During 1965 the Vietnam War was transformed into an American War. 'Escalation' brought the deployment of increasing numbers of United States ground troops, and a slowly expanding air campaign against North Vietnam. Yet the war was 'limited' in more senses than one. It was not allowed, either by President Johnson or by the leaders of the Soviet Union and China, to lead to a wider confrontation in other parts of the world; not even, as a 'big unit' war on the ground, to spread beyond the borders of Vietnam.
List of Tables - Preface - List of Abbreviations - Introduction - PART 1 FEBRUARY-APRIL 1965 - February-March 1965: Crisis and Commitment - The Soviet Commitment to Hanoi - NSAM-328 and the Johns Hopkins Address - 'We Shall Fight to the End!' - The Point of No Return? - PART 2 MAY-JULY 1965 - 'Mayflower': The First Bombing Pause - The May-June Offensive - The July Decisions - PART 3 AUGUST 1965-JANUARY 1966 - China and Asia in 1965: Failure of a Strategy - A 'Big Unit' War: the Juggernaut begins to Roll - Strategic Reassessments in Beijing and Hanoi - The American 'Peace Offensive' and Second Bombing Pause - PART 4 FEBRUARY-JULY 1966 - The Honolulu Conference and the Fulbright Hearings - The Miyamoto Mission and a New Sino-Soviet Crisis - Turmoil in South Vietnam: The Danang Uprising - May 1966: A Review in Washington, Remarks by Zhou Enlai, and the Battle of Danang - The Third Escalation and the Crisis of July 1966 - PART 5: AUGUST-NOVEMBER 1966 - The Troop Issue and the Debate on United States Global Commitments - Diplomatic Impasse - 'Girding for a Longer War' - The Manila Conference and the Decisions of November 1966 - Notes - Bibliography - Index
