Praise for Hue 1968 An Amazon Best Book of the Month in history An Amazon best history book of the year so far "An extraordinary feat of journalism . Through his scrupulous day-by-day reconstruction of this battle, Bowden encapsulates the essential lessons of the Vietnam War . Hue 1968 is also an exploration of what is common to all wars: humankind''s capacity for violence, cruelty, self-sacrifice, bravery, cowardice and love. Mr. Bowden undertakes this task with the talent and sensibility of a master journalist who is also a humanist and an honest man . the book is full of emotion and color . You will find the reading gripping." Karl Marlantes, Wall Street Journal "A remarkable book.
" Dave Davies, NPR''s Fresh Air "[A] magnificent and meticulous history, which tells, with excruciating detail, a story that is both inspiring and infuriating . Bowden''s interviews, almost half a century on, with those who fought, on both sides, have produced unexampled descriptions of small-unit combat." --George F. Will, Washington Post "Bowden . applies his signature blend of deep reportage and character-driven storytelling to bring readers a fresh look at the 1968 battle in the Vietnamese city of Hue . [A] compelling and highly readable narrative . A meticulous and vivid retelling of an important battle." Linda Robinson, New York Times Book Review "An instantly recognizable classic of military history .
Bowden tells this story with a power and a wealth of detail that no previous history of this offensive has approached." Steve Donoghue, Christian Science Monitor "A gripping, and timely, history . powerful . [ Hue 1968 ] is likely to claim a place on the shelf of essential books about the Vietnam War. Based on hundreds of interviews, news accounts, histories and military archives, the book combines intensive research with Bowden''s propulsive narrative style and insightful analysis . What sets Bowden''s account of the battle apart is his skill at moving from the macro--the history of the war, the politics surrounding it, the tactics of the battle--to the micro: the individuals, American and Vietnamese, who fought it and tried to survive it." Colette Bancroft, Tampa Bay Times "Bowden is one of the great journalists of our generation, and with this book he provides a captivating account of the pivotal battle that did so much to alter the trajectories of not just the Vietnam War, but also American politics and our nation''s global posture. With its capacious research that includes the perspectives of combatants and civilians, Vietnamese and Americans, presidents and privates, it epitomizes what a definitive account should be.
" Foreign Policy "A masterful blood-and-guts account of the decisive battle in the Vietnam War . The heart and soul of Hue 1968 lies with its vivid and often wrenching descriptions of the ''storm of war'' as soldiers and South Vietnamese citizens experienced it." Minneapolis Star-Tribune "Bowden''s excellent Hue 1968 . gives us the clearest picture yet of what happened in Vietnam and in Hue, where today tourists casually shoot pictures where murderous shots once were fired." George Petras, USA Today , 4 out of 4 stars "Mark Bowden''s book Hue 1968 is a must-read. Many lessons, including how government can lie and [the] role of an effective media in finding truth. Timely." --Michael Morell, former acting director of the CIA "For readers who enjoy learning about battle tactics and bloody encounters, Bowden delivers, as he did in Black Hawk Down .
The book offers so much more than that, however. For readers who care little about military strategy or precisely how each combatant died, Bowden offers copious context about why it matters what occurred in Vietnam at the beginning of 1968?why it mattered so much then, and why it matters so much in 2017 . Bowden is masterful in introducing characters whose names have often never appeared in the news but whose actions help explain the complications for the United States of becoming involved in faraway wars involving nearly invisible enemies." Steve Weinberg, Philadelphia Inquirer "Dazzling . Bowden''s account of the battle delivers gut punches from start to finish . Most impressive of all, Bowden deftly blends clear descriptions of complex troop movements with careful attention to the human impact of the fighting . Bowden deserves enormous credit for calling new attention to an often-overlooked battle and especially for recovering the experiences of those who fought amid otherworldly horrors." Mark Atwood Lawrence, Boston Globe "Searing .
Bowden revisits the historic battle with the same character-driven, grunt-level reporting style that made Black Hawk Down a bestseller. He lends a sympathetic ear to surviving soldiers on both sides, as well as guerrillas and civilians, and gives a vivid account of courage and cowardice, heroism and slaughter." --Bob Drogin, Los Angeles Times "A powerful account of a critical battle in Vietnam . Bowden''s attention to detail is flawless . This kind of fine-tuned detail--and sense of mystery--is the soul of a good historical account . The book is a mighty piece of work, and as fine an account of a battle as you will likely read. Hell, I wish I had written it." --Anthony Loyd, Times (UK) "Nearly 50 years after the battle for the city of Hue, this history reads as fresh as today''s news .
every page merits reading." Military Times " Hue 1968 pulls off a rare feat: it takes a conflict of terrible scale and consequence, and allows us to see it unfold at the street level, through the eyes of Vietnamese and American soldiers engaged in the struggle, journalists and activists observing the chaos, and the civilians caught in the crossfire . His emphasis on firsthand accounts gives a vital heart to the unfolding events . Not only are the personal stories Bowden uncovers at turns deeply moving and horrifying, but they also pose uncomfortable parallels with current events in the Middle East and Afghanistan." --Sebastien Roblin, National Interest "Thoroughly researched and compelling . This is as much a book about what happens to peoples'' hearts, minds, and bodies in the swirling chaos of urban combat as it is a history of a specific battle and an assessment of its strategic significance. We come to know a fair number of the participants quite well by the end of the story--one source of the book''s unusual power and authenticity . With a novelist''s eye for evoking the grim atmospherics of a hellish locale and the characters within it, Bowden reconstructs dozens of scenes of heart-pounding combat .
Bowden''s coverage of the ''other side'' . gives this book a richer texture, and more balance, than any of the earlier books on Hue . Anyone looking to understand what Vietnam was all about would do well to read Hue 1968 . Without a doubt, it''s one of the very best books to be written about Vietnam in the last decade." --James A. Warren, Daily Beast "Bowden confronts head-on the horrific senselessness of battle and the toll it takes on people, and he grants Hue the regard it deserves as a defining moment in a war that continues to influence how America views its role in the world." -- Publishers Weekly (starred review) "This Vietnam story reads like a movie but it''s all true." Courier-Journal (Louisville) "An extraordinary account of the most important and costly battle of the Vietnam War.
" Don McCullin, legendary photojournalist who covered the Battle of Hue "In this meticulous retelling of one critical battle, Mark Bowden captures the nuanced and often invisible threads of America''s political, military and cultural blindness in Vietnam. Hue 1968 is the new classic about America''s Vietnam War." Elizabeth Becker, author of When the War Was Over: Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge Revolution "A detailed, multifaceted account." Tirdad Derakhsani, Philadelphia Inquirer "[A] master storyteller." --John David, Decatur Daily "A stirring history of the 1968 battle that definitively turned the Vietnam War into an American defeat . Building on portraits of combatants on all sides, Bowden delivers an anecdotally rich, careful account of the complex campaign to take the city. One of the best books on a single action in Vietnam, written by a tough, seasoned journalist who brings the events of a half-century past into sharp relief." Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "An epic masterpiece of heroism and sacrifice, and a testament to the tragic futility of the American experience in Vietnam.
" Booklist (starred review) "Excellent . Bowden has done a superb job of telling the story as he did with Black Hawk Down ." Washington Times "In his monumental new book, Bowden . gives voice to dozens, including Nguyen Quang Ha, whose five-man team emerged from underground caves to strike the first blow for North Vietnamese forces, Bob Thompson, a career marine officer charged with taking back the US stronghold at the Citadel, President Lyndon Johnson and General William Westmoreland in Washington, DC and reporters David Halberstam, Michael Herr, Gene Roberts, Walter Cronkite and others who changed the way Americans percei.