The Vietnam War endured for thirty years, cost billions of dollars, and resulted in thousands of Vietnamese, French, and American deaths. Massive American military intervention in Vietnam embroiled America in protests, placed enormous strains on the western alliance, and altered U.S. relations with the Soviet Union and China. David L. Anderson's concise overview critiques U.S. errors in magnifying the strategic importance of South-east Asia in the Cold War and in underestimating the strength of the Vietnamese communist movement.

DAVID L. ANDERSON is Dean of the College of Undergraduate Programs at California State University, Monterey Bay. He is the author or editor of five previous books on the Vietnam War, including the award-winning books Trapped by Success: The Eisenhower Administration and Vietnam (1991) and The Columbia Guide to the Vietnam War (2002).