Best Defense
Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security.

Friend or pho?: a Vietnam reading list you may not recognize

I asked my old friend Quang X. Pham, who left Vietnam as a refugee, then became a Marine pilot and later a successful executive and author, and who may run for Congress soon, for suggestions on a reading list about the Vietnam War. This is an unusual list. I’ve only read two of his selections. ...

By , a former contributing editor to Foreign Policy.
585603_090522_ricksb2.jpg
585603_090522_ricksb2.jpg

I asked my old friend Quang X. Pham, who left Vietnam as a refugee, then became a Marine pilot and later a successful executive and author, and who may run for Congress soon, for suggestions on a reading list about the Vietnam War. This is an unusual list. I’ve only read two of his selections. I actually bought one of those, Sorrows of War, on a streetcorner in Hanoi, along with some bootlegs of Tom Waits CDs. Me: “Why do you have the complete works of Tom Waits for sale?”

Saleslady: “Tom Waits is very, very popular in Hanoi!” (Of course.)

By the time we landed back in the US of A, I’d finished the book, which was memorable.

Take it away, Quang:

  • In the Jaws of History, Bui Diem, South Vietnam’s ambassador to the U.S. reflects on the diplomacy of the war
  • Buddha’s Child, Nguyen Cao Ky, South Vietnam’s flamboyant Air Marshal/Vice President’s second memoir
  • Counterpart: A South Vietnamese Navy Officer’s War, Kiem Do
  • The Sorrows of War, Bao Ninh, fiction, a former North Vietnamese soldier writes about his experience in the American War
  • Fortunate Son, Lewis Puller, Jr., Pulitzer Prize winner for biography, the only son of the most famous Marine recalls the Vietnam War and its aftermath

Test on Tuesday.

melvdesigns/flickr

Thomas E. Ricks is a former contributing editor to Foreign Policy. Twitter: @tomricks1

Read More On Vietnam

More from Foreign Policy

The USS Nimitz and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and South Korean Navy warships sail in formation during a joint naval exercise off the South Korean coast.
The USS Nimitz and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and South Korean Navy warships sail in formation during a joint naval exercise off the South Korean coast.

America Is a Heartbeat Away From a War It Could Lose

Global war is neither a theoretical contingency nor the fever dream of hawks and militarists.

A protester waves a Palestinian flag in front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, during a demonstration calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. People sit and walk on the grass lawn in front of the protester and barricades.
A protester waves a Palestinian flag in front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, during a demonstration calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. People sit and walk on the grass lawn in front of the protester and barricades.

The West’s Incoherent Critique of Israel’s Gaza Strategy

The reality of fighting Hamas in Gaza makes this war terrible one way or another.

Biden dressed in a dark blue suit walks with his head down past a row of alternating U.S. and Israeli flags.
Biden dressed in a dark blue suit walks with his head down past a row of alternating U.S. and Israeli flags.

Biden Owns the Israel-Palestine Conflict Now

In tying Washington to Israel’s war in Gaza, the U.S. president now shares responsibility for the broader conflict’s fate.

U.S. President Joe Biden is seen in profile as he greets Chinese President Xi Jinping with a handshake. Xi, a 70-year-old man in a dark blue suit, smiles as he takes the hand of Biden, an 80-year-old man who also wears a dark blue suit.
U.S. President Joe Biden is seen in profile as he greets Chinese President Xi Jinping with a handshake. Xi, a 70-year-old man in a dark blue suit, smiles as he takes the hand of Biden, an 80-year-old man who also wears a dark blue suit.

Taiwan’s Room to Maneuver Shrinks as Biden and Xi Meet

As the latest crisis in the straits wraps up, Taipei is on the back foot.