Book Recommendation: Choosing War

Choosing War: The Lost Chance for Peace and the Escalation of War in Vietnam
By Fredrik Logevall
University of California Press
2001

This is the best Vietnam history book I have ever read, and I have read many of them. The focus is on the decisions made between August 1963 and February 1965 (called the ‘Long 1964’), and the primary thesis is that, contrary to much (but not all) of the literature on the topic, there was an opportunity to end the war and forego escalation during this time period, but it was more or less ignored by American policymakers, who made a conscious and in large part illogical decision to “Americanize” the war, a decision that culminated in the early months of 1965.

I will skip the specifics of the book, and instead focus this brief recommendation on my impressions. I find Logevall’s approach to be remarkably concise, comprehensive, and convincing. He examines the international as well as the domestic context in which decisions were made, and he does a fantastic job of examining all sides of the argument – all possibilities of interpretation of events.

My strongest assertion (and in my view, the strongest statement I can make) is that I have been a student of Vietnam War History for almost ten years, and this book changed my perspective permanently and in fundamental ways. The thesis that the war was not inevitable, but rather a result of conscious policy decisions despite the clear opportunity for negotiation and eventual withdrawal, is an argument that you always get the sense of in reading other historical works on the topic. However, I have always walked away from these other books with the impression that forces were nevertheless aligned against the Johnson Administration such that withdrawal was not a viable option. I am a very stubbornly skeptical person, but this book converted me. It has my unqualified recommendation, for whatever that is worth.