The Vietnam War endured for thirty years, cost billions of dollars, and resulted in thousands of Vietnamese, French, and American deaths. Massive American military intervention in Vietnam embroiled America in protests, placed enormous strains on the western alliance, and altered U.S. relations with the Soviet Union and China. David L. Anderson's concise overview critiques U.S. errors in magnifying the strategic importance of South-east Asia in the Cold War and in underestimating the strength of the Vietnamese communist movement.

DAVID L. ANDERSON is Dean of the College of Undergraduate Programs at California State University, Monterey Bay, USA.

Map
Preface
Causes: Colonialism and Containment
Commitments: Dwight Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, and Ngo Dinh Diem
Credibility: Lyndon Johnson's War
Contention: Antiwar Protests, the Tet Offensive, and a Tumultuous Election
Consequences: Richard Nixon's War
Conclusions: Peace at Last and Lasting Legacies
Selective Bibliography
Index.