Thompson Werk

Normally I do not discuss the new books I acquire.  However, considering my interest in the Vietnam War, and in particular Australian involvement, I am a little eager to list the works I have obtained in hopes of receiving suggestions for future purchases.  The new acquisitions are an assortment of general histories and more focused works.

Michael K. Cecil, Mud and Dust: Australian Army Vehicles and Artillery in Vietnam (Sydney: New Holland Publishers, 2009) – despite being an overview of the vehicles used by the Australians in Vietnam, it does provide basic information necessary in differentiating and understanding the role of the Australian Army in Vietnam.  Plus, I love pictures.

Jeff Doyle, Jeffrey Grey, and Peter Pierce, Australia’s Vietnam War (College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2002) – a collection of essays covering many facets of Australia’s military in Vietnam as well as home front controversies.  Of interest to me is how the war impacted Australia.  Should be interesting to see any parallels to America’s memory of the war.

Jeffrey Grey, The Australian Army (Melbourne, Oxford University Press, 2001) – a history of the Australian Army from its conception until the year 2000.  A solid foundational work that will serve to bring me up to speed.

John Prados, Vietnam: The History of an Unwinnable War, 1945-1975 (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2009) – purported as the response to Mark Moyer’s controversial Triumph Forsaken, this tome is also the most recent all encompassing history of the war in Vietnam.  Having enjoyed Moyer’s work, I am anxious to see how Prados transforms current Vietnam War discourse.