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This review is from: Window on a War: An Anthropologist in the Vietnam Conflict (ADST-DACOR Diplomats and Diplomacy and the Modern Southeast Asia) (Hardcover)

"Window on a War" is the autobiography of anthropologist Gerald C. Hickey and his work in Vietnam, especially among the Montagnards, from 1956-1973. Hickey is probably the preminent world expert on the Montagnards, the peoples of the Central Highlands of Vietnam.

Hickey devotes most of the book to his impressions of Vietnam, its people, and what went wrong with the American war effort there. His advice on how to win "hearts and minds" among the Vietnamese farmers and Montagnards was mostly ignored. Would it have made a difference if he been heeded? Hard to say, but his observations ring true. One of the most startling assertions he makes is that the American government sought a military victory from the beginning of the conflict and blocked efforts of Vietnamese nationalists to reach a typical Vietnamese solution of accomodation. The assassination of President Ngo Dinh Diem in 1963, in Hickey's view, made continued civil war certain. Robert MacNamara wanted it that way, he asserts. Hickey, however, was no simple-minded war protester, but rather a patriot who observed more in sorrow than in anger the failure of the American effort to prevent a communist takeover of South Vietnam.

Hickey throws darts at a number of people in the course of the book, including iconic figures like Daniel Ellsberg and John Paul Vann. That keeps the book interesting. He writes eloquently about his own experiences under fire, especially the communist attack on the outpost at Nam Dong in 1964. This is as good a piece of war reporting as you will find anywhere.

Hickey briefly describes what has happened in Vietnam since his departure in 1973, especially the plight of the Montagnards. He also describes being ostracized by his alma mater, the University of Chicago, because he worked for the RAND Corporation, a Defense contractor, in Vietnam. This is a thoughtful and provocative book that should be read by all those who go to war or plan to go to war. Winning often has little to do with military victories.

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