The Tet Offensive: A Concise History - Hardcover

Willbanks, James

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0231128401 ISBN 13: 9780231128407

Publisher: Columbia University Press, 2006

Synopsis

In the Tet Offensive of 1968, Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces launched a massive countrywide attack on South Vietnam. Though the Communists failed to achieve their tactical and operational objectives, James Willbanks claims Hanoi won a strategic victory. The offensive proved that America's progress was grossly overstated and caused many Americans and key presidential advisors to question the wisdom of prolonging combat.

Willbanks also maintains that the Communists laid siege to a Marine combat base two weeks prior to the Tet Offensive-known as the Battle of Khe Sanh―to distract the United States. It is his belief that these two events are intimately linked, and in his concise and compelling history, he presents an engaging portrait of the conflicts and singles out key problems of interpretation.

Willbanks divides his study into six sections, beginning with a historical overview of the events leading up to the offensive, the attack itself, and the consequent battles of Saigon, Hue, and Khe Sahn. He continues with a critical assessment of the main themes and issues surrounding the offensive, and concludes with excerpts from American and Vietnamese documents, maps and chronologies, an annotated list of resources, and a short encyclopedia of key people, places, and events.

An experienced military historian and scholar of the Vietnam War, Willbanks has written a unique critical reference and guide that enlarges the debate surrounding this important turning point in America's longest war.

About this title

About the Author

James H. Willbanks is director, Department of Military History, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He is a retired Lieutenant Colonel with twenty-three years service as an Infantry officer in various assignments, including a tour as an advisor in Vietnam. He is the author of two books on the Vietnam War, including Abandoning Vietnam (University Press of Kansas) and The Battle of An Loc (Indiana University Press), and the editor of a collection of essays entitled The Vietnam War (Ashgate Publishing Limited).

Review

An excellent supplementary text for college and university courses. (Library Journal)

A careful and judicious evaluation... Students especially will find this invaluable. (Lawrence D. Freedman Foreign Affairs)

The Tet Offensive will be of great value to military professionals, historians, and Vietnam veterans. (Col. Gordon W. Keiser, U.S. Marine Corps Proceedings)

[A] well-written, and helpful reference... The Tet Offensive is enjoyable reading and an important new addition. (MAJ John M. Hawkins Military Review)

Thorough... An excellent work worthy of inclusion in collections of studies on the Vietnam War. (Larry K. Burke The Journal of Military History)

Without a doubt, this work will become the initial resource that student and historians alike will pull off the shelf to comprehend this seminal military event... Highly recommended. (Choice)

Edition details

• Publisher: Columbia University Press
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0231128401
• ISBN 13: 9780231128407
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 272