The Battle for Saigon

Keith W. Nolan's account of the bloody three month battle for Saigon has been compiled from an incomparable amount of research and knowledge borne of twenty years of research. In this book he charts the battle from its beginning on New Year's Eve 1968 to its finale in March when the Viet Cong and NVA withdrew from the vast sprawling battle field that had left few people, both civilians and those in uniform, without combat experience. Nolan's detailed account brings to life the fighting that started when the fireworks of Saigon's New Year celebrations were replaced by the explosions of Viet Cong rockets, mortar bombs and satchel bombs. From that point on, every political and military target in the city from the presidential palace and the US embassy to the American headquaters at Long Binh and the vast airbases at Bien Hoa and Tan Son Nhut came under intense attack from well-trained and well-equipped Viet Cong forces. The Tet Offensive resulted in a massive battlefield defeat for the North Vietnamese, but it also marked the beginning of the end for the American war in Vietnam, a process which took a further six years to complete.