Deze auteur staat bekend om zijn scherpe analyse van militaire geschiedenis, met name de campagnes van de Vietnamoorlog. Zijn kenmerkende benadering combineert meesterlijk diepgaande interviews met strijdende partijen en nauwgezet onderzoek van officiële documenten. Dit, in combinatie met een vlotte schrijfstijl, resulteerde in enkele van de meest vooraanstaande werken over de militaire geschiedenis van de Vietnamoorlog. Zijn geschriften bieden lezers een authentiek en gedetailleerd perspectief op deze gebeurtenissen.
The book offers a gripping soldier's perspective on the 1970 springtime campaigns of the U.S. Army in South Vietnam, focusing on operations near the Cambodia border. Through detailed battlefield accounts, it captures the intensity and challenges faced by soldiers, providing an immersive experience of the realities of war. The narrative emphasizes personal stories and experiences, shedding light on the human aspects of military engagements during this tumultuous period in history.
On April 10, 1970, Hill 927 was occupied by troopers of the Screaming Eagles of the 101st Airborne Division. By July, the activities of the artillery and infantry of Ripcord had caught the attention of the NVA (North Vietnamese Army) and a long and deadly siege ensued. Ripcord was the Screaming Eagles’ last chance to do significant damage to the NVA in the A Shau Valley before the division was withdrawn from Vietnam and returned to the United States.At Ripcord, the enemy counterattacked with ferocity, using mortar and antiaircraft fire to inflict heavy causalities on the units operating there. The battle lasted four and a half months and exemplified the ultimate frustration of the Vietnam War: the inability of the American military to bring to bear its enormous resources to win on the battlefield. In the end, the 101st evacuated Ripcord, leaving the NVA in control of the battlefield. Contrary to the mantra “We won every battle but lost the war,” the United States was defeated at Ripcord. Now, at last, the full story of this terrible battle can be told.
On April 29, 1968, the North Vietnamese Army is spotted less than four miles from the U.S. Marines’ Dong Ha Combat Base. Intense fighting develops in nearby Dai Do as the 2d Battalion, 4th Marines, known as “the Magnificent Bastards,” struggles to eject NVA forces from this strategic position. Yet the BLT 2/4 Marines defy the brutal onslaught. Pressing forward, America’s finest warriors rout the NVA from their fortress-hamlets–often in deadly hand-to-hand combat. At the end of two weeks of desperate, grinding battles, the Marines and the infantry battalion supporting them are torn to shreds. But against all odds, they beat back their savage adversary. The Magnificent Bastards captures that gripping conflict in all its horror, hell, and heroism. “Superb . . . among the best writing on the Vietnam War . . . Nolan has skillfully woven operational records and oral history into a fascinating narrative that puts the reader in the thick of the action.” –Jon T. Hoffman, author of Chesty “Real and gripping . . . combat with all the warts on.” –Lieutenant General Victor H. Krulak, USMC (Ret.)
