'Vietnam' Takes On All Sides With A Critical Gaze
While historian Max Hastings may break no new ground in his tome, it's how he crafts his story with color, detail and pathos that makes it great — and likely to become the standard on the war.
by Tom Bowman
Oct 17, 2018
4 minutes
Until now, British historian Max Hastings has mostly focused his research on World War II. His collection of works includes some fine books, including Inferno: The World at War, 1939-1945 (one of my favorites).
But in his new tome, Hastings has taken on the Vietnam War.
Why another book on Vietnam, you may ask? Good question. We've seen a shelf-load of histories, analyses, memoirs, and novels on Vietnam. But what Hastings does in Vietnam: An Epic Tragedy (1945-1975) is pull all these genres together in a highly readable and vivid narrative that, I think, will become the standard on the war for many years to come.
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