부산대학교 도서관

"Unwilling to Quit: The Long Unwinding of American Involvement in Vietnam" by David L. Prentice is a monograph that focuses on the 1969-1970 period of the Vietnam War. The book highlights the influence of Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird on Richard M. Nixon's approach to the war, particularly his strategy of troop withdrawal known as "Vietnamization." Laird's commitment to de-Americanizing the war prevailed over National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger's preference for coercive threats. The book also explores the perspective of South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu, who supported Vietnamization and believed that American troop reductions could prevent a hasty allied exit or a disastrous peace deal. The author challenges the widely accepted notion that South Vietnam's collapse was inevitable and argues that the outcome was contingent on the choices made by U.S. and South Vietnamese officials. Overall, the book provides a meticulous and fine-grained analysis of the Vietnam War and its consequences. [Extracted from the article]