I think that this is one of the best coffee table books out there and certainly a must have for alumni. The book includes not only an interesting history of the university and its transformation over its long history, but also some of the most beautiful pictures of the campus that I've seen. Any alumnus would enjoy revisiting Princeton and seeing her in a new light through this book.

I don't know hardly anything about the politics of Koreas but recent North Korean crisis motivated me to read this book and find out more about what is going on. The book is not boring, it is very interesting. What amazed me was the amount of manipulation, planning, deception that is involved in the world of politics. And what amazed me even more was when I realized that this is the way the world politics works. I didn't realized that we were at a brink of a nuclear event in the mid 1990's when I was happily pursuing my goals. I guess sometimes, ignorance is bliss! This book is written by a newspaper columnist and is his understanding of what has happened in the Korean peninsula while he was covering the political events. It is easy to read and understand unlike some of the other political science book. I would recommend this book to anybody who has any interest in politics, especially regarding the two Koreas. I would have given it 5 stars but I was dissappointed with the concluding chapter of the book.

If you ever wanted to get inside North Korea, then this book provides excellent insight and a revealing study of that totalitarian regime. After reading this informative book you'll know why North Korea is probably the most dangerous threat to world peace. ...

I bought this book based on my satisfaction with Oberdorfer's outstanding book, TET, which I read many years ago.

THE TWO KOREAS is mainly a political history of the two Koreas since 1972. He begins with a broad and basic overview of Korea's history, and the absurd way in which the country came to be partitioned at the end of WWII. The main story line begins in 1972, with the origins of communications between the two Koreas, and continues up through 1996.

Although the focus is political developments in the conflict between the two Koreas, economic and social elements are added to contrast their respective development over time. The word that comes to mind when contemplating North Korea is "bizarre".

The most interesting theme is on North Koreas' drift to aquiring nuclear weapons, and the factors that prompted it. Interestingly, South Korea had pursued the development of nuclear weapons in the 1970's, but that effort was stopped by the United States. Later, North Korea began nuclear development which lead to the situation we find ourselves in today (2002), with North Korea admitting it has nuclear weapons.

Readable, relevant, interesting, and insightful, this is an excellent start to understanding how the two Koreas came to be, and while the story ends with 1996, it isn't difficult to understand how North Korea eventually came to have nuclear weapons.

Those looking for scholarly analysis and major footnotes will not find them. However, the book does have fascinating accounts of the major player's actions and thinking, and first person sources that only a journalist will have. Those sources add personal insight and current perspective to the issues discussed.

This book is well worth the money and effort.

This book is waaaay to detailed. If you want to know all kinds of facts that really have nothing to do with the battle, like what every politician was thinking, what every correspondent was reporting and all kinds of other side facts, this book is for you. It begins with no real history or set up and concentrates on the embassy in Ho Chi Mihn City like that's the center of it. No way. I enjoy history, but why does almost every historical book I read have to be an epic bogged down by minutia. Give me a really strong overview with only the essential facts, and if I want to know every detail I will pursue further books. I have so many books like this I can't finish, and I'm a patient reader. That's it!

Contrary to the previous reviewer, I think Oberdorfer tackled the Tet subject comprehensively and covered all bases in explaining the turning point of the Vietnam conflict.
Oberdorfer begins the book by fully explaining what really happened at the American Embassy that fateful January night in 1968. Although most Americans today believe the Embassy was 'overrun,' Oberdorfer explains the true story of a platoon of Viet Cong blasting a hole in the wall to enter the compound but never being able to enter the Chancery building. I believe the reason Oberdorfer starts his book off with the subject is to dispel the 'overrun' myth of VC running through the building capturing documents and, even though it was a minor military skirmish compared to the street-by-street fighting in Hue and siege at Khe Sanh, the American Embassy attack was the paramount event which woke America up to what was happening in SE Asia.

Also, the previous reviewer complains the book focuses too much on the politics and media coverage of Tet, not realizing Oberdorfer's main point of the book is that Tet might have been won on the battlefield, but it was an epic defeat on American televisions and in world newspapers. The Tet offensive's primary aim was to cause political upheaval in America to give the Communists a victory exactly like what defeated the French a decade earlier. In a 1947 tract by Hanoi called "The Resistance Will Win", it states "...as a result of the long war the enemy troops become weary and discouraged, and are tormented by home-sickness. The French economy and finances are exhausted; supplying the army is difficult, the French people do not want the war to go on any longer. The movement against the diehards in France goes stronger and more fierce. World opinion severely condemns France...world movement for peace and democracy scores great successes, etc. ...

Subtract France from the quote and insert the US and there is the political reasoning for starting the General Offensive. Also, Tet not only caused US and ARVN troop casualties, but it ended a presidential administration and forever changed how the news is presented to the American public by the media. A study of Tet not involving the White House, LBJ, McNamara, Clifford, or for that matter Cronkite, the Wall Street Journal and Time, would be like reading about the light bulb and failing to mention Edison.

Oberdorfer's does a great job balancing his information by devoting whole chapters to subjects like the history of Vietnam, pre-Tet America, the shockwave that hit the US after the attack, the 'shot seen around the world' of the Saigon police chief shooting a VC prisoner on the street, the military disaster of Tet to the Viet Cong ranks, the battle of Hue and a section on one of the most decisive months in US history - March 1968.

My only gripe is that the book was first written in 1971, which interestingly gives the reader an unusual perspective as the war was still going on, but is begging for a complete Afterword section to fill in the gaps as more information on the North is now available. BTW, there is a great Chronology at the end of the book which makes it easy to follow the play-by-play and would be a student's dream in helping research information.

Gives the reader a good idea of how the Tet offensive changed the course of the Vietnam War. Gives good descriptive accounts of the battle at the U.S. embassy and Hue. This is a must book for those who want to know more about the Vietnam War.