed Places is the haunting memoir of a girl on the verge of womanhood in a world turned upside down.

The youngest of six children in a close-knit Buddhist family, Le Ly Hayslip was twelve years old when U.S. helicopters landed in Ky La, her tiny village in central Vietnam. As the government and

53

Fighter Pilot: The Memoirs of Legendary Ace Robin Olds

Robin Olds

4.1

The widely anticipated memoir of legendary ace American fighter pilot, Robin Olds

Robin Olds was a larger-than-life hero with a towering personality. A graduate of West Point and an inductee in the National College Football Hall of Fame for his All-American performance for Army, Olds was one of the toughest college football players at the time. In WWII, Olds quickly became a top fighter pilot an

54

The Road Not Taken: Edward Lansdale and the American Tragedy in Vietnam

Max Boot

4.1

In chronicling the adventurous life of legendary CIA operative Edward Lansdale, The Road Not Taken definitively reframes our understanding of the Vietnam War.

In this epic biography of Edward Lansdale (1908– 1987), the man said to be the fictional model for Graham Greene’s The Quiet American, best-selling historian Max Boot demonstrates how Lansdale pioneered a “hearts and mind” diplomacy, first in

Recommended by David Priess.

David Priess

Look what I spy with my little eye at my local @BNBuzz: The great book by @MaxBoot, “The Road Not Taken,” in paperback and on sale! https://t.co/rQpYZIQ1ZJ [source]

55

We Are Soldiers Still: A Journey Back to the Battlefields of Vietnam

Harold G. Moore, Joseph L. Galloway

4.1

56

The Last Valley: Dien Bien Phu and the French Defeat in Vietnam

Martin Windrow

4.1

In December 1953 French paratroopers, who had been searching for the elusive Vietnamese army, were quickly isolated by them and forced to retreat into their out-gunned and desolate jungle base-a small place called Dien Bien Phu. The Vietnamese besieged the French base for five long and desperate months. Eventually, the demoralized and weakened French were utterly depleted and withdrew in defeat. T

57

The Odyssey of Echo Company: The 1968 Tet Offensive and the Epic Battle to Survive the Vietnam War

Doug Stanton

4.1

The New York Times bestselling author of In Harm’s Way and Horse Soldiers shares the powerful account of an American army platoon fighting for survival during the Vietnam War in “an important book….not just a battle story—it’s also about the home front” (Today show).

On a single night, January 31, 1968, some 100,000 soldiers in the North Vietnamese Army attacked thirty-six cities throughout South V

58

Fallen Angels

Walter Dean Myers

4.1

An exciting, eye-catching repackage of acclaimed author Walter Dean Myers' bestselling paperbacks, to coincide with the publication of SUNRISE OVER FALLUJA in hardcover.

A coming-of-age tale for young adults set in the trenches of the Vietnam War in the late 1960s, this is the story of Perry, a Harlem teenager who volunteers for the service when his dream of attending college falls through. Sent to

59

Low Level Hell: A Scout Pilot In The Big Red One

Hugh L. Mills Jr., Robert Anderson

4.1

A Vietnam veteran describes his experiences in country, recounting his career as a scout pilot in the Darkhorse Air Cavalry Troop with the 1st Infantry Division. Reprint.

60

Guns Up!

Johnnie M. Clark

4.1

THIS GUT-WRENCHING FIRSTHAND ACCOUNT OF THE WAR IS A CLASSIC IN THE ANNALS OF VIETNAM LITERATURE.

"Guns up!" was the battle cry that sent machine gunners racing forward with their M60s to mow down the enemy, hoping that this wasn't the day they would meet their deaths. Marine Johnnie Clark heard that the life expectancy of a machine gunner in Vietnam was seven to ten seconds after a firefight beg

61

They Marched Into Sunlight: War And Peace, Vietnam And America, October 1967

David Maraniss

4.1

Here is the epic story of Vietnam and the sixties told through the events of a few gripping, passionate days of war and peace in October 1967. They Marched Into Sunlight brings that tumultuous time back to life while exploring questions about the meaning of dissent and the official manipulation of truth, issues as relevant today as they were decades ago.

In a seamless narrative, Maraniss weaves tog

62

Presidents of War: The Epic Story, from 1807 to Modern Times

Michael Beschloss

4.1

From a preeminent presidential historian comes a groundbreaking and often surprising narrative of America’s wartime chief executives

It sometimes seems, in retrospect, as if America has been almost continuously at war. Ten years in the research and writing, Presidents of War is a fresh, magisterial, intimate look at a procession of American leaders as they took the nation into conflict and mobilize

Recommended by Bill Gates and Tom Hanks.

Bill Gates

CEO/Microsoft

My interest in all aspects of the Vietnam War is the main reason I decided to pick up this book. By the time I finished it, I learned a lot not only about Vietnam but about the eight other major conflicts the U.S. entered between the turn of the 19th century and the 1970s. Beschloss’s broad scope lets you draw important cross-cutting lessons about presidential leadership. [source]

Tom Hanks

Actor, author

Once again, Beschloss captures our Presidents in terms both historic and human, showing that whoever holds the office will fearlessly—or fearfully—impact our world. [source]

63

A Better War: The Unexamined Victories and Final Tragedy of America's Last Years in Vietnam

Lewis Sorley

4.1

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 from thousands of hours of previously unavailable (and still classified) tape-recorded meetings between the highest levels of the American military command in Vietnam, A Better War is an insightful, factual, and

64

Home Before Morning

Lynda Van Devanter

4.1

Lynda Van Devanter was the girl next door, the cheerleader who went to Catholic schools, enjoyed sports, and got along well with her four sisters and parents. After high school she attended nursing school and then did something that would shatter her secure world for the rest of her life: in 1969, she joined the army and was shipped to Vietnam. When she arrived in Vietnam her idealistic view of th

65

The Wall

Eve Bunting, Ronald Himler

4.1

A young boy and his father visit the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

66

The Forever War

Joe Haldeman

4.1

Private William Mandella is a reluctant hero in an interstellar war against an unknowable and unconquerable alien enemy, but his greatest test will come when he returns home. Relativity means that for every few months' tour of duty centuries have passed on earth, isolating the combatants ever more from the world for whose future they are fighting.

Recommended by Bertalan Meskó and Peter Boghossian.

Bertalan Meskó

Even William Gibson said it might be one of the best science fiction war novels ever. The far future of humanity, biology and warfare. Check out The Forever War and dive into the far future of human life while keeping the focus on long-term military tactics. #book https://t.co/h9fyE4KPHJ [source]

Peter Boghossian

@krazyowl I don’t have one. The Forever War is probably my favorite fiction book. (I love sci fi.) [source]

67

In the Lake of the Woods

Tim O'Brien

4.1

This riveting novel of love and mystery from the author of The Things They Carried examines the lasting impact of the twentieth century’s legacy of violence and warfare, both at home and abroad. When long-hidden secrets about the atrocities he committed in Vietnam come to light, a candidate for the U.S. Senate retreats with his wife to a lakeside cabin in northern Minnesota. Within days of their a

68

19 Minutes to Live - Helicopter Combat in Vietnam: A Memoir by Lew Jennings

Lew Jennings

4.1

"19 Minutes to Live" illustrates the incredible courage and determination of helicopter pilots and crews supporting those heroes that carried a rucksack and a rifle in Vietnam. Over 12,000 helicopters were used in the Vietnam War, which is why it became known as "The Helicopter War." Almost half of the helicopters, 5,086, were lost. Helicopter pilots and crews accounted for nearly 10 percent of al

69

Tiger Force: A True Story of Men and War

Michael Sallah, Mitch Weiss

4.0

At the outset of the Vietnam War, the Army created an experimental fighting unit that became known as "Tiger Force." The Tigers were to be made up of the cream of the crop-the very best and bravest soldiers the American military could offer. They would be given a long leash, allowed to operate in the field with less supervision. Their mission was to seek out enemy compounds and hiding places so th

70

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

Ocean Vuong

4.0

Poet Ocean Vuong's debut novel is a shattering portrait of a family, a first love, and the redemptive power of storytelling.

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous is a letter from a son to a mother who cannot read. Written when the speaker, Little Dog, is in his late twenties, the letter unearths a family's history that began before he was born — a history whose epicenter is rooted in Vietnam — and serve

Recommended by Jim Schachter.

Jim Schachter

@c_werth Great book! Maybe my daughter in Bushwick can attend. Thanks [source]

71

America's Longest War: The United States and Vietnam, 1950-1975

George C. Herring

4.0

America's Longest War: The United States and Vietnam, 1950-1975, is a thorough exploration of the Vietnam War and its legacy on the American and Vietnamese people. Presenting the latest research and scholarship, this clear, readable textbook discusses the historical reasons for America's lengthy involvement in Vietnam and the continued effects of the Vietnam War today. Students of this text will

72

Once A Warrior King: Memories of an Officer in Vietnam

David Donovan

4.0

The memoir of a young American soldier who became the most powerful man in a remote rural district of Vietnam

In the spring of 1969, First Lieutenant David Donovan arrived in the Mekong Delta of South Vietnam to work as military advisor with village chiefs and local militia to win the war. But as he was the highest-ranking person in the entire district, his life there was far more complex than anyo

73

To the Limit: An Air Cav Huey Pilot in Vietnam

Tom A. Johnson

4.0

During the Vietnam War, one out of every eighteen helicopter pilots never made it home alive. At age nineteen, Tom Johnson flew in the thick of it, and lived to tell his harrowing tale.

Johnson piloted the UH-1 "Iroquois"-better known as the "Huey"-as part of the famous First Air Cavalry Division. His battalion was one of the most decorated units of the Vietnam War, and helped redefine modern war

74

The Ravens: The Men Who Flew In America's Secret War In Laos

Christopher Robbins

4.0

75

Secret Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines with the Elite Warriors of SOG

John L. Plaster

4.0

Major John L. Plaster recalls his remarkable covert activities as a member of a special operations team during the Vietnam War in a “comprehensive, informative, and often exciting…account of an important part of the overall Vietnam tragedy” (The New York Times).

Before there were Navy SEALs, there was SOG. Short for “Studies and Operations Group,” it was a secret operations force in Vietnam, the mo

76

Boots on the Ground: America's War in Vietnam

Elizabeth Partridge

4.0

★ "Partridge proves once again that nonfiction can be every bit as dramatic as the best fiction."*

America's war in Vietnam. In over a decade of bitter fighting, it claimed the lives of more than 58,000 American soldiers and beleaguered four US presidents. More than forty years after America left Vietnam in defeat in 1975, the war remains controversial and divisive both in the United States and abr

Recommended by Marc Favreau.

Marc Favreau

Boots On The Ground is a chronological examination of the Vietnam War as it unfolded, and also framed by the story of how the Vietnam Memorial in Washington came about. It is a meditation on how a nation remembers war and why memory is so fraught. [source]

77

The Cat From Hue: A Vietnam War Story

John Laurence

4.0

Winner of the Overseas Press Club Cornelius Ryan Award

John Laurence covered the Vietnam war for CBS News from its early days, through the bloody battle of Hue in 1968, to the Cambodian invasion. He was judged by his colleagues to be the best television reporter of the war, however, the traumatic stories Laurence covered became a personal burden that he carried long after the war was over.

In this e

78

Hill 488

Ray Hildreth, Charles W. Sasser

4.0

For some, Hill 488 was just another landmark in the jungles of Vietnam. For the eighteen men of Charlie Company, it was a last stand. This is the stirring combat memoir written by Ray Hildreth, one of the unit's survivors.

On June 13, 1966, men of the 1st Recon Battalion, 1st Marine Division were stationed on Hill 488. Before the week was over, they would fight the battle that would make them the m

79

Secrets: A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers

Daniel Ellsberg

4.0

In 1971 former Cold War hard-liner Daniel Ellsberg made history by releasing the Pentagon Papers-a 7,000-page top-secret study of U.S. decision-making in Vietnam-to the New York Times and Washington Post. The document set in motion a chain of events that ended not only the Nixon presidency but the Vietnam War. In this remarkable memoir, Ellsberg describes in dramatic detail the two years he spent

80

Last Stand at Khe Sanh: The U.S. Marines' Finest Hour in Vietnam

Gregg Jones

4.0

In a remote mountain stronghold in 1968, six thousand US Marines awoke one January morning to find themselves surrounded by 20,000 enemy troops. Their only road to the coast was cut, and bad weather and enemy fire threatened their fragile air lifeline. The siege of Khe Sanh-the Vietnam War's epic confrontation-was under way.

For seventy-seven days, the Marines and a contingent of US Army Special Fo

81

In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam

Robert S. McNamara, Brian VanDeMark

4.0

The #1 national bestseller--an indispensable document for anyone interested in the Vietnam War. McNamara's controversial book tells the inside and personal story of America's descent into Vietnam from a unique point of view, and is one of the most enlightening books about government ever written. This new edition features a new Foreword by McNamara. of photos. (Military History)

82

GUTS 'N GUNSHIPS: What it was Really Like to Fly Combat Helicopters in Vietnam

Mark Garrison

4.0

Synopsis
In the summer of 1967, Mark Garrison had dropped out of college at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois, just before entering his third year. He had run out of money and had to work for a while. These were the days before the lottery and the draft soon came calling. In order to somewhat control his own future, he enlisted in the U.S. Army’s helicopter flight school program

83

The Short-Timers

Gustav Hasford

4.0

Vietnam, 1968. A nightmarish landscape blackened by napalm and littered with once-human debris. Where victories are measured in mountains of corpses and ordinary men are transformed into obsessive executioners. This is the brutally honest story of Cpl. Joker and his battle-hardened company, survivors of months of unimaginable horror--the crazy-tough and phony-brave, religiously counting the days u

84

Everything We Had: An Oral History of the Vietnam War

Al Santoli

4.0

Here is an oral history of the Vietnam War by thirty-three American soldiers who fought it. A 1983 American Book Award nominee.

85

The Boys of ’67: Charlie Company’s War in Vietnam

Andrew Wiest

4.0

When the 160 men of Charlie Company (4th Battalion/47th Infantry/9th ID) were drafted by the US Army in May 1966, they were part of the wave of conscription that would swell the American military to 80,000 combat troops in theater by the height of the war in 1968. In the spring of 1966, the war was still popular and the draftees of Charlie Company saw their service as a rite of passage. But by Dec

86

Dead Center: A Marine Sniper's Two-Year Odyssey in the Vietnam War

Ed Kugler

4.0

WHEN YOU'RE IN THE DEATH BUSINESS,
EACH DAWN COULD BE YOUR LAST.

Raw, straightforward, and powerful, Ed Kugler's account of his two years as a Marine scout-sniper in Vietnam vividly captures his experiences there--the good, the bad, and the ugly. After enlisting in the Marines at seventeen, then being wounded in Santo Domingo during the Dominican crisis, Kugler arrived in Vietnam in early 1966.

As a

87

Acceptable Loss: An Infantry Soldier's Perspective

kregg p.jjorgenso

4.0

This mass market paperback has the same ISBN as the hardcover edition.

88

Achilles in Vietnam: Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character

Jonathan Shay

4.0

In this strikingly original and groundbreaking book, Dr. Shay examines the psychological devastation of war by comparing the soldiers of Homer's Iliad with Vietnam veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. Although the Iliad was written twenty-seven centuries ago it has much to teach about combat trauma, as do the more recent, compelling voices and experiences of Vietnam vets.

89

When I Turned Nineteen: A Vietnam War Memoir

Glyn Haynie

4.0

It's the year 1969. I was serving in the U.S. Army with my brothers of First Platoon Company A 3/1 11th Bde Americal (23rd Infantry) Division. We were average American sons, fathers, husbands, or brothers who'd enlisted or been drafted from all over the United States and who'd all come from different backgrounds. We came together and formed a brotherhood that will last through time.

I share my expe

90

Listen, Slowly

Thanhhà Lai

4.0

A California girl born and raised, Mai can't wait to spend her vacation at the beach. Instead, though, she has to travel to Vietnam with her grandmother, who is going back to find out what really happened to her husband during the Vietnam War. Mai's parents think this trip will be a great opportunity for their out-of-touch daughter to learn more about her culture. But to Mai, those are their roots

91

Up Country

Nelson DeMille

4.0

The last thing Paul Brenner wanted to do was return to work for the Army's Criminal Investigative Division, an organization that thanked him for his many years of dedicated service by forcing him into early retirement. But when his former boss calls in a career's worth of favors, Paul finds himself investigating a murder that took place back in Vietnam thirty years before. Now, returning to a time

92

Hero Found: The Greatest POW Escape of the Vietnam War

Bruce Henderson

4.0

From the #1 New York Times bestselling coauthor of And the Sea Will Tell comes Hero Found: the incredible but true story of Dieter Dengler, the only pilot to escape captivity from a POW camp in the Laotian jungle during the Vietnam War. This amazing story of triumph over seemingly insurmountable odds has been filmed by Werner Herzog as both a documentary (Little Dieter Needs to Fly) and a motion p

93

Thud Ridge: F-105 Thunderchief missions over Vietnam

Jack Broughton

4.0

94

Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam

Bernard Edelman

4.0

Nearly forty years after the official end of the Vietnam War, Dear America allows us to witness the war firsthand through the eyes of the men and women who served in Vietnam. In this collection of more than 200 letters, they share their first impressions of the rigors of life in the bush, their longing for home and family, their emotions over the conduct of the war, and their ache at the loss of a

95

The Life We Bury (Joe Talbert, #1; Max Rupert, #1)

Allen Eskens

4.0

College student Joe Talbert has the modest goal of completing a writing assignment for an English class. His task is to interview a stranger and write a brief biography of the person. With deadlines looming, Joe heads to a nearby nursing home to find a willing subject. There he meets Carl Iverson, and soon nothing in Joe's life is ever the same. Carl is a dying Vietnam veteran-and a convicted murd

96

Bury Us Upside Down: The Misty Pilots and the Secret Battle for the Ho Chi Minh Trail

Rick Newman, Don Shepperd, John McCain

4.0

They had the most dangerous job n the Air Force. Now Bury Us Upside Down reveals the never-before-told story of the Vietnam War’s top-secret jet-fighter outfit–an all-volunteer unit composed of truly extraordinary men who flew missions from which heroes are made.

In today’s wars, computers, targeting pods, lasers, and precision-guided bombs help FAC (forward air controller) pilots identify and dest

97

The Hunter Killers: The Extraordinary Story of the First Wild Weasels, the Band of Maverick Aviators Who Flew the Most Dangerous Missions of the Vietnam War

Dan Hampton

4.0

At the height of the Cold War, America's most elite aviators bravely volunteered for a covert program aimed at eliminating an impossible new threat. Half never returned. All became legends. From New York Times bestselling author Dan Hampton comes one of the most extraordinary untold stories of aviation history.

Vietnam, 1965: On July 24 a USAF F-4 Phantom jet was suddenly blown from the sky by a my

98

Novel Without a Name

Duong Thu Huong, Phan Huy Duong, Nina McPherson

4.0

A piercing, unforgettable tale of the horror and spiritual weariness of war, Novel Without a Name will shatter every preconception Americans have about what happened in the jungles of Vietnam. With Duong Thu Huong, whose Paradise of the Blind was published to high critical acclaim in 1993, Vietnam has found a voice both lyrical and stark, powerful enough to capture the conflict that left millions

99

A Lonely Kind of War: Forward Air Controller, Vietnam

Marshall Harrison

4.0

"Harrison gives us a well-written account of a little-known facet of the air war over Vietnam."-- Rocky Mountain News

100

The Girl in the Picture: The Story of Kim Phuc, the Photograph, and the Vietnam War

Denise Chong

4.0

On June 8, 1972, nine-year-old Kim Phuc, severely burned by napalm, ran from her blazing village in South Vietnam and into the eye of history. Her photograph - one of the most unforgettable images of the twentieth century - was seen around the world and helped turn public opinion against the Vietnam War.

This book is the story of how that photograph came to be - and the story of what happened to th