A Former FAO's Bookshelf

[William F. Owen]

Critical Number 11 Neil Sheehan, A Bright and Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam. This is the story of John Paul Vann as an embodiment of the US effort in the Vietnamese War. Available on Amazon at: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/067...g=UTF8&s=books

First off, GREAT JOB taking the time to put this list together. An outstanding contribution, and I am only sorry I did not see this sooner.

However, I would want to inject a note of caution about "Shining Lie". When researching the Vietnam war, I came across several people who knew both Van and Sheehan, as well as being involved in some of the events in the book. They all called into question both the veracity and accuracy of some aspects of the work. That is not to say that it is without merit.

As an addition or an alternative, I might suggest Lewis Sorley's "A Better War"

[Tom Odom]

First off, GREAT JOB taking the time to put this list together. An outstanding contribution, and I am only sorry I did not see this sooner.

However, I would want to inject a note of caution about "Shining Lie". When researching the Vietnam war, I came across several people who knew both Van and Sheehan, as well as being involved in some of the events in the book. They all called into question both the veracity and accuracy of some aspects of the work. That is not to say that it is without merit.

As an addition or an alternative, I might suggest Lewis Sorley's "A Better War"

I have no doubt there are "errors of agenda" in Shining Lie; the author continually refers to a dark truth about Vann and his personal life. I always read it as literary hype--not exactly PC in history--but this is journalistic history and there is much editorializing in it. Still it is important in that it covers a figure--Vann--who had great impact but would have been ignored by a Center for Military History approach to the war's history. It is also of great value in understainding USAID's history as a non-tree hugger organization.

For Juan: Dave has posted the full list. He can send yo a link. Or send me an email address via PM.

Best

Tom