Embers of War: The Fall of an Empire and the Making of America's Vietnam
Author(s): Fredrik Logevall (Cornell University)
Secondhand.
WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE
Written with the style of a great novelist and the intrigue of a Cold War thriller, Embers of War is a landmark work that will forever change your understanding of how and why America went to war in Vietnam. Tapping newly accessible diplomatic archives in several nations, Fredrik Logevall traces the path that led two Western nations to tragically lose their way in the jungles of Southeast Asia. He brings to life the bloodiest battles of France's final years in Indochina--and shows how, from an early point, a succession of American leaders made disastrous policy choices that put America on its own collision course with history. An epic story of wasted opportunities and deadly miscalculations, Embers of War delves deep into the historical record to provide hard answers to the unanswered questions surrounding the demise of one Western power in Vietnam and the arrival of another. Eye-opening and compulsively readable, Embers of War is a gripping, heralded work that illuminates the hidden history of the French and American experiences in Vietnam.
ONE OF THE MOST ACCLAIMED WORKS OF HISTORY IN RECENT YEARS
Winner of the Francis Parkman Prize from the Society of American Historians - Winner of the American Library in Paris Book Award - Winner of the Council on Foreign Relations Arthur Ross Book Award - Finalist for the Cundill Prize in Historical Literature
General Information
- :
- : Random House Trade
- : Random House Trade
- : 0.367
- : 12 August 2013
- : United States
- : books
Other Specifications
- : Fredrik Logevall (Cornell University)
- : Paperback / softback
- : 959.7041
- : 864
- : b&w illustrations
More About The Product
"Fredrik Logevall's excellent book "Choosing War "(1999) chronicled the American escalation of the Vietnam War in the early 1960s. With "Embers of "War, he has written an even more impressive book about the French conflict in Vietnam and the beginning of the American one. . . . It is the most comprehensive history of that time. Logevall, a professor of history at Cornell University, has drawn from many years of previous scholarship as well as his own. And he has produced a powerful portrait of the terrible and futile French war from which Americans learned little as they moved toward their own engagement in Vietnam.""--"Alan Brinkley, "The New York Times Book Review"*Editor's Choice*
"Superb . . . penetrating . . . "Embers of War" is a product of formidable international research. It is lucidly and comprehensively composed. And it leverages a consistently potent analytical perspective. . . . Outstanding."--Gordon Goldstein, "The Washington Post"
"A monumental history . . . a widely researched and eloquently written account of how the U.S. came to be involved in Vietnam . . . certainly the most comprehensive review of this period to date.""--Wall Street Journal"
"The most comprehensive account available of the French Vietnamese war, America's involvement, and the beginning of the US-directed struggle. . . . ["Embers of War "tells] the deeply immoral story of the Vietnam wars convincingly and more fully than any others. Since many of the others, some written over fifty years ago, are excellent, this is a considerable achievement."--Jonathan Mirsky, "New York Review of Books"
"Magisterial.""--Foreign Affairs"
"The definitive history of the critical formative period from 1940 to 1960 [in Vietnam]. . . . lucid and vivid . . . As American involvement escalated, Bernard Fall, the highly respected scholar-journalist of Vietnam's wars, wrote that Americans were 'dreaming different dreams than the French but walking in the same footsteps.
Fredrik Logevall is John S. Knight Professor of International Studies and professor of history at Cornell University, where he serves as director of the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies.
