It must have been very difficult finding information on Ellis, but the authors focused more on his drunken exploits rather than his impact on the Marine Corps. I would recommend this book to any Marine or interested civilian who wants to learn more about the legendary Marine Officer. This book may dispel some of the myths about Ellis and his suspicious disappearance.

This is not really a "Complete Idiot's Guide". It's true that the grand picture is important, you have to know the settings, the histories, people's reactions, and the struggles of political forces, but how can it be a beginner's "Guide" to Vietnam War if the military aspects are not covered adequately?

Having gained an interest in the war nobody seems willing to discuss, I started reading about the Vietnam war about a year ago. During this time I've read some pretty heavy books and some very moving personal accounts, yet found it difficult to recieve an overall picture of the war. This book does a great job of giving that background story and very general sort of history from which to build on. I must admit that I find the comments that the book may not be entirely accurate somewhat unsettling, but I still think that the book has great value. In High School and even college I recieved virtually no instruction on the Vietnam war, and having to start from scratch I found this book very valuable. In the end, it may not be the definative history of the Vietnam war, but if you take it for what it is it doesn't have to be.

This isn't a book that Henry Kissinger needs to read. It's a book for those of us who feel like we don't know what happened during the Vietnam era and who want to be able to converse halfway intelligently about it.

I did not find the approach bizarre at all. The section on Indonesia, for example, was one of the book's best parts in that it attempted to show the the US's view of Vietnam involvement was based upon its (America's) experience with Indonesia. This section compared Indonesia and Vietnam in a variety of ways in order to show that American involvement in Vietnam, while ultimately disastrous, may have been partly motivated by our hope that events would unfold the same way there as they had in Indonesia.