The Tet Offensive: A Concise History
by James H. Willbanks
Well Researched Well Told Tale
In the Tet Offensive of 1968, Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces
launched a massive countrywide attack on South Vietnam. Though the
Communists failed to achieve their tactical and operational objectives,
James Willbanks claims Hanoi won a strategic victory. The offensive
proved that Americas progress was grossly overstated and caused many
Americans and key presidential advisors to question the wisdom of
prolonging combat.
Willbanks also maintains that the Communists laid siege to a Marine
combat base two weeks prior to the Tet Offensive-known as the Battle of
Khe Sanh& mdash;to distract the United States. It is his belief that these
two events are intimately linked, and in his concise and compelling history,
he presents an engaging portrait of the conflicts and singles out key
problems of interpretation.

Willbanks divides his study into six sections, beginning with a historical
overview of the events leading up to the offensive, the attack itself, and the
consequent battles of Saigon, Hue, and Khe Sahn. He continues with a
critical assessment of the main themes and issues surrounding the
offensive, and concludes with excerpts from American and Vietnamese
documents, maps and chronologies, an annotated list of resources, and a
short encyclopedia of key people, places, and events.
An experienced military historian and scholar of the Vietnam War,
Willbanks has written a unique critical reference and guide that enlarges
the debate surrounding this important turning point in Americas longest
war.
Personal Review: The Tet Offensive: A Concise History by
James H. Willbanks
It seems likely that once the emotion has died down, and the points of view
of both the North Vietnamese and the Americans are known that the Tet
Offensive, might go down in history as one of the most significant battles in
the history of warfare.
To me it seems that this battle requires several conclusions, and that
several points remain unknown.
The Tet Offensive in general is a perfect example of winning (the US side)
the battle, and losing the war. After years of good news, of seeing light at
the end of the tunnel, the enemy was capable of making liars out of our
leaders in the eyes of the people back home in America. After Tet, no one
believed the generals or the Government and we lost the war.
The battle at Khe Sanh achieved a great deal of attention. So much that
we still don't know if it was a ruse to confuse the Americans or a major
defeat for the North Vietnamese. All the evidence is contradictory. My own
best guess - it was a ruse that if it had surprisingly been successful would
have been followed up. Mr. Willbanks does an excellent job of presenting
both sides and reaching no conclusion, because we really don't know.
During the Tet Offensive the South Vietnam based Viet Cong were
essentially wiped out as a fighting force. When you take over a country,
you don't want to leave a cadre of trained underground fighters in place,
even if they had been on your side. Now they were gone, used up, heros,
dead heros. This is my view, not that of Mr. Willbanks.
It's only when the books come out that we begin to understand what
happened. This book is a welcome addition to the literature. It's well
researched and presents both sides of things like Khe Sanh.

For More 5 Star Customer Reviews and Lowest Price:
The Tet Offensive: A Concise History by James H. Willbanks 5 Star Customer Reviews
and Lowest Price!