Suchergebnisse

Part I. The Texas years, 1858-1912 -- A spacious youth -- Searching for a career -- Texas politics: creating "our crowd" -- The "twilight years" -- "The man and the opportunity" -- The ideal society -- Part II. Wilson in power, 1913-1914 -- "Our crowd" goes to Washington -- Foreign horizons, 1913 -- The new freedom -- Reform and intervention -- "The great adventure" -- Part III. The Great War, 1914-1917 -- The Great War -- The search for peace -- London, Paris, Berlin -- The turn to war -- American interlude -- The lure of peace -- The House-Grey Memorandum -- The failure of peace -- Presidential politics -- Re-election and the plea for peace -- America goes to war -- Part IV. America at war, 1917-1918 -- America prepares for war -- The strains of coalition warfare -- Envoy to the allies -- Crises at home and abroad -- The turning point -- The end of the war -- Part V. Peacemaking, 1919-1920 -- Waiting for the Peace Conference -- The Peace Conference, I -- The Peace Conference, II -- The fight for the League -- Part VI. Elder statesman, 1921-1938 -- The end of the Wilson Era -- New beginnings -- Marking time -- Victory at last -- The crisis of the 1930s -- Epilogue: crossing the river

The Vietnam War is notoriously difficult to explain. The war lasted so long, passed through so many phases, and involved such a wide range of people and groups in Vietnam, the United States, and other countries that the task of explaining it all in a single volume is nearly impossible. Several recent books have tried to make sense of the conflict, with varying degrees of success. The books under review are syntheses aimed at undergraduate students and general readers. Although both books have their strong points, neither of them provides a comprehensive or satisfactory account of the war.

A review essay on books by (1) Robert Mann, A Grand Delusion: America's Descent into Vietnam (New York: Basic, 2001); & (2) Anthony James Joes, The War for South Viet Nam, 1954-1975 ([revised edition] Westport, CT: Praeger, 2001).The Vietnam War is notoriously difficult to explain. The war lasted so long, passed through so many phases, & involved such a wide range of people & groups in Vietnam, the US, & other countries that the task of explaining it all in a single volume is nearly impossible. Several recent books have tried to make sense of the conflict, with varying degrees of success. The books under review are syntheses aimed at undergraduate students & general readers. Although both books have their strong points, neither of them provides a comprehensive or satisfactory account of the war.