Overview

ONE OF THE MOST ACCLAIMED BOOKS OF OUR TIME 25th ANNIVERSARY EDITION When he came to Vietnam in 1962, Lieutenant Colonel John Paul Vann was the one clear-sighted participant in an enterpirse riddled with arrogance and self-deception, a charismatic soldier who put his life and career on the line in an attempt to convince his superiors that the war should be fought another way. By the time he died in 1972, Vann had embraced the follies he once decired. He died believing that the war had been won. In this magisterial book, a monument of history and biography that was awarded the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize for Nonfiction, a renowned journalist tells the story of John Vann-- the one irreplaceable American in Vietnam --and of the tragedy that destroyed a country and squandered so much of America's young manhood and resources.

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9780679643616

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Reviews

If there is one book that captures the Vietnam war in the sheer Homeric scale of its passion and folly, this is it. --The New York Times Book Review <p> From the Trade Paperback edition.

<b>Praise for</b> <i>A Bright Shining Lie</i> <b>WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD AND THE PULITZER PRIZE</b> Dazzling . . . vividly written and deeply felt, with a power that comes from long reflection and strong emotions. <b><i> </i></b>The New York Times Book Review Masterly . . . a compelling, graphic and deeply sensitive biography [and] one of the few brilliant histories of the American entanglement in Vietnam . . . Sheehan's skillful weaving of anecdote and history, of personal memoir and psychological profile, [gives] the book the sense of having been written by a novelist, journalist and scholar all rolled into one. <b><i> </i></b>The New York Times If there is one book that captures the Vietnam war in the sheer Homeric scale of its passion and folly, this book is it. Neil Sheehan orchestrates a great fugue evoking all the elements of the war. <b><i> </i></b>The New York Times Book Review A brilliant work of enormous substance and ambition. In telling one man's story [<i>A Bright Shining Lie</i>] sets out to define the fatal contradictions that lost America the war in Vietnam. It belongs to the same order of merit as <i>Dispatches</i>, <i>The Best and the Brightest</i> and <i>Fire in the Lake</i>. <b><i> </i></b> The Washington Post Book World[<i>A Bright Shining Lie</i>] is more than a biography. It is also a compelling and clear history of U.S. involvement in Vietnam. Mr. Sheehan's book . . . is the best answer to any American who asks: 'How could this have happened?' <b><i> </i></b>The Wall Street Journal Enormous power . . . full of great accomplishments . . . Sheehan has written . . . the best book ever about Vietnam. <b><i> </i></b>Newsweek One of the milestones in the literature about the war. <b><i> The Christian Science Monitor</i></b>

Praise for A Bright Shining Lie <br><br>WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD AND THE PULITZER PRIZE<br><br> Dazzling . . . vividly written and deeply felt, with a power that comes from long reflection and strong emotions. <br> - The New York Times Book Review<br><br> Masterly . . . a compelling, graphic and deeply sensitive biography [and] one of the few brilliant histories of the American entanglement in Vietnam . . . Sheehan's skillful weaving of anecdote and history, of personal memoir and psychological profile, [gives] the book the sense of having been written by a novelist, journalist and scholar all rolled into one. <br> - <br>The New York Times<br> If there is one book that captures the Vietnam war in the sheer Homeric scale of its passion and folly, this book is it. Neil Sheehan orchestrates a great fugue evoking all the elements of the war. <br> - <br>The New York Times Book Review<br> A brilliant work of enormous substance and ambition. In telling one man's story [ A Bright Shining Lie ] sets out to define the fatal contradictions that lost America the war in Vietnam. It belongs to the same order of merit as Dispatches , The Best and the Brightest and Fire in the Lake . <br> - <br><br> The Washington Post Book World[ A Bright Shining Lie ] is more than a biography. It is also a compelling and clear history of U.S. involvement in Vietnam. Mr. Sheehan's book . . . is the best answer to any American who asks: 'How could this have happened?' <br> - <br>The Wall Street Journal<br> Enormous power . . . full of great accomplishments . . . Sheehan has written . . . the best book ever about Vietnam. <br> - Newsweek<br><br> One of the milestones in the literature about the war. <br> -The Christian Science Monitor

Praise for A Bright Shining Lie WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD AND THE PULITZER PRIZE Dazzling . . . vividly written and deeply felt, with a power that comes from long reflection and strong emotions. - The New York Times Book Review Masterly . . . a compelling, graphic and deeply sensitive biography [and] one of the few brilliant histories of the American entanglement in Vietnam . . . Sheehan's skillful weaving of anecdote and history, of personal memoir and psychological profile, [gives] the book the sense of having been written by a novelist, journalist and scholar all rolled into one. - The New York Times If there is one book that captures the Vietnam war in the sheer Homeric scale of its passion and folly, this book is it. Neil Sheehan orchestrates a great fugue evoking all the elements of the war. - The New York Times Book Review A brilliant work of enormous substance and ambition. In telling one man's story [ A Bright Shining Lie ] sets out to define the fatal contradictions that lost America the war in Vietnam. It belongs to the same order of merit as Dispatches , The Best and the Brightest and Fire in the Lake . - The Washington Post Book World[ A Bright Shining Lie ] is more than a biography. It is also a compelling and clear history of U.S. involvement in Vietnam. Mr. Sheehan's book . . . is the best answer to any American who asks: 'How could this have happened?' - The Wall Street Journal Enormous power . . . full of great accomplishments . . . Sheehan has written . . . the best book ever about Vietnam. - Newsweek One of the milestones in the literature about the war. -The Christian Science Monitor

Author Information

Neil Sheehan is the author of A Fiery Peace in a Cold War. He spent three years in Vietnam as a war correspondent for United Press International and The New York Times and won numerous awards for his reporting. In 1971 he obtained the Pentagon Papers, which brought the Times the Pulitzer Prize Gold Medal for meritorious public service. Sheehan lives in Washington, D.C. He is married to the writer Susan Sheehan.

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