Rating: 
Summary: An Excellent Primary Source
Review: I read this book when it was first published and have used it as a reference as both a student and teacher of the Vietnam Conflict for many years. Before having traveled to Vietnam, this was one of the first sources I'd encountered that put a human face on a former enemy that other texts and media reports had failed to provide. The text gives the reader an excellent view of one man's perspective in the National Liberation Front and shows its readers an outlook rarely seen from an American political sentiment. Of particular interest to me were the author's personal accounts of espionage during the war and the physical and emotional affect American fire power had on the Vietnamese combatants.
Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Primary Source
Review: I read this book when it was first published and have used it as a reference as both a student and teacher of the Vietnam Conflict for many years. Before having traveled to Vietnam, this was one of the first sources I'd encountered that put a human face on a former enemy that other texts and media reports had failed to provide. The text gives the reader an excellent view of one man's perspective in the National Liberation Front and shows its readers an outlook rarely seen from an American political sentiment. Of particular interest to me were the author's personal accounts of espionage during the war and the physical and emotional affect American fire power had on the Vietnamese combatants.
Rating: 
Summary: Confusing!
Review: I was forced to read this book for my 20th century history class and there is not a moment that I do not regret it. Although there may be some historical value in Tang's take on the Vietnam war, it made for a boring and tedious read. The flow of the book was choppy and difficult to read. I would not recommend this book to anyone beside serious historians, because no one else could find this book enjoyable.
Rating: 
Summary: Pedro's Review
Review: I was forced to read this book for my 20th century history class and there is not a moment that I do not regret it. Although there may be some historical value in Tang's take on the Vietnam war, it made for a boring and tedious read. The flow of the book was choppy and difficult to read. I would not recommend this book to anyone beside serious historians, because no one else could find this book enjoyable.
Rating:
Summary: great book
Review: It would seem that some of the negative reviews here result from the reviewer's preconceived notions about the War not meshing with the history presented in this book. But it is precisely the way in which this book challenges our notions about the war that makes the text so great. For example, the author illustrates how much of the ideology that fueled the fight against the French and the Americans came from the French ideals of nationalism and liberty. Communism was seen as a convenient vehicle but not provide much in the ideology department. The author also presents an image of the VC as being somewhat less than the fearless idealists that are presented in much Western media. Some Americans feel compelled to see them as pure and fearless in order to justify our loss to them. But the author describes many instances where the VC avoided engagement with the enemy or lost bodily control during attacks. Another unexpected revelation was that, at the highest levels, the Vietnamese leadership seriously questioned the country's falling into the Soviet sphere of influence. What was the point, they asked, of fighting off one neo-colonialist just to replace it with another? This is the first book (or article, for that matter) to dispel so many of the fundamental myths that have held about the war. In following the story line and characters, it certainly helps to be familiar with the major players in both the North and South. But even without that basis of knowledge, this is an excellent book that tells a gripping tale while questioning our assumptions about the topic. In addition to seriously challenging our "conventional wisdom" regarding the war, the book is full of the kind of subterfuge, close calls with security forces, late night police visits, narrow escapes and suspense that you could find in many of toady's spy novels. But in this case, it is all true.
Rating:
Summary: A serious challenge to our notions about the war
Review: It would seem that some of the negative reviews here result from the reviewer's preconceived notions about the War not meshing with the history presented in this book. But it is precisely the way in which this book challenges our notions about the war that makes the text so great. For example, the author illustrates how much of the ideology that fueled the fight against the French and the Americans came from the French ideals of nationalism and liberty. Communism was seen as a convenient vehicle but not provide much in the ideology department. The author also presents an image of the VC as being somewhat less than the fearless idealists that are presented in much Western media. Some Americans feel compelled to see them as pure and fearless in order to justify our loss to them. But the author describes many instances where the VC avoided engagement with the enemy or lost bodily control during attacks. Another unexpected revelation was that, at the highest levels, the Vietnamese leadership seriously questioned the country's falling into the Soviet sphere of influence. What was the point, they asked, of fighting off one neo-colonialist just to replace it with another? This is the first book (or article, for that matter) to dispel so many of the fundamental myths that have held about the war. In following the story line and characters, it certainly helps to be familiar with the major players in both the North and South. But even without that basis of knowledge, this is an excellent book that tells a gripping tale while questioning our assumptions about the topic. In addition to seriously challenging our "conventional wisdom" regarding the war, the book is full of the kind of subterfuge, close calls with security forces, late night police visits, narrow escapes and suspense that you could find in many of toady's spy novels. But in this case, it is all true.
Rating:
Summary: Viewpoint from the other side.
Review: The itinerary of a South-Vietnamese student who becomes a Vietcong fighter in order to liberate his country from a corrupt regime and foreign occupation. After the war, he becomes a member of the Vietnamese government. But not being a communist, he is removed by the real power politics men, is put in prison and flights his country on a boat to arrive in the ... USA. He was one of the boat people.
A sad story all too well known: after victory, the idealists are thrown out (or killed) by the real power politicians or the real international powers backing those politicians. This book confirms what we already knew: the American arrogant reliance on power, combined with a fatal misunderstanding of the nature and the strategy of the enemy. As a matter of fact, the US were winning on the battlefield even during the Tet offensive (the Vietcong and the North Vietnamese had colossal losses), but it was internationally turned into a decisive victory.
I quote: "You know", said an American negotiator to his North Vietnamese counterpart three years later in Hanoi, "you never defeated us on the battlefield". "That may be so", came the answer, "but it is also irrelevant". This book should be read by everyone interested in the sad story of the disastrous Vietnamese war. A war that should not be forgotten, but even the young generation in Vietnam has no or very few interest in it. Quotable: the French communist leader Thorez:"If we can't reach an agreement with them (the Vietnamese nationalists), we'll talk to them with cannons".
Rating:
Summary: Confusing!
Review: This may have been one of the worst books i have ever read. It was very rambling, with little substance of the war and mostly discusses personal relations. The characters are very hard to follow, first of all. Perhaps if I had been a witness to the war (as i was not), i may have been able to follow the characters. Otherwise, however, I wish you good luck finding out who they are, because you are not told in the book. Even major players in the story are just brought in, as if you are expected to know who they are. In addition, the book contains little opposing opinions to its standpoint on the war. To tell you the truth, after reading the book, I am glad that this guy lost the war.
Rating: 
Summary: An insightful look
Review: Truong Nhu Tang does an excellent job of taking us through the seamy underside of the National Liberation Front. His lessons in dealing with the Party are extremely revealing and leave the reader both admiriing and feeling sorry for him, though he was considered the enenmy in the horrific conflict. He provides an excellent look at the political aspects of the NFL, PRG, Vietcong, et al. and the way they viewed the dizzying conflict. Truong's only failing, ironically, is not seeing the motivations of the American political powers. While expousing the virtuotous goals of his organizations, he fails to see that ultimately, his people were failed by their revolution and that the American agenda (though bloody and lasting too long) succeeded in demonstrating the Western will to stop what could have truly become "the Domino Effect". The dominoes stopped in Southeast Asia. Though the revolution was more than a Communist vs. Democracy battle, it does show us that, at least in this case, the best intentions of the Southerners was swept aside by their Northern "allies", who apparantly used the NLF, PRG, Vietcong, etc. as a mere puppet in their conquest.
Rating:
Summary: An insightful look
Review: Truong Nhu Tang does an excellent job of taking us through the seamy underside of the National Liberation Front. His lessons in dealing with the Party are extremely revealing and leave the reader both admiriing and feeling sorry for him, though he was considered the enenmy in the horrific conflict. He provides an excellent look at the political aspects of the NFL, PRG, Vietcong, et al. and the way they viewed the dizzying conflict. Truong's only failing, ironically, is not seeing the motivations of the American political powers. While expousing the virtuotous goals of his organizations, he fails to see that ultimately, his people were failed by their revolution and that the American agenda (though bloody and lasting too long) succeeded in demonstrating the Western will to stop what could have truly become "the Domino Effect". The dominoes stopped in Southeast Asia. Though the revolution was more than a Communist vs. Democracy battle, it does show us that, at least in this case, the best intentions of the Southerners was swept aside by their Northern "allies", who apparantly used the NLF, PRG, Vietcong, etc. as a mere puppet in their conquest.
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