Vietnam
The Complete Story Of The Australian War
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- £7.99
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- £7.99
Publisher Description
For Australians, Vietnam remains one of most difficult - and controversial - wars we have fought. On the fiftieth anniversary of Australia's first involvement comes Vietnam: The Complete Story of the Australian War, for anyone who wishes to understand why Australia went to war, and who wants to make sense of the intensely unrelenting warfare.
For Bruce Davies and Gary McKay, the history of Vietnam - its wars, colonial domination, its search for freedom and its subsequent loss - speaks to an Australian anxiety of a very small population far away from the centre of an empire to which it was firmly committed. The rise of Japan, the War in the Pacific and the postcolonial independence of the peoples of Southeast Asia, coupled with the mercurial influence of Ho Chi Minh and the rise of communism, form the background to the commitment of Australian forces.
Vietnam takes the reader to the front line, describing the experiences of soldier, politician, villager, enemy; and into the war room to unpick the military and political strategies. We see the challenges the Australians faced against not only a dogged enemy, but also those by the allies in their quest to defeat a powerful counterinsurgency. The authors' new archival research in Australia and America raises questions about the operational performance of both sides, and recently discovered documents shed new light on the enemy's tactical thinking.
Meticulously researched and marked with acute critical analysis and a deep understanding of the place and the war, Vietnam shows the experience of Australian soldiers as never before.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Not many people in America realize it, but the U.S. did not fight the war in Vietnam alone. In addition to our South Vietnamese allies, combat troops and other military personnel from Australia, New Zealand, and the Philippines contributed to the effort. The entire story of Australia's participation in the war is contained in this massive, well-written, and well-researched volume by two veterans of the war who have written extensively about it (as in The Men Who Persevered). Although the authors cover virtually all of the war's important political and geopolitical aspects, the focus is on ground-level combat. Davies and McKay provide details of dozens of engagements, large and small, and always bring the discussion back to Australian participation. The first Aussie troops, a jungle training unit, came to Vietnam in May of 1962; the first combat troops arrived three years later. Nearly all were professional soldiers, but as Australia's commitment increased, the nation resorted to conscription. Some 500 Australian troops perished in the war; nearly 3,000 were wounded. This necessary volume fills a void in Vietnam War scholarship, at least in this country. Photos & 10 maps.
