Film/TV

The Vietnam War

Ken Burns, Lynn Novick

2017

Associated Ideas, People, and Places

Q&A

Making History Safe Again: What Ken Burns Gets Wrong About Vietnam

Vietnam was not a "tragic misunderstanding" but a campaign of "imperial aggression."

by Christian G. Appy, Patrick Lawrence via Salon on October 15, 2017
TV Review

‘The Vietnam War’: Past All Reason

The new series by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick is mesmerizing. But it doesn’t answer key questions about the Vietnam War.

by Andrew J. Bacevich via The Nation on September 19, 2017
Film Review

The Insidious Ideology of Ken Burns’s The Vietnam War

Burns and co-director Lynn Novick take a "many sides" approach to history at a time when "many sides" is a tool of obfuscation.

by Alex Shepard via The New Republic on September 19, 2017
Film Review

Episode-by-Episode Reviews: "The Vietnam War"

Watching Ken Burns' latest epic with a historian who has written extensively about the war.

by Christian G. Appy via Process: A Blog for American History on September 18, 2017
Film Review

Burns and Novick, Masters of False Balancing

In promoting healing instead of a search for truth, “The Vietnam War” offers misleading comforts.

by Jerry Lembcke via Public Books on September 15, 2017
Q&A

Ken Burns' New Documentary Exposes the Emotion Behind the Vietnam War

An interview with the filmmakers.

by Ken Burns, Lynn Novick, Ryan Bort via Newsweek on September 2, 2017

Viewing 1—5 of 5

The April 1966 cover of “Ramparts," featuring a caricature of Madame Nhu dressed as a Michigan State University cheerleader

The University That Launched a CIA Front Operation in Vietnam

A Vietnamese politician and an American academic led Michigan State University into a nation-building experiment and pulled America deeper into war.

by Eric Scigliano via Politico Magazine on March 25, 2018

Soldiers exiting a helicopter in Vietnam, 1966.

Why Americans Still Can’t Move Past Vietnam

Not only can we not shake the memories of Vietnam, but they still shape our foreign policy debates.

by David Kieran via Made by History on October 10, 2017

The Ken Burns Vietnam War Documentary Glosses Over Devastating Civilian Toll

The PBS series by Burns focuses on soldiers' stories, with scant attention to the immense number of Vietnamese civilians who suffered and died.

by Nick Turse via The Intercept on September 28, 2017

The Vietnam War Transcript Trump Needs to Read

The PBS documentary on America’s most futile conflict is missing one explosive document. Every president should absorb its chilling lessons.

by Jeff Greenfield via Politico Magazine on September 27, 2017

Ken Burns's American Canon

Even in a fractious era, the filmmaker still believes that his documentaries can bring every viewer in.

by Ian Parker via The New Yorker on September 4, 2017

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