Fire in the Lake: The Vietnamese and the Americans in Vietnam

Fiztgerald gives a remarkably clear headed explanation of all the many ways Americans misunderstood the Vietnamese and all the many ways the Vietnamese misunderstood Americans. The whole purpose of the war was misguided. It was unwinnable from the start. We were confused by our prior experience in Korea, conflating that war with Vietnam. The South Koreans really did fear the North. The South Vietnamese had no real fear of their northern neighbor, which is why so many joined the Viet Cong. And Westmoreland, who had half as many troops as Eisenhower had in all of Europe in a land smaller than New Mexico, never understood that you can't simply bomb an agrarian society into submission. You can bomb an industrial country like Germany into near economic collapse, but bombing jungles and rice paddies really doesn't change much. Yes it is a slog as one reviewer said but well worth it. Half a century later it is still a magnificent account and accomplishment.

I knew nothing about the Vietnam War. So I read this book before my trip to Vietnam, and I would have to say, I will appreciate this adventure even more now.

If I'd only known of this writing at an earlier time, I'd have read it much sooner. What an incredible account of Vietnam, its cultural history, the war history, just the best read on the subject I've come across and from an academic and female journalist who'd actually been there during the war and afterward. Highly recommend Fire in the Lake for anyone who would like to truly understand what really happened and why the U.S. should have never been there.

of all the books I've read on Vietnam, this is one that keeps the big picture in focus. The author reached back much further than most Western writers (who usually start circa 1945) to explain the cluelessness of American foreign policy of the 50's and 60's. This is not light reading, but neither is it impenetrable. It is completely absorbing.

I've read this book years ago, and was so impressed that it captured what the misery was on the ground. This is partly my story. I lost my old copy and had to order a new copy, which I read. A still astounding history.

An indepth, extremely readable and absorbing book about Vietnamese culture, and the circumstances that helped a small country with a shrewd cadre of fighters to overcome the might of the U.S. Once you read this you begin to see how horribly detrimental the lies our government told the public for years helped continue a senseless killing of thousands of young lives. The U.S. was wrong, dead wrong, in every single way in its tactics fighting this war. It was unwinnable.

Published in 1972, "Fire in the Lake" is largely an ethnography of two clashing cultures, opposites iin almost every way. The profound ignorance on the American side caused them to fall victim to the VietNam passion for independence. Total bipartisan - West versus East -lack of understanding the 'the enemy' prolonged the tragedy that Frances Fitzgerald chronicles in most through detail. This is scholarly undertaking, almost too mc to digest Fitzgerald includes an Afterword written 30 years after her book came out;she has by now observed the struggle VietNam has gone through in post-war modernization. This analysis is a must for anyone who needs a serious study of the American War in the Far East.

A 400 page college text on North Vietnam, mistakes made by the French, Americans and just how different Vietnamese society is compared to the rest of the world. As someone who has travelled throughout Vietnam, this book gives you an idea of the mindset of their society. There was no way to win the war unless the U.S. was willing to invade the north and plant the flag in Hanoi. I am 250 pages into the book and it is still only 1963! Don't expect a explanation of the Tet offensive or a break down of the fighting in Hue...well maybe...if I can get that far. Seriously, this is a tough read. This reads like a manual written by physiologist. I will return after I finish it to let you know if it gets better.

Not very objective but still another point of view

Amazing detail. A great read.