Christian G. Appy

I've very little to compare it to in the way of Vietnam history, but maybe I enjoyed it all the more for that.

I've always been fascinated by the subject - the greatest superpower in the world defeated, and war fading in its role as the ultimate arbiter of international power. It's easy to pass over the lengthy, complex history behind it though. Appy, by interviewing people on all sides and then structuring the results brilliantly, does justice to the shades of grey, the horror, the legacies show more and much more besides. The editorial work which precedes the chronologically ordered sections, and accompanies the themed subsections, is comprehensive and objective (most of the time) without distracting from the raw material of the interviews themselves.

Slightly overlong? Weighted in favour of American testimony? I don't believe either was avoidable. Superb. show less

The authors knowledge is impressive and the book is well written and worth reading. However, like the Ken Burns documentary series on Vietnam, it comes from a Left Liberal view point. This view neglects any success and highlights both the failures and the idea that it was always for nothing. I must admit that I was quite surprised to read in a book published in 2015 that the Tet Offensive was not an Allied victory. The Communists obtained none of their objectives and neither the people nor show more the ARVN went over to them. While I found this viewpoint frustrating and at times simply wrong, I think the books advantageous outweight any negatives. show less

Appy dives into the societal factors that were at play during the Vietnam War and the draft. Nearly 80% of the 2.5 million men enlisted in Vietnam, came from the working class. Working-Class War addressed the paradox between the opposition of the war from the working class with the need to draft to support their families, as well as the wealthy supporting the war while not fighting themselves.

I found this work extremely informative, stimulating, and moving. Though it is 600 pages, I felt like it moved rather quickly. if there is any single book to read about the Vietnam war, this is it. It is one of the best non-fiction works I have ever read--and I've read quite a few.