Vietnam Literature Comparison - Book Report/Review Example

Comparative Book Review Thesis ment The two books that are compared and contrasted in this paper look at the Vietnam, as a nation and as an armyof men who went to war to save their homeland. The American role in these wars is something that cannot be denied its due role. Introduction Spencer Tucker has focused on the military regimes of Vietnam which were presented all this while and how the same were exploited in entirety by the American machinery. While on the other hand, Young has focused more on the role of the foreign policy of US which played its cards in a clever manner as far as the fate of this nation is concerned. Going further into the details of the two books, we find out the near miss (the comparisons and contrasts with each other) that are apparent for one and all to see and gain insight from. We now look at the two books and review them so that important stuff can be extracted from them and only the most common grounds are touched down upon for the sake of similarities and differences, as is the requirement for this paper. Vietnam by Spencer C Tucker Spencer C Tucker has presented a very tactful investigation into the Vietnamese military history in this book. The concentration for the larger part has been on the French and the American wars which were fought in the 20th century. As for the writer himself, Spencer C Tucker was a US Army Captain and thus knew a lot about the scope of wars and the manner in which they are fought both on and off the battle grounds. The book is very incisive as it has touched down on the facets related with a close examination of the military regimes which were present in the lengths and breadths of Vietnam. On the part of the book, the writer has made sure that a brief history is provided courtesy the nation itself and then there is discussion related with its formation which took place in the third century BC. Nationalist rebellion has been credited as the single most significant aspect of Vietnam’s first thousand years ever since it came into being which it took from the Chinese domination. He has treated the American war and singe handedly focused on the relevant aspects related with the war itself which means that the analysis for the better half of this book has been on those wars itself, more than anything else. Thus the discussion stems out from what those wars were like, how they came into their own and what were the consequences of having them in the first place. The military matters in this whole analysis are something that are spoken about at length and one wonders the extent to which Tucker has gone towards the provision of details as concerns to the wars. The same are in essence quite revealing as far as the Vietnamese military history is concerned and exclusively pinpoints nearly all the factors that led to the wars in the first place and what could have been done to avoid them by the supreme commanders and as he suggests the war mongers themselves, who did nothing but to bring an inaction capacity of an army to a complete war zone. He has asked questions related with American military establishment and has raised his doubts with regards to the very same. I believe his balanced views with relation to the American military regimes is something that can be understood in the proper perspective of the war and before we move ahead any further, we need to delve into this aspect for a little more insight and understanding. This inability has been in the form of understanding the guerrilla military threats which were present in the 1950s and the same lies as a complete mistake and a fatal error on the part of the US military establishment. The forecast which was done was flawed in its truest sense and much effort and tact could have been applied to understand where the whole game could have been diverted had better sense prevailed in due context of time. President Richard Nixon has been made a special victim in his book since he believes the President to be the man alongside his various military advisers who underestimated the extent of damage that the Northern Vietnamese army could do and what they eventually did was made apparent in due period of time. The use of statistical information with regard to facts and figures in this book only provides it more meaning and emphasis has been provided so as to understand the intricacies related with the topic at hand. It is a complete survey which has made sure that the significant details are not left behind and the mistakes which were committed on the part of the American regime are brought to the core so that one and all could see where the military men went wrong and what could have been avoided had a better sense of understanding been there. The limited scope of the book makes it something of a hard digestion on the part of a reader who is more interested with the American historical times, more so related with the military issues but since the details are conclusive, the same can be taken in stride and appreciated for its content rather than the scope that it offers to us all this while. The critical nature of Tucker’s comments makes it all the more interesting and a read is a must on the part of a person who wants to know what went behind scenes in the wars that have been discussed. The Vietnam Wars by Marilyn B Young The book presents a basic progressive saga related with the Vietnam War. The first two wars coming under this heading are what Young has basically looked down upon at. The tilt of the US foreign policy is something that will go down well with the critics of this book since there is a lot of information and emphasis on the related subject. The connection between the foreign policy and the wars is however a tricky subject, one that has been touched by the writer herself. The war with China is also made apparent in the whole context of things since the connection is pretty understandable. However the whole crux has remained with the post-American war times which in itself suggest a whole lot about the US connection, one that speaks from the Vietnam standpoint nonetheless. The emphasis throughout this book has been on the continuum ranging from the end of the World War II towards the Vietnam War. This means that the author has listed the tales that went behind the scenes and what contributed to the American policies all this while. The understanding related with the draft of these policies is something that needs to be understood in the proper perspective, so as to state as a matter of fact. The question “Why are we in Vietnam”? is an interesting one, as she has made use of it time and again in this book but the answer to it is something difficult to comprehend and the ‘why’ and ‘how’ are nothing short of being on completely different tangents so as to make it easily understandable. On the part of the writer, the need is established to discern and indeed analyze the very points which account for the irrationalities and the important reasons for the wars and not to forget what actually happened after these wars itself. The significance is more to make sure that a careful examination is provided by the author and then the analysis part takes its turn on the reader’s part. They can easily ascertain the connection between the foreign policy of America and the mannerisms of the Vietnam War, not to skip the details related with the wars itself. The impending questions that arise are obviously not left out of the equation, as far as this book is concerned and this is something which I personally would hail no matter what. However on the part of this book, there has been a shortcoming in the sense that it fails to discuss the 1975-1990 era where a little bit of detail could have been provided with relation to Vietnam and the internal and external struggles which were happening in the political midst of the nation. The reasons for the nation’s abject state and more so the issues related with hunger and poverty are some finer points that could have been highlighted further more and emphasis, I believe on these points is imperative to say the least. On the same token, failing to deliver on these counts can indeed be traced as the weakness that is found in this very book. The domination of Vietnam over Cambodia and Laos is also something that could have been discussed further in this book and the questions are thus raised up as to how and where these two countries merged in the pool which was created by Vietnam leading to its own war since they formed up as the neighboring nations of Vietnam. There has been confusion written all round over this anomaly which comes as a surprise for quite a wide cross section of readers and ones who are actively interested with the Vietnamese historical times and the American foreign policy which for the better part did its trick at exploiting the very same nonetheless. BIBLIOGRAPHY Tucker, Spencer C Vietnam Found Online at: http://www.amazon.com/Vietnam-Spencer-C-Tucker/dp/0813109663/sr=1-1/qid=1164742143/ref=sr_1_1/002-5885936-5649646?ie=UTF8&s=books 2006 Scripture, Dan Marilyn B Young The Vietnam Wars 1945-1990 New York: HarperCollins Found Online at: http://www3.iath.virginia.edu/sixties/HTML_docs/Texts/Reviews/Scripture_VN_Wars_Young.html 1991 Word Count: 1,582 Read More