- 544 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub
About this book
"Powerfully and persuasively . . . Gibson tells us why we were in Vietnam . . . a work of daring brillianceâan eye-opening chronicle of waste and self-delusion." âRobert Olen Butler
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In this groundbreaking book, James William Gibson shatters the misled assumptions behind both liberal and conservative explanations for America's failure in Vietnam. Gibson shows how American government and military officials developed a disturbingly limited concept of warâwhat he calls "technowar"âin which all efforts were focused on maximizing the enemy's body count, regardless of the means. Consumed by a blind faith in the technology of destruction, American leaders failed to take into account their enemy's highly effective guerrilla tactics. Indeed, technowar proved woefully inapplicable to the actual political and military strategies used by the Vietnamese, and Gibson reveals how US officials consistently falsified military records to preserve the illusion that their approach would prevail. Gibson was one of the first historians to question the fundamental assumptions behind American policy, and The Perfect War is a brilliant reassessment of the warânow republished with a new introduction by the author.
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"This book towers above all that has been written to date on Vietnam." â LA Weekly
Â
In this groundbreaking book, James William Gibson shatters the misled assumptions behind both liberal and conservative explanations for America's failure in Vietnam. Gibson shows how American government and military officials developed a disturbingly limited concept of warâwhat he calls "technowar"âin which all efforts were focused on maximizing the enemy's body count, regardless of the means. Consumed by a blind faith in the technology of destruction, American leaders failed to take into account their enemy's highly effective guerrilla tactics. Indeed, technowar proved woefully inapplicable to the actual political and military strategies used by the Vietnamese, and Gibson reveals how US officials consistently falsified military records to preserve the illusion that their approach would prevail. Gibson was one of the first historians to question the fundamental assumptions behind American policy, and The Perfect War is a brilliant reassessment of the warânow republished with a new introduction by the author.
Â
"This book towers above all that has been written to date on Vietnam." â LA Weekly
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Yes, you can access The Perfect War by James William Gibson in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in History & Vietnam War. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.
Information
Table of contents
- Cover Page
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Contents
- Tables
- Preface
- Introduction to the 2000 Edition
- Part 1. In Search of War
- Part II. The Green Machine
- Part III. Death from Above
- Part IV. The Perfect War
- Appendix: The Warriorâs Knowledge: Social Stratification and the Book Corpus of Vietnam
- Notes
- Index