The Lowdown: A Short History of the Origins of the Vietnam War (audiobook) by Dr. David Anderson

Delivers what it promises

Published by Creative Content Ltd in 2011.
Narrated by Lorelei King
Duration: 1 hour, 20 minutes

Creative Content has a whole series of short audiobooks and kindle books in its "The Lowdown" series. The main feature of the series is that they are short (a little more than an hour or about 35 "pages" on the Kindle) and give the reader a quick look at a topic.

In this case, the topic is the origin of the Vietnam War. Note, this is not a history of the entire war, but if you ever wondered just how the United States got involved in the Vietnam War, this nifty little history will do the job just fine.

President Lyndon Johnson signs the
Tonkin Gulf Resolution in August of 1964

Anderson roots his history in the aftermath of World War II. There are two major factors at play. The first is the desire of the French to re-establish their pre-war colonial empire and re-assert themselves as a major player on the world scene despite their being conquered by the Germans at the beginning of  World War II. The second factor is America's determination to contain Soviet Communism. Anderson traces these two movements and demonstrates that they led to a collision with Ho Chi Minh's anti-colonial communist movement in Vietnam. He follows them through the Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy and Johnson administrations. He ends with the Tonkin Gulf Resolution that was widely interpreted to give Johnson permission to act in Vietnam as he saw fit.

This is an easy to digest history. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to know a little more about the Vietnam War or for use in any class that is looking for a relatively short reading (or listen) in a 20th Century American history class. The audiobook version is read by Lorelei King. King's reading is well done. She reads at the perfect pace - not so fast that you cannot absorb the new facts that she is presenting, not so slowly the listener's attention starts to lag. Nothing less than I would expect from a true audiobook pro.

Link to this audiobook at Amazon.com: The Lowdown: A Short History of the Vietnam War.

I rate this history 5 stars out of 5.

Reviewed on July 13, 2012.