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 David Halberstam’s masterpiece, the defining history of the making of the Vietnam tragedy, with a new Foreword by Senator John McCain.

"A rich, entertaining, and profound reading experience.”—The New York Times

Using portraits of America’ s flawed policy makers and accounts of the forces that drove them, The Best and the Brightest reckons magnificently with the most important abiding question of our country’ s recent history: Why did America become mired in Vietnam, and why did we lose? As the definitive single-volume answer to that question, this enthralling book has never been superseded. It is an American classic.

Praise for The Best and the Brightest

“The most comprehensive saga of how America became involved in Vietnam. . . . It is also the Iliad of the American empire and the Odyssey of this nation’s search for its idealistic soul. The Best and the Brightest is almost like watching an Alfred Hitchcock thriller.”—The Boston Globe

“Deeply moving . . . We cannot help but feel the compelling power of this narrative. . . . Dramatic and tragic, a chain of events overwhelming in their force, a distant war embodying illusions and myths, terror and violence, confusions and courage, blindness, pride, and arrogance.”—Los Angeles Times

“A fascinating tale of folly and self-deception . . . [An] absorbing, detailed, and devastatingly caustic tale of Washington in the days of the Caesars.”—The Washington Post Book World

“Seductively readable . . . It is a staggeringly ambitious undertaking that is fully matched by Halberstam’s performance. . . . This is in all ways an admirable and necessary book.”—Newsweek

“A story every American should read.”—St. Louis Post-Dispatch Amériques Guerres et conflits Militaire Politique États-Unis Guerre Guerre du Vietnam Japon impérial Socialisme Russie Union soviétique Chine Franklin D. Roosevelt Impérialisme Dwight Eisenhower Capitalisme Autodétermination Force aérienne

Ce que les critiques en disent

"A rich, entertaining, and profound reading experience.”—The New York Times

“The most comprehensive saga of how America became involved in Vietnam. . . . It is also the Iliad of the American empire and the Odyssey of this nation’s search for its idealistic soul. The Best and the Brightest is almost like watching an Alfred Hitchcock thriller.”—The Boston Globe
“Deeply moving . . . We cannot help but feel the compelling power of this narrative. . . . Dramatic and tragic, a chain of events overwhelming in their force, a distant war embodying illusions and myths, terror and violence, confusions and courage, blindness, pride, and arrogance.”—Los Angeles Times

“A fascinating tale of folly and self-deception . . . [An] absorbing, detailed, and devastatingly caustic tale of Washington in the days of the Caesars.”—The Washington Post Book World

“Seductively readable . . . It is a staggeringly ambitious undertaking that is fully matched by Halberstam’s performance. . . . This is in all ways an admirable and necessary book.”—Newsweek
“A story every American should read.”—St. Louis Post-Dispatch
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Tragic look at the men who were responsible for the American involvement in Vietnam. It’s very hard not to read this and re-examine some figures who are lionized in American history if you’ve been brought up on the high school version of things. A must read for anyone interested in recent American history and politics.

Incredibly insightful and engaging

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At the end of his author's note, Halberstom writes that Vietnam haunts him still. He also writes - movingly - about the preoccupations and failures of the men (and they were all men) brought into government to make flesh the New Frontier ideal of "pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty." It did not work out.
Let us hope we may learn something from this episode, in our current era.

The road to hell is paved with good intentions

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Given that this book is 37 hours long, I was somewhat hesitant as I typically get bored with books longer than 15 hours. This was not the case with this one. I have read numerous books on the Vietnam War and have found this one to be the most interesting and the most detailed in terms of the decision making. It doesn't so much examine the actual tactical battle account war but dissects, in minute detail, the decisions of the group that he calls "the best and the brightest".

I really enjoyed how Halberstam gave an in-depth and detailed account of the background of each player so the reader could fully understand why they took the positions they took. I really enjoyed this book and at no point was I bored over the 37 hours.

Hands down the best Vietnam War book

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