Vietnam: A War Lost And Won

Cawthorne's history of the Viet Nam war is essentially a series of essays covering different aspects of the conflict. First he puts the region into a historical context with a brief history of the region and it's occupiers and tensions, including the French occupation. Then we get the origins of the American involvement, escalation, the collapse in morale, the war at home etc.

It's very well written and the author has obviously done his research, as endless statistics are included of number of bombs dropped, casualties, etc. What comes through most is how utterly barbaric the war was, on both sides. The Viet Cong thought nothing of attacking in wave after wave until the bodies were piled high. The Americans bombed the country almost into the stone age, ruining what had been one of the most beautiful places on earth. The inhumanity on both sides is jaw dropping. Torture was commonplace, atrocities an everyday occurrence.

It soon became clear that America could not win and the aftermath of the war would divide the country and cause a huge psychological blow to the American psyche.

What troubles me is the book's subtitle: A War Lost And Won. I'm not entirely sure what Cawthorne means, since there is little analysis in the book, any conclusions drawn being confined to a brief epilogue. He seems to suggest that American capitalism won out in the end, with South East Asia becoming the manufacturing powerhouse of the world based on cheap labour (and in many cases child labour) in appalling conditions. Even China relaxed it's strict Communist ideals to accommodate a certain amount of free market thinking.

But is that a victory? The economic enslavement of millions? If so that's a pretty hollow victory.

So, this is a readable account of an awful war. Just don't expect any revelatory conclusions.