Vietnam cover art

Vietnam

The Australian War

Preview

Get 30 days of Standard free

£5.99/mo after trial. Cancel monthly.
Try for £0.00
More purchase options

Vietnam

By: Paul Ham
Narrated by: Peter Byrne
Try for £0.00

£5.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for £22.39

Buy Now for £22.39

Summary

The definitive account of Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War, by best-selling author of Kokoda.

Seen as the last 'hot' frontline of the Cold War, the 10 year struggle in the rice paddies and jungles of South Vietnam unleashed the most devastating firepower on the Vietnamese nation and visited terrible harm on civilians and soldiers. Yet the Australian forces applied tactics that were very different from those of the Americans. Guided by their commanders' experience of jungle combat, Australian troops operated with stealth, deception and restraint in pursuing a 'better war'.

Drawing on hundreds of accounts by soldiers, politicians, aid workers, entertainers and the Vietnamese people, Paul Ham reconstructs for the first time the full history of our longest military campaign. From the commitment to engage, through the fight over conscription and the rise of the anti - war movement, to the tactics and horror of the battlefi eld, Ham exhumes the truth about this politicians' war - which sealed the fate of 50,000 Australian servicemen and women.

More than 500 soldiers were killed and thousands wounded. Those who made it home returned to a hostile and ignorant country and a reception that scarred them forever. This is their story.

©2008 Paul Ham (P)2008 Bolinda Publishing
Air Forces Armed Forces Australia, New Zealand & Oceania Military Oceania War Vietnam War Solider China Imperial Japan Imperialism Soviet Union Socialism Social justice Russia US Army Self-Determination
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_c

Critic reviews

"It is the comprehensiveness of Paul Ham's blockbuster on Vietnam that is both enticing and chilling to the core, in what is uncovered and laid out with precision and compelling evidence." ( The Australian)
All stars
Most relevant
Good, well researched book free of the left wing blinkers that lots of authors seem to put on when they write about Vietnam. I kept thinking I'd heard the last chapter, but there was more and more additional information.
Very well narrated. Narrator has a pleasing Aussie accent, and good delivery that makes the occasional humourous sentences even funnier.

Very good

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

This book covers the Vietnam War from the Australian and New Zealand point of view. Not scared of the controversial issues, it covers the background to the war, the stories of the diggers themselves, and looks at the aftermath. It benefits enormously from having an Australian narrator, and Peter Byrne does a fantastic job. The description of the terrifying battle at Long Tan is worth the cost on its own and once finished, left me with enormous respect for the ANZACs and their approach to soldiering. Highly recommended.

Highly recommended

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

very informative and a real eye opener on a subject I knew hardly anything about

very good

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

I would have liked a bit less all about the politics and politicians and a bit more about the troops and the equipment they used but it was a good read.

Very informative overview

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Having listened to the Kakadu Trail,by this author,i expected and realized another full account of the war in vietnam.
Listen to it.You will not be disappointed.Excellent story

Enthralling

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

See more reviews