The People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) had its beginning in 1930, in a mountain cave near the China border, with Vo Nguyen Giap and thirty-three others. Giap, with Ho Chi Minh's help, built up this minuscule army from a semi-guerrilla status into a force numbering over one million in the regular army and another three million in paramilitary elements. Pike discusses in depth the relationship of this small, underdeveloped country to Russia, to Marxist-Leninist doctrine, to China. He also accounts for Hanoi's victory in the Vietnam War and discusses the North Vietnam strategy that has proved so successful against three of the world's greatest powers.

Field gear and inert weapons and ordnance have long been popular items with militaria collectors. The Vietnam War by its very nature offers an incredible range and variety of these items for the interested collector. The North Vietnamese and their puppet troops of the National Liberation Front (Viet Cong or VC) relied primarily on communist allies (Russia, China, North Korea, Cuba and various Eastern Bloc countries of the era) for their weapons and field gear. For this reason, Vietnam represents a microcosm of gear from all of this century's wars, dating back to World War I, as well as a wide range of improvised weapons and equipment. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the variety of hand grenades used by the enemy, including Russian, Chinese, North Korean, Eastern European, French, Japanese and even modified, captured U.S. grenades. Although impossible to completely catalog the extreme variety of weapons and field gear used by the PAVN and VC, author Edward Emering has made a determined effort to present a wide overview of the weapons and field gear used from the late-1950s through the modern era. He has been aided in his goal by obtaining access to the world class collection of the National Vietnam Veterans Art Museum, located in Chicago, Illinois and by material from a number of extensive private collections. This book will help both the serious collector as well as those individuals interested in acquiring only a token piece of history to avoid potentially costly mistakes. A value guide is included.

Combat Operations: Taking the Offensive chronicles the onset of offensive operations by the U.S. Army after eighteen months of building up a credible force on the ground in South Vietnam and taking the first steps toward bringing the war to the enemy. The compelling story by George L. MacGarrigle begins in October 1966, when General William C. Westmoreland believed that he had the arms and men to take the initiative from the enemy and that significant progress would be made on all fronts over the next twelve months. Aware of American intentions, North Vietnam undertook a prolonged war of attrition and stepped up the infiltration of its own troops into the South. While the insurgency in the South remained the cornerstone of Communist strategy, it was increasingly overshadowed by main-force military operations. These circumstances, according to MacGarrigle, set the stage for intensified combat. The North Vietnamese and Viet Cong units retained the advantage, fighting only when it suited their purposes and retreating with impunity into inviolate sanctuaries in Laos and Cambodia. With Westmoreland feeling hamstrung by political constraints on his ability to wage war in the vast hostile areas along the border, 1967 ended with a growing uncertainty in the struggle to secure the countryside. Relying on official American and enemy primary sources, MacGarrigle has crafted a well-balanced account of this year of intense combat. His volume is a tribute to those who sacrificed so much in a long and irresolute conflict, and Soldiers engaged in military operations that place great demands on their initiative, skill, and devotion will find its thought-provoking lessons worthy of reflection.

Now in its second edition, this comprehensive study of the Vietnam War sheds more light on the longest and one of the most controversial conflicts in U.S. history. The Vietnam War lasted more than a decade, was the longest war in U.S. history, and cost the lives of nearly 60,000 American soldiers, as well as millions of Vietnamese—many of whom were uninvolved civilians. The lessons learned from this tragic conflict continue to have great relevance in today's world. Now in its second edition, The Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War: A Political, Social, and Military History adds an entire additional volume of entries to the already exhaustive first edition, making it the most comprehensive reference available about one of the most controversial events in U.S. history. Written to provide multidimensional perspectives into the conflict, it covers not only the American experience in Vietnam, but also the entire scope of Vietnamese history, including the French experience and the Indochina War, as well as the origins of the conflict, how the United States became involved, and the extensive aftermath of this prolonged war. It also provides the most complete and accurate order of battle ever published, based upon data compiled from Vietnamese sources. This latest release delivers even more of what readers have come to expect from the editorship of Spencer C. Tucker and the military history experts at ABC-CLIO.

First published in 1986. This book integrates current knowledge about the military, political, economic, and cultural roles of the armed forces in sixteen Asian countries, examining the interplay of these factors and their bearing on each society's civil-military relations. The authors explore the history, current status, and potential future course of each country. Analyzing all key Asian armed forces, they provide a comprehensive view of the military's domestic role-a crucial factor in assessing the foreign and defense policy options facing Asia as a whole.

The Vietnam War was one of America's longest, bloodiest, and most controversial wars. This volume examines the complexities of this protracted conflict and explains why the lessons learned in Vietnam are still highly relevant today. Vietnam War: The Essential Reference Guide provides a compendium of the key people, places, organizations, treaties, and events that make up the history of the war, explaining its causes, how it was conducted, and its far-reaching consequences. Written by recognized authorities, this ready-reference volume provides essential information all in one place and includes a comprehensive list of additional sources for further study. The work presents a detailed chronology that outlines the numerous battles and campaigns throughout the war, such as the Tet Offensive, the Battle of Hamburger Hill, Operation Rolling Thunder, and the Battle of Hue. Biographies on Lyndon Johnson, William Westmoreland, Robert McNamara, Ngo Dinh Diem, and other major political figures and military leaders provide insight into the individuals who played key roles in the conflict, while primary source documents such as President Nixon's speech on Vietnamization provide invaluable historical context.

The first English-language translation of the definitive chronicle of the Vietnamese military's view of the Vietnam War, published for the first time in the United States.

This book charts the development of the First Vietnam War – the war between the Vietnamese Communists (the Viet Minh) and the French colonial power – considering especially how relations between the Viet Minh and the Chinese Communists had a profound impact on the course of the war. It shows how the Chinese provided finance, training and weapons to the Viet Minh, but how differences about strategy emerged, particularly when China became involved in the Korean War and the subsequent peace negotiations, when the need to placate the United States and to prevent US military involvement in Southeast Asia became a key concern for the Chinese. The book shows how the Viet Minh strategy of all-out war in the north and limited guerrilla warfare in the south developed from this situation, and how the war then unfolded.

A historical study of the relationship between civilian and military leaders in the United States during wartime, from the American Revolution to the Iraq War. Now from one of the world's leading publishers of military history comes a breakthrough reference on one of the most important and complex aspects of U.S. national defense. U.S. Leadership in Wartime: Clashes, Controversy, and Compromise offers a comprehensive analysis of the characteristics that constitute effective leadership in war and discusses the often contentious relationships between U.S. civilian and military leadership throughout American history. U.S. Leadership in Wartime focuses on ten conflicts, including the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, World Wars I and II, the Vietnam War, the Iraq War, and the war in Afghanistan. Coverage for each conflict focuses on the dynamics of civilian-military relations and their impact on the course, outcome, and perception of each war under discussion. Coverage in each chapter includes an overview essay, sidebars, and detailed treatments of key engagements and battles, as well as detailed biographical essays of important figures—not just politicians and generals, but also labor leaders, business leaders, journalists, and women.

The tactics and technologies of modern air assault – vertical deployment of troops by helicopter or similar means – emerged properly during the 1950s in Korea and Algeria. Yet it was during the Vietnam War that helicopter air assault truly came of age and by 1965 the United States had established fully airmobile battalions, brigades, and divisions, including the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile).This division brought to Vietnam a revolutionary new speed and dexterity in battlefield tactics, using massed helicopters to liberate its soldiers from traditional overland methods of combat manoeuvre. However, the communist troops adjusted their own thinking to handle airmobile assaults. Specializing in ambush, harassment, infiltration attacks, and small-scale attrition, the North Vietnamese operated with light logistics and a deep familiarity with the terrain. They optimized their defensive tactics to make landing zones as hostile as possible for assaulting US troops, and from 1966 worked to draw them into 'Hill Traps', extensive kill zones specially prepared for defence-in-depth. By the time the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) withdrew from Vietnam in 1972, it had suffered more casualties than any other US Army division. Featuring specially commissioned artwork, archive photographs, and full-colour battle maps, this study charts the evolution of US airmobile tactics pitted against North Vietnamese countermeasures. The two sides are analysed in detail, including training, logistics, weaponry, and organization.