Author Geoffrey Wawro
Real Military History | the way it really happened
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Advance Praise for The Vietnam War, on sale now!
“There have been countless books written about the Vietnam War but, until now, no comprehensive military history. Geoffrey Wawro capably fills that gap with his new book. He provides an account of America's worst military defeat that is not only accurate but also eye-opening. He has managed to unearth a great deal of fascinating material and to place it in the proper historical context. In the process he demolishes many myths and clears away many misunderstandings. An essential read.”
— Max Boot, author of The Road Not Taken
"Fifty years after it came to an end, the Vietnam War still casts a shadow over American life. Geoffrey Wawro has written a brilliant, gripping account of that conflict and its effects, rigorous in military and political detail, but never lacking in empathy and humanity when considering the human cost. A definitive account."
-- Rana Mitter, Lee Chair of U.S.-Asia Relations at the Harvard Kennedy School, author of Forgotten Ally
Geoff Wawro’s new book pits one of the sharpest historians of his generation against the most controversial war in US history. Sparks fly throughout, as Wawro zeroes in relentlessly on the mistakes, misjudgments, and the hubris that led to American defeat in Vietnam. It is not a pretty picture: politicians and generals floundering in a sea of tables, charts, and graphs; young men in the field fighting and dying as they try to learn the art of jungle warfare on the fly. Featuring deep research, unsparing analysis, and Wawro’s always brilliant writing, The Vietnam War delivers across the board.
-- Robert Citino, Senior Historian National World War II Museum, author of Blitzkrieg to Desert Storm
“Geoffrey Wawro is one of our finest military historians, renowned for his books on the wars of Europe. Here he turns his attention to the defining American conflict of the era since 1945. His insightful, sobering account of the Vietnam War is at once fair-minded and hard-hitting—and eminently readable.”
— H. W. Brands, author of The General vs. the President: MacArthur and Truman at the Brink of Nuclear War
“In The Vietnam War: A Military History, master historian Geoffrey Wawro wades into the historical world of the Vietnam War, where nearly everything is an argument. Wawro brings fresh eyes and a new perspective to the struggle for the history of America’s lost war. The result is a readable, entertaining, and indispensable account of this most controversial of conflicts.”
— Andrew Wiest, author of Vietnam’s Forgotten Army
“A compelling and very comprehensive single volume on one of the most controversial conflicts of the modern age. Geoff Wawro is at the top of his game in this stunning book, full of wisdom, insight and convincingly arguing this was both a highly political and unnecessary war. Superb.”
— James Holland, author of Normandy ‘44
“Geoffrey Wawro has written an excellent history of the Vietnam War that includes important lessons learned from that war. These are valuable insights that our political and military leaders would be wise to consider before committing our forces in future conflicts.”
— General Anthony Zinni, USMC (Retired), former Commander in Chief U.S. Central Command
“Unlike most critical accounts of the war, Geoff Wawro’s The Vietnam War: A Military History takes the threat posed by the North Vietnamese Communists and their Chinese and Soviet backers seriously, while still indicting U.S. strategy, decision-making, and abuses. This is the best kind of military history, full of compassion for American men fighting an unwinnable war against a ruthless opponent – and for the almost unimaginable suffering of Vietnamese civilians – but unsparing in judgment of the politicians and commanding officers who sent American troops into combat without a clear idea of what they were trying to achieve, while lying at every turn to deceive the US public about how the war was going. Wawro’s meticulous research into everything from terrain to tactics, from logistics and weapons systems to what was carried in each soldier’s pack and the jargon men used to humanize a hellish war, brings confusing battles to life. The effect is so vivid that one can almost smell the napalm.”
— Sean McMeekin, author of Stalin’s War
https://www.amazon.com/Vietnam-War-Military-History/dp/1541606086
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-vietnam-war-geoffrey-wawro/1144796262
Making History
Required Reading at West Point and Quantico
Required Reading at West Point and Quantico
Required Reading at West Point and Quantico
Letter from Iran, which began as my official USG trip report from Iran was made "required reading for all Marines" by the Commandant, and then published as part of a new series that aimed to make the field of Security Studies interesting. I published two others (Letter from France and Letter from South America.) They were widely read.
Letter from Iran, which began as my official USG trip report from Iran was made "required reading for all Marines" by the Commandant, and then published as part of a new series that aimed to make the field of Security Studies interesting. I published two others (Letter from France and Letter from South America.) They were widely read. My book Warfare and Society in Europe was required reading at West Point for many years.
Must See TV
Required Reading at West Point and Quantico
Required Reading at West Point and Quantico
Sometimes the best shows are the ones that don't get made. Check out these three beautifully made 2-minute "sizzlers" of pitches that fell just short. Lessons in War, Phantoms of the Frontline, and Evolution Armory. Follow this link to shows that did get made...
Staff Rides
Required Reading at West Point and Quantico
Staff Rides
The old Prussians insisted that officers go on "staff rides" to feel and breathe the terrain and atmosphere that shaped great campaigns of the past. I do the same at every opportunity, and share my enthusiasm on the Travels page.