The most recommended Vietnam War books

Twenty chapters and 732 pages, not including the Preface, Acknowledgements, Introduction, and Chronology, of the history of the Vietnam War. From the Preface, you are thrown into a photograph-rich hardback book that covers the beginnings of what lured the French to Indochina—trade, to the final surrender in April 1975. Gritty, sometimes horrifying black and white pictures jump out at you from the pages. There are over 2,000 photographs and maps inside the book. It is truly the book for anyone interested in the Vietnam War.

This is another readable book—and it’s really important because these authors don’t just focus on the norms that Trump violated and that get so much attention, but actually offer an interesting analysis of the things he did administratively that weakened the office of the presidency and the national government. People tend to think Trump was a poor administrator, and in many ways, of course, he was, but his actions have consequences that we don’t always see and this book tells us about them.

The book (which came out after a few months of the movie), is written by military veteran Dale E. Dye, who served in the Marines during the Vietnam War.

The book takes the reader from the beginnings of a 'wet behind the ears' (Chris Taylor) Private entering Vietnam, and ending with an 'almost' seasoned veteran. The descriptions Dye gives of the scenery, the men, the voices, being in the brush or jungle, truly is remarkable.

When I read this, I felt like I could literally see everything Chris Taylor did through his own eyes. There's a lot more depth to the characters than in the movie. I feel this is one of the most underrated books among readers because most do not know it even exists. The book gives you a greater understanding of why Sgt. Barnes is the man he is, from his background and his thoughts.

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Peter set out during the Vietnam War era to walk all the way across the United States with only a camera, a backpack, and a dog. His books, which I read as a teenager, brought fascinating strangers into my world and taught me how much those strangers can change our lives. Thanks to Peter's writing, I've always felt safe talking to strangers, and I seek them out to find out who they are and what their lives are like. 

Ron Kovic’s story powerfully mirrors the history of the 1960s. He was inspired by JFK’s passionate 1961 inaugural speech (“Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country. . . “); devastated by JFK's assassination in 1963; joined the Marines right out of high school to do his part and landed in Vietnam in 1965; suffered paralyzing wounds there in 1968; and became a lifelong anti-war activist by 1975.

It’s on my list because of the way it traces the dramatic arc of those times. The flag-waving kids of the late 50s came of age with bitter feelings of betrayal by the government, which forced them to participate in what many considered an unjust and immoral war.

This book is not actually about wokeness. Instead, it helps us see the dangers inherent in that ideology.

Perilous Times is a partial history of the American government’s censorship of speech and thought from the 1790s to the early 2000s. Stone is a fabulous storyteller. Even though I’ve studied – and taught – constitutional law and constitutional history for decades, some of what he recounts was new to me, and all of it was newly fascinating in its detail and its focus on people as well as events.

In a way, this is a “be careful what you wish for” warning to both the woke and the unwoke: once it becomes widely accepted that it’s OK to restrict harmful speech, anyone who disagrees with whatever the majority or the government happens to favor is at risk.

In a rescue-gone-wrong, Reeder’s chopper went down, landing on its side and leaving the pilot frantically attempting to disentangle himself from the safety harness to escape the burning craft. Years later, after relaying this story to a large audience, Reeder was told by a fellow veteran that he had witnessed the incident and had Reeder in his gunsight, intending to save him from burning to death. The would-be shooter had looked away an instant, and when ready to fire, found Reeder gone. Reeder managed to evade the enemy for a time but was eventually captured and subjected to unfathomable cruelty and deprivation.

I love a Kristin Hannah book for the writing, characters and deep emotion it draws up in me. This was no different but the glimpse into the Vietnam War was new - and heartbreaking for me. It held me from the first page and I finished it in two days.

I know John Patrick McAfee from art shows where the ‘art husband’ helped his wife set up and present her work. I came to understand him better after completing a year of research on the US Army Special Forces, while creating a drawing honoring the Green Berets.

Slow Walk In a Sad Rain has been described elsewhere as the Catch-22 of the Vietnam War. The story more than lives up to the comparison. McAfee’s wry, tragic humor represents an authentic slice of the life he lived as a Special Forces medic; how he was able to move on from that experience and remain an affable, productive individual capable of sharing his multiple gifts is the greatest mystery, and a testimony to every man and woman who survived the ordeal. 

I was blown away by this intimate account of America’s disastrous intervention in Indochina, told through the life of one soldier.

Michael O’Donnell served as a helicopter pilot during the war, was shot down, and remained MIA for thirty years. While living in Laos in the late 1990s, I met US military personnel who were searching for the remains of soldiers just like O’Donnell, a mission that continues to this day.

What makes O’Donnell’s story especially moving is that he was a poet, the author of one the best-known poems of the war, captured in a letter home from Vietnam. I will never get over the tragedy and the waste that the Vietnam War unleashed on all sides. This book is a vital reminder.