"The Vietnam War was the greatest disaster in the history of American foreign policy. The conflict shook the nation to its foundations, exacerbating already deep cleavages in American society, and left the country baffled and ambivalent about its role in the world. Year of the Hawk is a military and political history of the war in Vietnam during 1965--the pivotal first year of the American conflict, when the United States decided to intervene directly...

A history of the four decades leading up to the Vietnam War offers insights into how the U.S. became involved, identifying commonalities between the campaigns of French and American forces while discussing relevant political factors.

"As leader of South Vietnam from 1954 to 1963, Ngo Dinh Diem was hailed by some as a "miracle man" who had saved his country from communism. Others denounced him as a U.S. puppet or as a reactionary mandarin. In Misalliance, Edward Miller refutes these simplistic caricatures and presents a new interpretation of Diem and the rise and fall of his alliance with the United States. Drawing on American, French, and Vietnamese archival sources, Miller shows...