About this title: A mammoth study of the Kennedy intellectuals--Bundy, McNamara, et. al.--and their role in policy-making during the Vietnam War. These "best and brightest" came from the finest schools, and had backgrounds in government and power, yet the flaws and ultimate failure of their leadership changed America and brought darkness to Camelot.
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Description: Acceptable. Shows definite wear, and perhaps considerable marking on inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Acceptable. Shows definite wear, and perhaps considerable marking on inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Random House Inc., New York
Date Published: 1972
ISBN-13:9780394461632ISBN:0394461630
Description: A good reading copy only. Dust Jacket may have chips and close tears. Book has tanning or browning due to normal aging process. -, Hard Cover, Good / Good. read more
Description: Good. 1983-Paperback---Used-Good. Hall Street Books proudly ships from Brooklyn, NY. All orders are processed and shipped within 24 hours, M-F. 100% money back No-Worry guarantee with expedited delivery and delivery confirmation available. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Fawcett Crest
Date Published: 1973
Description: Acceptable. Well used. Still readable but not for the collector. All orders processed within 2 business days. Ships from Foxboro MA. read more
Edition: Fawcett Crest Books. Reprint Edition
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Fawcett Publications, Greenwich: November
Date Published: 1973
Description: Softcover. Very good reading copy. Slight tear to front cover at the top of the spine. "The most readable, most comprehensive saga of how America became involved in Vietnam. " Boston Globe. Includes an Index. read more
"Great book on how we got into Vietnam and JFK's election and how he chose his team...it is a long read...I really enjoyed it, but I am enamored with JFK."
"One of the things that strikes me most about this book is how Halberstam rarely questions intentions. He writes off people going against their better judgment as careerism and the 'how it's done' of Washington. You don't come away from The Best and The Brightest thinking these men DID wrong... just that they WERE wrong."
"Spoiler: My favorite passage is a scene in which a presidential avisor, dispatched to Vietnam meets with a buddhist monk, and endeavors to work with him to resolve the problem of the monks immolating themselves.
After some conversation he mentions to the monk that he feels they've made progress, and that they're working on parallel tracks. Realizing that the idiom might not translate well, he asks the monk whether he was acquainted with the idea. The Monk agrees and replies that oh, yes. Parallel tracks: It means their minds can *never* meet...."
"Can't remember why I wanted to read this; I might have confused it with A Bright, Shining Lie--two books about Vietnam that have Bright in the title. It's 678 small-print pages; I thought I'd be reading it for months, yet it's compelling. It's largely character driven, and if you're not familiar with the characters, you'll be at something of a loss. I also sensed a smugness on the part of the author that put me off some. The tone is a little odd, yet I could never figure out why I thought that. . . . Halberstam follows our involvement in Vietnam with almost flowchart detail, and at each branching of the chart, he shows why the path that was chosen was the wrong path. You read it and think, Haven't our leaders read this book? Why are we/they condemned to make the same mistakes over and over? . . . It bogged down more than halfway through. But I finished it! Robert McNamara comes off as unconscionably self-involved. I don't want to be so trite as to call him evil, but he sure was close. Bobby Kennedy was a saint. Lyndon Johnson is portrayed as a train wreck. As insecure as he was tall and in far, far over his head. Halberstam has nary a good word to say about him. So many, many other characters, and I had trouble keeping them all straight."
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