The Blood Road: The Ho Chi Minh Trail and the Vietnam War

Precisely what I anticipated. Very pleased with transaction.

If you were alive in the 1960s and know nothing about the real vietnam war, then you need to read this book so the other children of your generation don't think you are completely unread and stupid. READ this book!

If you want to understand the trail strategy employed by the NVA and the Viet Cong, with direct support from Cambodian, Laotian, Chinese and Russian leaders to frustrate the USA political and military machine then be prepared to spend a lot of time reading and re-reading many chapters in "The Blood Road".I used Google Earth, white boards, reams of paper and maps to sketch the terrain, tracks, roads,highways,motorways and waterways.Reading "The Blood Road" made me re-assess my opinion of the USA Political and military leadership. Too many lives were lost by the decisions and orders of Arm Chair politicians and Absentee Military Commanders.I would like to write more but then you will not have the same joy I had in reading and analyzing the detail in "The Blood trail".

A great history about the Trail. It seems that the only way to have shut down the Trail would have required a large invasion utilizing conventional American and South Vietnamese military forces. Take it and keep it. It would have been a gamble to hope the Soviet Union and China would not intervene but by this time those two nations were antagonistic towards each other. There is no way all those American deaths should have been allowed to be wasted.

The title, The Blood Road: The Ho Chi Minh Trail and the Vietnam War, makes you think this will only be about the Trail. In a sense, it is. As author John Prados demonstrates, you cannot discuss the Vietnam War without discussing the Trail. It was the beginning, middle and end of the war. Every decision made by the US, Vietnam, China, Laos and Russia either impacted on the Trail or was impacted by the Trail. He who wins the battle of logistics will win the war.It is absolutely mind boggling how the US could spend so much time, energy, money and lives on bombing the Trail and yet still fail to stop the supplies from going south. Indeed, with every passing year, the Trail grew in length and load capacity. It went from being a path hacked out of the jungle just wide enough for a bike and person pushing the bike to a multi-lane paved highway. The geography is mountainous, swampy, subject to monsoons, poisonous critters of all shapes and sizes. As many North Vietnamese died from exposure, disease and starvation as they did from US bombs.Prados shows that contrary to popular myth, the US tried to stop the Trail from our earliest involvement in Vietnam to the bitter end. Dien Bien Phu (French loss), the Siege of Khe Sanh and many Special Forces operations all centered on the Ho Chi Minh Trail. We tried bombing, Special Forces (they were in Laos), CIA, technology. He takes you step by step on what the politicians on both sides said, did, and why. This book shows the thinking and analysis of the CIA, military, hawks in the US government. Many, including LBJ, accurately predicted what would happen.I've read a lot about Vietnam, trying to understand what happened there any why. This is by far the best book for me because the author puts you in the mind of the decision makers in the context of that time. Prados points out that there is plenty of blame to share. The results of Vietnam were not for a lack of heroism, effort or thought on our part. And that the US did not loose the war so much as North Vietnam won it. There is a difference. To read this book helps understand that difference.This is very serious, in depth reading. I think this book is essential to try to understand the full realm of the Vietnam War from all sides - victors, losers, and politicians, military. Kudos' to author John Prados, this is thought provoking, revealing and insightful reading, highly recommended.

This is a well-written, easily readable, comprehensive resource on the founding and development of the Ho Chi Minh Trail. I learned much about what we faced and appreciated being able to track the history of several units we encountered as they entered South Vietnam and moved to their assigned areas of operation. This book was very informative. It includes extensive notes, photographs, and a thorough index.

This is a good read. You need to read it when you can concentrate on what is going on because there are so many things happening at the same time. I was in Vietnam and realize now how much I didn't know about what was going on. I know that hindsight is better than foresight. It helps to have read a couple of the histories of the war beforehand to understand the politics of it.

For Vietnam War researchers, this is an excellent detailed reference source, not not only on the trail development, but the political history of the war. I seem to use mine constantly. My knowledge of Ho Chi Minh Trail history is limited, therefore, I must trust outside sources. The book provides end note source information but no separate bibliography, to reduce costs.