Vietnam Inc.

Rating:
Summary: Great Myth Builder
Review: As a combat veteran, I found this book to be the quintessential volume of compiled propaganda and myth perpetuating photos taken out of context and thrown together to form a body of misinformation that seems to further the personal opinions of a preconceived ideal. Through the efforts of presenting gloomy photographic technique and editorial deceit, the authors have formed the same old stereotypical crap that shows everything about the Vietnam experience to be mired in slime and couched in decadence. It was definitely not my VN experience or others I've known. But this book is a slick portrayal, as well as a betrayal to all of us who were really there. Any war is not pretty, but nowhere in this book is the awesome beauty of the people or country displayed..Here it is just a prefabricated Bummer.

Rating:
Summary: Essential For Anyone Interested In The Vietnam War
Review: From the summer of 1966 through the fall of 1968, I was fighting in some of the same areas of Vietnam that Phillip Jones Griffiths so dramatically photographed. The pictures in his book are a jolting reminder of that experience.
No other book, by a single photographer, comes as close to capturing what Vietnam was like as this does.
He has produced a powerful, informative and compassionate work of photojournalism, that is as immediate today as when it was orignally published.

Rating:
Summary: One of the greatest books on the Vietnam War
Review: I spent three years in Vietnam as a GI from 1967-70. I saw plenty of combat and was on many operations throughout that time from places like Danang to Saigon to Plieku. I was also assigned for a time to the rear as an intelligence specialist. Reading this book and looking at the shockingly beautiful photographs bring home the realities of that war again. This is a great reference for those who are interested in the Vietnam war and the realities of often mis-directed American foreign policy. We entered that far away war sending ignorant young soldiers to a country with an alien culture and ended up fearing everything we did not understand, often destroying it We did strike out with deadly force against the perceived enemy often killing innocent Vietnamese just trying to get by in an untenable situation. We counted the innocent among the enemy dead. This book has unique insights backed up with stupendous black and white photographs.

Rating:
Summary: Absolutely stupendous.
Review: Published in 1971 at the height of the Vietnam War, Philip Jones Griffith's "Vietnam Inc." is a searing, critical, exhaustive look at what America was doing in Vietnam and the toll it was taking, both on the Vietnamese and on the Americans themselves. Surprisingly little of the book is given over to the actual combat itself, as the Welshman Griffiths turns his eye and his pen to effects the war was wreaking on everyone else, from the servicemen groping at teenaged prostitutes, to the terrified villagers bombed out of their homes, to the officers coolly poring over projections showing them "winning" the war. A landmark in conflict photojournalism, Jones Griffiths' book is a textbook example of how to see and report with a critical eye.

Though the war ended over 25 years ago, this book is just as relevant today as a lesson on the chaos sown by conflict. Though out of print since the early 70s, I'm glad that it's been republished in a new edition - this work is too important to languish merely as an out-of-print, "collectible" commodity.

Rating:
Summary: Absolutely stupendous.
Review: Published in 1971 at the height of the Vietnam War, Philip Jones Griffith's "Vietnam Inc." is a searing, critical, exhaustive look at what America was doing in Vietnam and the toll it was taking, both on the Vietnamese and on the Americans themselves. Surprisingly little of the book is given over to the actual combat itself, as the Welshman Griffiths turns his eye and his pen to effects the war was wreaking on everyone else, from the servicemen groping at teenaged prostitutes, to the terrified villagers bombed out of their homes, to the officers coolly poring over projections showing them "winning" the war. A landmark in conflict photojournalism, Jones Griffiths' book is a textbook example of how to see and report with a critical eye.

Though the war ended over 25 years ago, this book is just as relevant today as a lesson on the chaos sown by conflict. Though out of print since the early 70s, I'm glad to hear that it's about to be republished in a new edition - this work is too important to languish merely as a $200 "collectible" commodity.

Rating:
Summary: superb collection
Review: This is a superb collection of photos that depicts the ironies and inanities that resonated throughout the US misguided war in Vietnam. There are haunting images of casual and mindless brutality, there are wonderful juxtapositions and there are the unforgettable faces of those caught up in the war as they try to lead their lives amidst wanton destruction. This is a book about betrayal...the betrayal of American ideals by US leaders, betrayal of soldiers by arrogant leaders, betrayal of allies for geopolitical machinations and betrayal of a people who suffered more than can be imagined. These timeless photos help us remember a dark chapter in US history and the reissue of this collection in a beautifully produced volume is welcome. Having taught about the Vietnam war to students who were born well after the debacle, this is an extremely valuable resource to bring to life the lessons learned from books and lectures. These mesmerizing images are informed by Griffith's conviction that, " the overwhelming impression of Americans in Vietnam is one of stupidity rather than evil." Certainly some veterans may dislike the photos and text, but few books convey the banality of war so effectively. Griffiths elegantly combines his photos, text and perceptive insights on Vietamese society and in so doing sets a standard for war reportage that others still only aspire to. This book is a must for anyone interested in the Vietnam conflict and the consequences of war.

Rating:
Summary: Vietnam Inc.
Review: This is by far the best book ever published on the Vietnam War. Out of print for thirty years, it is finally back on the bookshelves, much to the chagrin of the militarists in Washington. It's the only book that completely expains the disaster of what happened in Vietnam. It should be required reading in every school and college in this country.

Read the words and learn. Look at the pictures and cry!

Our country must never repeat this.

Rating:
Summary: pricey propaganda
Review: This old book is full of myth and propaganda that you have to wonder why the publisher actually charge money for the book, I usually get these type of books for free when I was still living in Vietnam.

The book portrait the Americans as killers, it portrait all the S. Vietnamese as corrupt and whores - typical leftist stereotypes. What the book does not tell you is that the North Vietnamese were the biggest whores and most corrupt government in the world. On January 28,2002 L'express- the French leftist newspaper publish an article by Sylvaine Pasquier(go to lexpress.fr to see the full article), showing that in 1958 the North Vietnamese Communist gave the Spratley and Pearl islands off the coast of South Vietnam and near the Phillipines to China in exchange for Chinese support for the war. Also, in 1999 and 2000, the Vietnamese Communist sign a series of treaties giving China over 13,000 square Kilometers of land in North Vietnam and islands off South Vietnamin exchange for China support against a growing democracy movement in Vietnam. Yes, money to foreign government in exchange for help against the Vietnamese people. Never in the 5000 years history of Vietnam did this happen. Vietnam is a small country to give away thousands of square miles to another country so that they will have you retain absolute power is unforgivable. If Bush gave away 4000 square miles of land to Canada in exchange for campaign contribution, what would Americans think?