The Vietnam War in Context

The Vietnam War was much more than just a war. As a conflict it was drawn out and deadly, but in the history of the 20th century its significance goes well beyond those jungle encounters that have been represented in so many feature films. The Vietnam War was also a w atershed event in the story of American foreign policy and their attempt to contain Communism.

This book examines how and why the Americans got so involved in Vietnam and with what consequences. It also examines its relationship to the Korean War and to World War Two; and how the Vietnam experience shaped US foreign policy over the following decades and into the present.