Review by Choice Review
The Vietnam War remains one of the most controversial events in modern US history. Following H. G. Summers Jr.'s 1985 Vietnam War Almanac, this new almanac provides a day-by-day account of the war from a decidedly American perspective. Willbanks (U.S. Army Command and General Staff College) has written several other books on the Vietnam War. Here he provides greater detail than the 1985 Almanac does. The heart of the book (464 pages) is the chronology, with entries ranging from the founding of the first Vietnamese nation in 2879 BCE to Bill Clinton's visit to Vietnam in 2000. Following this is a "Key Individuals" section with 158 biographical articles (many taken from the 1985 edition), most of which concern Americans. The emphasis throughout is on the US: how it became involved, how it fought the war, and the events surrounding the fall of its client state. This almanac also contains a glossary of acronyms and abbreviations, followed by appendixes of statistics on troop deployments and withdrawals, casualties, and major military operations. It ends with an excellent collection of maps and a selected bibliography. This is a fine one-volume reference work on the Vietnam War that will be useful for public and academic libraries, especially those that do not have the 1985 version or The Vietnam War: An Almanac, ed. by J. S. Bowman (1985). Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-level undergraduates through faculty/researchers; general readers. P. Brush Vanderbilt University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Booklist Review
Vietnam War Almanac is part of the publisher's Almanacs of American War series, which traces the history of American warfare from the eighteenth century forward. Other volumes cover the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, World War I, World War II, and the Korean War. Like the other titles in the series, this volume is a detailed chronology. It extends from the founding of the kingdom of Van Lang, in 2879 BCE, to President Clinton's visit to Vietnam in 2000, although the most detail is provided for the period immediately following World War II through 1973. Coverage for that period is almost day-to-day, with events for each day arranged in categories such as Ground War, Negotiations, South Vietnam, and USA Government. The chronology comprises 464 of the volume's 590 pages, with each entry containing a small paragraph that describes the event's significance. The other sections of the Almanac consist of 165 short biographies of key individuals, a glossary of acronyms and abbreviations, nine valuable appendixes providing statistical information, maps, a bibliography, and an index. The 11 black-and-white maps show, among other things, North Vietnamese air defenses, the Ho Chi Minh Trail, and the Tet Offensive. The chronological approach makes this volume a good complement to encyclopedic resources such as Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War: A Political, Social, and Military History (1998). Recommended for high-school, public, and undergraduate libraries--Carbone, Jerry Copyright 2009 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review
An installment in Facts On File's "Almanacs of American Wars" series, this volume is divided into two distinct parts. Part 1 is a chronological history of Vietnam, covering brief summaries of events in Vietnam's history through 2000. Daily events begin appearing in 1940, with the majority between 1950 and the late 1970s. The entries won't give readers a great deal of depth; instead, they give a brief overview of what occurred on specific days. Part 2 is an A-to-Z of 150 brief biographies covering people involved in the conflict. Various appendixes provide information on casualties, Medal of Honor recipients, and troop size. Lastly, an 11-page map section shows battles, states, and other aspects of the country. Bottom Line This is Willbanks's sixth book on the Vietnam War, following The Tet Offensive: A Concise History and The Battle of An Loc. While it lacks the depth of his 2004 Abandoning Vietnam, this almanac still has much to offer to anyone investigating the war, but it would be most appreciated in an academic setting.-James Langan, Univ. of Pittsburgh at Johnstown Lib. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 6-10-A detailed chronology of more than 400 pages is sandwiched between a concise introduction to the war's historical background and course and a short-entry biographical encyclopedia of major military and civilian figures. The chronology runs from Vietnam's legendary founding in 2879 B.C. to President Clinton's visit in November 2000. Proceeding almost day by day through the conflict, Willbanks splits entries into categories such as "Ground War," "USA-Domestic," and "North Vietnam." In general, the author reports facts in a journalistic style and stays away from editorial comment, though he dubs the 1969 Menu bombings of Cambodia "covert and illegal" and characterizes the My Lai massacre as "the most publicized war atrocity committed by U.S. troops in Vietnam," emphasizing that it wasn't the only one. The biographical sketches cover individuals from President Nixon, Alexander Haig, and Ho Chi Minh to Abbie Hoffman, Eldridge Cleaver, and Walter Cronkite. It's unlikely that the book's audience will make much use of the extensive, small-print bibliography, and the black-and-white photos are both muddy and thinly scattered. However, several maps, a series of statistical tables, and other supplementary material add value to this resource, and the index is sufficiently comprehensive to make up for the lack of cross-references in the main body. Collections that lack Kevin Hillstrom's Vietnam War: Almanac (Gale, 2001) and John S. Bowman's The Vietnam War Almanac (Barnes & Noble, 2005) should consider adding this one to bring this conflict into finer focus than do the general treatments on most libraries' shelves.-John Peters, New York Public Library (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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