The Elephant and the Tiger: The Full Story of the Vietnam War

"If the tiger ever stands still, the elephant will crush him with his mighty tusks. But the tiger will not stand still. He will leap upon the back of the elephant, tearing huge chunks from his side, and then he will leap back into the dark jungle. And slowly the elephant will bleed to death. Such will be the war in Indochina."--Ho Chi Minh

The Elephant and the Tiger (originally published in 1990 by Hippocrene Books), is a thorough and thought-provoking history of the Vietnam War. It chronicles the events from Dec. 13, 1954, the date when the US first signed a formal agreement with France to assume more responsibility for equipping and training the South Vietnamese armed forces, until 1975 when South Vietnam's army was swept aside by the North Vietnamese Army and the last Americans were forced to flee the country in defeat.