Book Review: Number One Realist: Bernard Fall and Vietnamese Revolutionary Warfare

Authors

John A. Nagl

Files

Description

Author: Nathaniel L. Moir

Reviewed by John A. Nagl, professor of warfighting studies, US Army War College

Counterinsurgency expert John A. Nagl reviews the “long-overdue” biography of the American political scientist Bernard Fall who, as Nagl writes, was “always a couple years ahead of informed US public opinion” about the Vietnam War. Author Nathaniel L. Moir’s experience as an Afghanistan War veteran informs this examination of one of the most “contentious” topics in American history, and the intersection here of Dr. Nagl’s, Moir’s, and Fall’s expertise provides powerful insights about the persistent question of how best to approach counterinsurgency.

Publication Date

12-20-2023

Keywords

Vietnam War, counterinsurgency, France, J. William Fulbright, Afghanistan

Disciplines

Defense and Security Studies

Recommended Citation

John A. Nagl, Book Review: Number One Realist: Bernard Fall and Vietnamese Revolutionary Warfare ( US Army War College Press, 2023),
https://press.armywarcollege.edu/parameters_bookshelf/31