David Halberstam (1934–2007) was the author of 20 books, the last 14 of which have been national best-sellers. His most recent book, The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War, is about the Chinese entry into the Korean War. He was the winner of the Pulitzer Prize for his reporting in Vietnam and was a member of the elective Society of American Historians.

For all the legions of books published on the Vietnam War, none surpasses one of the earliest and most prescient—David Halberstam's The Making of a Quagmire. Halberstam's shrewd observations of the complexities of Vietnamese politics and the obstacles the U.S. faced early in achieving its goals deeply inform the entire book. A brilliant study that has lost none of its power despite the history that unfolded after its publication, Halberstam's book deserves to be read again and again.

• IntroductionPart I: Edging Toward Calamity: Vietnam in the Early 1960sChapter 1: Coming into a Troubled LandChapter 2: Latter-Day Mandarins: The Ngo FamilyChapter 3: A Strange Alliance: The Americans and DiemPart II: The War in the DeltaChapter 4: In the Field with the ARVNChapter 5: Finding an Elusive FoeChapter 6: Disaster: The Battle of Ap BacChapter 7: Collapse in the DeltaPart III: The Fall of the Diem RegimeChapter 8: The Buddhist Revolt BeginsChapter 9: The Raid on the PagodasChapter 10: A Slow Change in American PolicyChapter 11: The Saigon Press ControversyChapter 12: The Final Days of Ngo Dinh DiemChapter 13: What Should Be Done in Vietnam?Epilogue: Return to Vietnam

David Halberstam (1934–2007) was the author of 20 books, the last 14 of which have been national best-sellers. His most recent book, The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War, is about the Chinese entry into the Korean War. He was the winner of the Pulitzer Prize for his reporting in Vietnam and was a member of the elective Society of American Historians.

For all the legions of books published on the Vietnam War, none surpasses one of the earliest and most prescient—David Halberstam's The Making of a Quagmire. Halberstam's shrewd observations of the complexities of Vietnamese politics and the obstacles the U.S. faced early in achieving its goals deeply inform the entire book. A brilliant study that has lost none of its power despite the history that unfolded after its publication, Halberstam's book deserves to be read again and again.

• IntroductionPart I: Edging Toward Calamity: Vietnam in the Early 1960sChapter 1: Coming into a Troubled LandChapter 2: Latter-Day Mandarins: The Ngo FamilyChapter 3: A Strange Alliance: The Americans and DiemPart II: The War in the DeltaChapter 4: In the Field with the ARVNChapter 5: Finding an Elusive FoeChapter 6: Disaster: The Battle of Ap BacChapter 7: Collapse in the DeltaPart III: The Fall of the Diem RegimeChapter 8: The Buddhist Revolt BeginsChapter 9: The Raid on the PagodasChapter 10: A Slow Change in American PolicyChapter 11: The Saigon Press ControversyChapter 12: The Final Days of Ngo Dinh DiemChapter 13: What Should Be Done in Vietnam?Epilogue: Return to Vietnam

David Halberstam (1934–2007) was the author of 20 books, the last 14 of which have been national best-sellers. His most recent book, The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War, is about the Chinese entry into the Korean War. He was the winner of the Pulitzer Prize for his reporting in Vietnam and was a member of the elective Society of American Historians.

For all the legions of books published on the Vietnam War, none surpasses one of the earliest and most prescient—David Halberstam's The Making of a Quagmire. Halberstam's shrewd observations of the complexities of Vietnamese politics and the obstacles the U.S. faced early in achieving its goals deeply inform the entire book. A brilliant study that has lost none of its power despite the history that unfolded after its publication, Halberstam's book deserves to be read again and again.

• IntroductionPart I: Edging Toward Calamity: Vietnam in the Early 1960sChapter 1: Coming into a Troubled LandChapter 2: Latter-Day Mandarins: The Ngo FamilyChapter 3: A Strange Alliance: The Americans and DiemPart II: The War in the DeltaChapter 4: In the Field with the ARVNChapter 5: Finding an Elusive FoeChapter 6: Disaster: The Battle of Ap BacChapter 7: Collapse in the DeltaPart III: The Fall of the Diem RegimeChapter 8: The Buddhist Revolt BeginsChapter 9: The Raid on the PagodasChapter 10: A Slow Change in American PolicyChapter 11: The Saigon Press ControversyChapter 12: The Final Days of Ngo Dinh DiemChapter 13: What Should Be Done in Vietnam?Epilogue: Return to Vietnam