Product ReviewsA Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam

The best book I have read on the Vietnam War.

From start to finish a book you can not put down. A very sad fact is that this war never had to happen. The story of John Paul Vann is both heroic and tragic and on its own a great story. This book tells how up and coming young officers with new ideas on how to fight this type of war were knocked down by old WWII mentality. The side story is just how bad our leaders screwed up this entire war from start to finish. The Vietnamese people as a whole had more in common with the United States and it's people than any of the countries that were helping the North in this conflict. A sad fact is had we treated this country and it's people as we wished to be treated this disaster never would have happened. How we ended up backing these corrupt dictators that ran Vietnam during this time period is still a mystery to me. ( Did you say free elections ? Do you understand phrase "pipe dream" ? )
I have yet to read another book that covers this time in our history so well. You will have to scratch your head and wonder why we keep electing the same dolts that we do to screw up this country and the world. Read and weep !
And yes - I was there for almost 3 years , from 1967 to 1970\. Not only did I read about it, I lived it.Read full review...

A Bright Shining Lie

Neil Sheehan's "A Bright Shining Lie, John Paul Van and America in Vietnam" stands as one of the finest accounts of the Vietnam War and events leading to it.

Borrowing quite a bit from David Halberstam's "The Making of a Quagmire" in describing U.S. involvement during the early '60s, Sheehan tells of the inability of the Diem government to defend South Vietnam against communist efforts to unite the country under Hanoi leadership. His account of the fight at Ap Bac illuminates the frustrations of American adviser LTC John Vann and the shift of U.S. policy toward greater battlefield control and eventual combat action by U.S. forces.

Sheehan uses Vann's career in Vietnam as a vehicle to provide insight into American policies through the course of the war while describing the complex and extraordinary man that was John Paul Vann. If you want a broad and balanced account of the American experience in Vietnam, particularly from 1962-1972, read this book.Read full review...

A must read for anyone interested in the war in Vietnam

Absolutly one of the best, if not THE BEST, books I have ever read. Neil Sheehan, focusing on the actions and ideas of one man, Lt. Colonel John Paul Vann, is able to create one of the most concise and engrossing accounts of how the United States failed in Vietnam. Mr. Sheehan explores the history of the our involvement in Vietnam, from the fall of the French to our slow escalation, and along the way documents how the American people were lied to. Lied to by the American command in Vietnam, the Secretary of Defense and even the President. By focusing on John Paul Vann, a complex but brillant military leader, Mr. Sheehan shows how the common soldier, despite changes in our strategy that Vann and others tried to implement, was sacrificed to a system too ridgid to change. A must read for anyone looking to learn more about America's involvement in Vietnam.Read full review...

A story you may not have heard.

Good book, sad topic. Brave men, difficult war.

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John Paul Vann

Do not let the size of this book scare you off. It is seven books in one, so break it down and enjoy the amazing details of the Vietnam War from a warriors perspective.

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VIETNAM - The TRUTH !

ALL of the Core Issues about the Vietnam War and the Liars and Criminals in Washington D.C.

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Vietnam Revealed

A very perceptive insight to the ghosts that haunted the American effort to grow a democracy in South Vietnam. Corruption and entitlement amongst the Vietnamese overpowered the American dream of FREEDOMRead full review...

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Much better than expected...

Excellent product!!!

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very interesting

this is a crawl through read. very difficult

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True non fiction

This purchase was actually a present. From what I read JPVann was a great American who did all he could for the US during the Vietnam War.

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