Vietnam (book)

Vietnam: An Epic Tragedy, 1945–1975 is a 2018 nonfiction book by the British military historian Max Hastings. The full text is divided into 28 chapters. The author recounts the beginnings of the First Indochina War up until the end of The Vietnam War.

Overview
Hastings recounts the Vietnam War from multiple perspectives ranging from military to political to civilian to American, North Vietnamese, South Vietnamese, Australian, Chinese, and Soviet.

Reception
The New York Times, The Washington Post, Foreign Affairs, and The Guardian published positive reviews. Lawrence Freedman described Hastings as being acutely critical of the United States' decision to compensate for South Vietnam's political weaknesses through military means, yet also equally scathing in detailing the North Vietnamese and the Vietcong.