“All wars are fought twice. The first time on the battlefield, the second time in memory.”
Beginning in November 1955 and culminating in the fall of Saigon in April 1975, the Vietnam War was a major conflict fought between the Communist nation of North Vietnam against the anti-Communist South Vietnam. Spilling out into neighbouring Laos and Cambodia, it marked one of the biggest proxy wars of the Cold War era with the Soviet Union and China supporting the north, and the United States and other anti-Communist allies supporting the south.
Estimates suggest between 966,000-3 million Vietnamese soldiers and civilians were killed during the war, with an additional 275,000-310,000 Cambodians, 20,000-62,000 Laotians, and 58,220 US service members also dying. The conflict also had a profound impact on public perceptions and attitudes towards wars overseas, especially in the United States. Still one of the most significant and controversial conflicts of the twentieth century, join us at What We Reading as we take you through the best Vietnam War books for every avid history reader to dive into.
Vietnam: A History – Stanley Karnow
Kicking off our list of the best Vietnam War books is Stanley Karnow’s acclaimed account of the conflict. Renowned for its politically neutral stance, its profound understanding of the material and its compassion for the humanitarian cost, Vietnam: A History chronicles the entire war to provide readers with the ability to put all of its figures, events and decisions into focus.
Originally published in October 1983, this Pulitzer Prize-winning history book is filled with fresh revelations and insights drawn from secret documents, as well as from exclusive interviews with American, Vietnamese, French and Chinese diplomats, military commanders, government officials, nurses, workers and soldiers from all fronts.
The Best And The Brightest – David Halberstam
Another one of the most acclaimed books about the Vietnam War, The Best and the Brightest is David Halberstam’s account of the history of the conflict. First published in 1969, it attempts to unveil the policymakers at the heart of America, and the decisions and motivations that drove them into the war.
The Best and the Brightest is one of the most illuminating Vietnam War books for readers looking for the answers to some of the burning questions that endure to this day about the conflict: Why did America become so bogged down in Vietnam? And how did such an advanced nation lose? One of the all-time works in American history and international relations, The Best and the Brightest is as timeless today as it was when it was first released.
Hanoi’s War: An International History Of The War For Peace In Vietnam – Lien-Hang T. Nguyen
Looking for a history of the Vietnam War but from a Vietnamese perspective? Lien-Hang T. Nguyen’s acclaimed Hanoi’s War is the book for you. Taking readers on a journey through the swamps of the Mekong Delta to the pulverised Red River, from the power bases in Saigon and Hanoi and into the heart of the Nixon Administration, Beijing, Moscow and finally peace negotiations in Paris, it is one of the most comprehensive histories of the Vietnam War.
Hanoi’s War uses never-before-seen archival materials from the Vietnam Ministry of Foreign Affairs to demonstrate how the politics of war planning and peace settling can be equally messy. By taking readers into the inner machinations of an enemy few in America are fully familiar with, the book is superb at presenting a more international, nuanced and unique perspective on the Vietnam War.
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Perfect Spy: The Incredible Life Of Pham Xuan An – Time Magazine Reporter And Vietnamese Communist Agent – Larry Berman
Throughout the Vietnam War, Pham Xuan An, a Time Reporter, befriended every major player in Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam. From American journalists such as David Halberstam and Neil Sheehan, the CIA’s William Colby to some of the most influential members of the country’s army and political elite. But, for over twenty years, none of these individuals knew that he was providing strategic intelligence to Hanoi.
Larry Berman chronicles the extraordinary life and times of one of the best spies in history in his book on the Vietnam War, Perfect Spy. Providing a fresh perspective on a conflict that continues to fascinate and haunt us all, Perfect Spy is the astonishing true story of a man who would climb to become a Hero of the People’s Army.
Vietnam-Perkasie: A Combat Marine Memoir – W.D. Erhart
There have been dozens of great memoirs written by those on the front lines of both sides of the Vietnam War, however, W.D. Erhart’s Vietnam-Perkasie is undoubtedly one of the best Vietnam War books for bringing to light one marine’s descent into the hellish world the conflict quickly became. Unsparing in its truth, its intensity powerfully demonstrates the effect war has on young men, and perfectly encapsulates why attitudes towards overseas engagements changed so profoundly in America post-Vietnam.
From gunning down old women for simply wearing black pyjamas to how he and his countrymen destroyed a sacred Buddhist temple purely for the sake of it, Vietnam-Perkasie’s grim atmosphere and disturbing events all read like a page-turning novel, yet all are entirely real.
The Sorrow Of War – Bao Ninh
In The Sorrow of War, Bao Ninh, a former North Vietnamese soldier provides readers with a strikingly candid account of how the Vietnam war completely transformed his life, his country and the people who reside within its borders. Banned until 2006, it is one of the most impassioned and evocative Vietnam War books for detailing how millions of Vietnamese were dehumanised by Americans during the conflict through slurs such as gooks and dinks.
Attracting worldwide acclaim for its anti-war, non-heroic and non-ideological tone, The Sorrow of War is a gruelling portrayal of war and serves as a sobering reminder that historians are still unsure of how many Vietnamese dead are yet to be recovered in the years since the war’s conclusion.
Nothing Ever Dies: Vietnam And The Memory Of War – Viet Thanh Nguyen
Viet Thanh Nguyen is another Pulitzer Prize-winning author, best known for his bestselling novel, The Sympathizer. Yet, he is also a renowned novelist and essay writer, with Nothing Ever Dies standing as a brilliant collection of works on how both sides of the Vietnam War recount and memorialise the war.
Nothing Ever Dies documents everything from Vietnam’s propagandist war museums, depicting wrecked American planes and armoured vehicles, to the Vietnam Wall in Washington and, like The Sorrow of War, the neglected cemeteries of those lost in the South. Profound in its delivery, Nguyen’s book is one of the best history books on the importance of remembering and its role in reconciliation, going forward.
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Part-time reader, part-time rambler, and full-time Horror enthusiast, James has been writing for What We Reading since 2022. His earliest reading memories involved Historical Fiction, Fantasy and Horror tales, which he has continued to take with him to this day. James’ favourite books include The Last (Hanna Jameson), The Troop (Nick Cutter) and Chasing The Boogeyman (Richard Chizmar).
