Michael Lind casts new light on one of the most contentious episodes in American history in this controversial bestseller. In this groundgreaking reinterpretation of America's most disatrous and controversial war, Michael Lind demolishes enduring myths and put the Vietnam War in its proper context—as part of the global conflict between the Soviet Union and the United States. Lind reveals the deep cultural divisions within the United States that made the Cold War consensus so fragile and explains how and why American public support for the war in Indochina declined. Even more stunning is his provacative argument that the United States failed in Vietnam because the military establishment did not adapt to the demands of what before 1968 had been largely a guerrilla war. In an era when the United States so often finds itself embroiled in prolonged and difficult conflicts, Lind offers a sobering cautionary tale to Ameicans of all political viewpoints.

This eleventh edition was developed during the encyclopaedia's transition from a British to an American publication. Some of its articles were written by the best-known scholars of the time and it is considered to be a landmark encyclopaedia for scholarship and literary style.

The Psychological War for Vietnam, 1960–1968, for the first time fully explores the most sustained, intensive use of psychological operations (PSYOP) in American history. In PSYOP, US military personnel use a variety of tactics—mostly audio and visual messages—to influence individuals and groups to behave in ways that favor US objectives. Informed by the author’s firsthand experience of such operations elsewhere, this account of the battle for “hearts and minds” in Vietnam offers rare insight into the art and science of propaganda as a military tool in the twentieth century. The Psychological War for Vietnam, 1960–1968, focuses on the creation, capabilities, and performance of the forces that conducted PSYOP in Vietnam, including the Joint US Public Affairs Office and the 4th PSYOP Group. In his comprehensive account, Mervyn Edwin Roberts III covers psychological operations across the entire theater, by all involved US agencies. His book reveals the complex interplay of these activities within the wider context of Vietnam and the Cold War propaganda battle being fought by the United States at the same time. Because PSYOP never occurs in a vacuum, Roberts considers the shifting influence of alternative sources of information—especially from the governments of North and South Vietnam, but also from Australia, Korea, and the Philippines. The Psychological War for Vietnam, 1960–1968, also addresses the development of PSYOP doctrine and training in the period prior to the introduction of ground combat forces in 1965 and, finally, shows how the course of the war itself forced changes to this doctrine. The scope of the book allows for a unique measurement of the effectiveness of psychological operations over time.

Examines the evidence of increasing discontent within the U.S. armed services during the Vietnam War, discusses what has happened to the military establishment since the war's end, and proposes still further changes to bring the military in line with modern society.

The Vietnam War was, in the words of a preeminent scholar of the conflict (George C. Herring), "America's longest war." The Indochina conflict spanned the first generation of the larger Cold War and lasts to this day in American memory and cultural representation. Although the war remains a sensitive subject for many, a consensus exists that would echo the words of former Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara in his memoir, In Retrospect, "We were wrong, we were terribly wrong." The six volumes in this series pull together the best article literature on the History of American Involvement in Vietnam. The scholars writing in the first volume explore the roots of U.S. intervention, which followed in the wake of France's failed effort (supported and financed in Washington) to assert imperial control over Indochina. Volume II analyzed military aspects of the Vietnam War's history Volume V focuses on the lessons and legacies of the conflict, the source of a particularly sharp debate during the first administration of President Ronald W. Reagan. The final volume in the series analyzes the Vietnam War's extensive afterlife - in memory, film, literature, and popular discourse. Available individually by volume. Volume 1. The Origins of Intervention (0-8153-3531-8) Volume 2. Military Strategy and Escalation (0-8153-3532-6) Volume 3. Executive- Legislative Relations, Tracing the Impact of the War on U.S. Governmental Structures and Policies (0-8153-3533-4) Volume 4. The Diplomacy of War (0-8153-3534-2) Volume 5. The Anti-War Movement (0-8153-3535-0) Volume 6. Representation, Memories, and Legacies (0-8153-3536-9)

The Vietnam War was the bloodiest and one of the most fascinating conflicts in the history of warfare. It began with America pouring massive military aid upon the South Vietnamese in an attempt to thwart a Communist takeover, and culminated in the "peace with honour" withdrawal by the Nixon administration. This authoritative account accurately details every aspect of the Vietnam War and provides an overall view of the impact which it continues to have to this day.