Vietnam Chronicles: The Abrams Tapes, 1968–1972 (Modern Southeast Asia Series) - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0896725332 ISBN 13: 9780896725331

Publisher: Texas Tech University Press, 2004

Synopsis

During the four years General Creighton W. Abrams was commander in Vietnam, he and his staff made more than 455 tape recordings of briefings and meetings. In 1994, with government approval, Lewis Sorley began transcribing and analyzing the tapes. Sorley’s laborious, time-consuming effort has produced a picture of the senior U.S. commander in Vietnam and his associates working to prosecute a complex and challenging military campaign in an equally complex and difficult political context.The concept of the nature of the war and the way it was conducted changed during Abrams’s command. The progressive buildup of U.S. forces was reversed, and Abrams became responsible for turning the war back to the South Vietnamese.The edited transcriptions in this volume clearly reflect those changes in policy and strategy. They include briefings called the Weekly Intelligence Estimate Updates as well as meetings with such visitors as the secretary of defense, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and other high-ranking officials. In Vietnam Chronicles we see, for the first time, the difficult task that Creighton Abrams accomplished with tact and skill.

About this title

About the Author:

Lewis Sorley is a researcher and writer in Potomac, Maryland. His previous books include Thunderbolt: General Creighton Adams and the Army of His Times, Honorable Warrior: General Harold K. Johnson and the Ethics of Command, and A Better War: The Unexamined Victories and Final Tragedy of America’s Last Years in Vietnam.

Review:

"Lewis Sorley catapults the record to a whole new level. . . . Certain to influence observers seeking to understand America's Vietnam War." -- The VVA Veteran

Anyone interested in understanding war . . . will want to sample [these] transcripts . . . for their vividness, real-time drama, and strategic insights. -- James Schlesinger, Wall Street Journal

About this edition

• Publisher: Texas Tech University Press
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0896725332
• ISBN 13: 9780896725331
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 917
• Editor: Sorley Lewis