Full Description
When Saigon fell to North Vietnamese forces on April 30, 1975, the communist victory sent shockwaves around the world. Using ingenious strategy and tactics, Hồ Chi Minh had shown it was possible for a tiny nation to defeat a mighty Western power. The same tactics have been studied and replicated by revolutionary forces and terrorist organizations across the globe.
Drawing on recently declassified documents and rare interviews with Hồ Chi Minh's strategists and operatives, this book offers fresh perspective on his blueprint and the reasons behind both the French (1945-1954) and the American (1959-1975) failures in Vietnam, concluding with an analysis of the threat this model poses today.
Contents
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Preface
Introduction: Hồ Chí Minh's Legacy
Part I: Establishing the Blueprint (1890-1945)
1. The Making of a Revolutionary
2. Hồ's Female Couriers
3. The Seeds of Hồ's Revolutionary Strategies
4. The Infant Blueprint
Part II: Evolution and Application of the Blueprint
The August Revolution (1945)
5. Hồ's Road to Power
The French War (1945-1954)
6. Blueprint for Revolution
7. The Water Flows South
8. The North: The Westward March
9. The Secrets Behind the Battle of Điện Biên Phủ
The American Vietnam War (1954-1975)
10. And So It Begins Again
11. A Divided Country
12. The Hồ Chí Minh Trail
13. Tết: America's Big Decision
14. The Phoenix Program: Targeting the VCI
15. Total Victory
Epilogue: Eyes Wide Open
Appendix I. Abbreviations and Acronyms
Appendix II. Translation of Vietnamese Terms
Chapter Notes
Bibliography
Index
