Mark Bowden tells the story of Hue not only from the perspective of the American Marines and the ARVN but also from the perspective of the NVA and Viet Cong survivors. As word started getting out about the assault on Hue and reporters began dispatching stories, it became apparent that, for a battle that didn’t exist, it was producing way too many American body bags. It was precarious politically for Westmoreland to even admit there was a problem. Intelligence had alerted General William Westmoreland that there were enemy troops massing for an attack against Khe Sanh so even when reports started filtering back to him that the Marines at Hue were in the middle of a shit storm, he just simply wouldn’t believe it. The way the NVA and Viet Cong were able to move thousands of troops through Southern Vietnam and lead a coordinated attack against major South Vietnamese targets was baffling. The Tet Offensive took the Americans completely by surprise. And never again would Americans fully trust their leaders.” When it was over, debate concerning the war in the United States was never again about winning, only about how to leave. The Battle of Hue would be the bloodiest of the Vietnam War, and a turning point not just in the conflict, but in American history. ”It would require twenty-four days of terrible fighting to take the city back. Hue 1968 is a gripping and moving account of this pivotal moment. When it ended, the American debate was never again about winning, only about how to leave. Played out over 24 days and ultimately costing 10,000 lives, the Battle of Hue was by far the bloodiest of the entire war. and Vietnam and interviews with participants from both sides, Bowden narrates each stage of this crucial battle through multiple viewpoints. With unprecedented access to war archives in the U.S. After several futile and deadly days, Lieutenant Colonel Ernie Cheatham would finally come up with a strategy to retake the city, block by block and building by building, in some of the most intense urban combat since World War II.

American commanders refused to believe the size and scope of the Front’s presence, ordering small companies of marines against thousands of entrenched enemy troops. Within hours the entire city was in their hands save for two small military outposts.

The lynchpin of Tet was the capture of Hue, Vietnam’s intellectual and cultural capital, by 10,000 National Liberation Front troops who descended from hidden camps and surged across the city of 140,000. In the early hours of January 31, 1968, the North Vietnamese launched over one hundred attacks across South Vietnam in what would become known as the Tet Offensive. The first battle book from Mark Bowden since his #1 New York Times bestseller Black Hawk Down, Hue 1968 is the story of the centerpiece of the Tet Offensive and a turning point in the American War in Vietnam. full of emotion and color.”-Karl Marlantes, Wall Street Journal

Huế 1968 by Mark Bowden