ABSTRACT
History. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press, 2000.
191 pp.
As titled this is a short, narrative, history of America’s war effort in
Vietnam. The author briefly examines the origins, the war itself, and
the eventual outcome. The failures of five administrations are
examined but the author concludes that ‘‘each of the American
presidents involved made the correct decision to avoid a direct confrontation with the Sino-Soviet bloc over Indochina.’’ The fear
being of escalating what was confined to a regional conflict into a
possible global war.