Regular marked price: $34.95Discount Price: $23.07
Cost Savings: $11.88 (34%)Price fluctuation possible.
How soon does it ship: Normal ship time within one day
Shipping? Absolutely FREE if you qualify for Super Saver Shipping.
Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 959
EAN num: 9781591147381
ISBN number: 1591147387
Label: Naval Institute Press
Manufacturer: Naval Institute Press
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 736
Printing Date: September 15, 2007
Publishing house: Naval Institute Press
Sale Popularity Level: 606022
Studio: Naval Institute Press
Other books you might be interested in perusing:
Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
In this landmark study, two respected scholars provide a comprehensive, balanced, and authoritative account of what happened to the nearly eight hundred Americans captured during the Vietnam War. The authors were granted unprecedented acess to previously unreleased materials and interviewed more than a hundred former POWs to meticulously reconstruct their captivity record and produce a compelling narrative of this sketchy chapter of the war. First published in 1999, some twenty-five years after the prisoners were released from Hanoi, the book remains a powerful and moving portrait of how men cope with physical and psychological ordeals under horrific conditions. Its analysis of the shifting tactics and temperaments of both captive and captor as the war evolved, skillfully weaves domestic political developments and battlefield action with prison scenes that alternate between Hanoi's concrete cells, South Vietnam's jungle stockades, and mountain camps in Laos. Details are included of dozens of cases of individual acts of bravery and resistance from such heroes as James Stockdale, Jeremiah Denton, Bud Day, and Medal of Honor recipient Donald Cook. Along with epic stories of endurance under torture, breathtaking escape attempts, and ingenious prisoner communication efforts, Honor Bound reveals Code of Conduct lapses and instances of collaboration with the enemy. This important work serves as a testament to the courage and will of Americans in captivity and as a reminder of the sometimes impossible demands made on U.S. POWs.
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers -
While as comprehensive and extraordinarily detailed as a college text, and as fully annotated, this is a great example of a 'popular' history at the top of its game. The enormous amount of (often grueling) material is nicely organized across time, place, and category, the many significant characters are well-delineated, and there is a sense of narrative flow and pretty steady momentum to this highly readable book.
Rated by buyers -
This is a excellent, outstanding and informative book, that every patriotic american should read. These men are real American Heroes, I needn"t say more.
Rated by buyers -
Definitely one of the best books I every read. It's amazing what a man will do for honor, to protect the life and dignity of another, at his own peril. There are scores of examples of this in this book. On the down side, what men bent on tyranny and oppression will do to break the will of another. However, light truly shines through darkness. If you think you have it rough, read this book.
Rated by buyers -
This is a lengthy but well written book. If you are looking for an excellent history of the POW's from the Vietnam war, this is the one to get. If you are interested in history or the human aspects of the Vietnam POW's this would be very valuable. I have read a number of books on POW's and this is by far the best of the lot.
Rated by buyers 
-
This observer has followed the POW situation since 1972, when he was still on active duty. He is familiar with many POW memoirs, so the men in Messer's. Kiley and Rochester's voluminous work are no strangers. Most of the prominent POWs are well known to many and they are certainly all here: Ernest Brace, Robinson Risner, James Stockdale, Jeremiah Denton, Frank Anton and Everett Alvarez-plus many more. If this reviewer had to choose a favorite memoir, it would be Anton's "Why Didn't You Get Me Out?" Honorable mention certainly goes to "A Code to Keep" by Mr. Brace. HB goes into far deeper detail than do individual stories, yet necessarily lacks the personal touch folks like those two gentlemen provide. Those in the amazon community who have read no POW tales and are satisfied with one big picture have the perfect book in HB. The back cover noted that HB "combines rigorous scholarly analysis with moving narrative". That it certainly does, in fullest detail. All the torture, all the mind games, all the coming and going and transfers, all the gripping boredom and fear, all the gruesome details of prison life are here. It will be clear that the POWs were anything but one big happy family. Disagreements abounded, especially that nebulous subject regarding compliance with the Code of Conduct. Some favored active resistance, some a "cooperate-graduate" approach. The authors also do an excellent choreographing of the release of the Spring of 1973. They were not repatriated on one fleet of C-141s but came home in stages. We learn that a handful of guys were released through Saigon and 2 through Hong Kong (!). There are some caveats attached to this review: HB cannot be skim read. It demands attention and a substantial investment of time upfront. Casual readers are in the wrong place! They won't appreciate the 88 pages of appendices and notes/footnotes. HB also concentrates on prisoners held in the major North Vietnam detention centers. The missing in Cambodia, Laos and even China are outside the scope of HB. But HB is also silent on the fate of the discrepancy cases of those lost in the 4 countries. One hopes that the authors, writing a book that admits to being "an official publication of the Department of Defense", are not attempting a "Case Closed" on the 1,783 still unaccounted for. This observer will give the authors the benefit of the doubt here. Still. FAR more disturbing is a gratuitous remark on Page 589 that those who continue to press for a fullest accounting of the missing are "a swarm of polemicists and opportunists". This reviewer is one of them! He belongs to neither of those species! Since it is most likely that no offense was intended, none is taken but that comment demands an explanation! It certainly merits an unfortunate reduction in rank to 4 stars. That there even is a page 589 is the essence of HB. This one is not for those with a passing fancy on the Indochina War. A final note: There is a new, voluminous publication available on amazon-"An Enormous Crime". That particular 566 page volume-in small type no less-claims to be the "definitive account of American POWs abandoned in Southeast Asia". The different scope of EC should encompass what HB did not. Maybe these 1,000+ combined pages of text will shed a final light on the thorny question of POWs/MIAs in Indochina. Congressman King (R-NY) is also attempting to convene new hearings on the same subject. This painful matter will be with us for a while. The bottom line to "Honor Bound" is the headline above. This is indeed a great work of military scholarship and for that the authors deserve their due.
Find other books like this one:
