Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Preview

£0.00 for first 30 days

Try for £0.00
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

The Best and the Brightest

By: David Halberstam
Narrated by: David Clennon
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £7.99

Buy Now for £7.99

Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Summary

David Halberstam’s masterpiece, the defining history of the making of the Vietnam tragedy, with a foreword by Senator John McCain.

"A rich, entertaining, and profound reading experience.” (The New York Times)

Using portraits of America’s flawed policy makers and accounts of the forces that drove them, The Best and the Brightest reckons magnificently with the most important abiding question of our country’s recent history: Why did America become mired in Vietnam, and why did we lose? As the definitive single-volume answer to that question, this enthralling book has never been superseded. It is an American classic.

Please note: This is the abridged edition. An unabridged audiobook is also available.
©1973 David Halberstam (P)2007 Random House, Inc. Random House Audio, a division of Random House, Inc.
  • Abridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History
Anthropology Military Politics & Government Social Sciences United States Vietnam War War
Show More Show Less
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Critic reviews

"[The] most comprehensive saga of how America became involved in Vietnam." ( The Boston Globe)
"[Robert McNamara] contends the story of how 'the best and brightest' got it wrong in Vietnam has not been told. But David Halberstam, who applied that ironic phrase to his rendering of the tale 23 years ago, told it better." ( New York Times Book Review)
"Deeply moving...We cannot help but feel the compelling power of this narrative....Dramatic and tragic, a chain of events overwhelming in their force, a distant war embodying illusions and myths, terror and violence, confusions and courage, blindness, pride, and arrogance." ( Los Angeles Times)

What listeners say about The Best and the Brightest

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    3
  • 4 Stars
    3
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1
  • 4 Stars
    1
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    2
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Audible.co.uk reviews

Amazon reviews
Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Kindle Customer

a insightful analysis

I thought I knew a bit about the US involvement in the Vietnam war but having listened to this I realise how little I knew and how wrong my understanding was. This an excellent study of how a war that no one wanted came about and I feel still has relevance to present day.

Report this

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!