Media Review

Media

Daniel R. Hart in The VVA Veteran's “Books in Review II” page.

“I didn’t know what to expect when I picked up Paul Belford’s short book, Endurance: A Parallel History of the American Experience in Vietnam – the Why, the How, and the What of it All (Whitich Press, 130 pp., paperback)…

Belford’s methodology is to use “parallel history,” which he defines as “tracking among identifiable and accepted factual elements and dynamics of an era that lead to a historical perspective other than that commonly received.” In other words, it is a rejection of judging historical events based on contemporary mores—and an effort to understand history from the context of the specific time-period.

He accomplishes this by covering some 600 years of history in the first half of the book, including such weighty subjects as communism, nationalism, and what he refers to as the three-realm dynamic of nations (spiritual, political, and economic). In the second half, he uses this historical context to make his case that the U.S. largely achieved its strategic goal in Vietnam of slowing and deterring the spread of communism in Southeast Asia…

Belford’s prose is engaging and conversational, more akin to talking to a friend than covering serious topics of war and peace…

This is an appealing book that demands contemplation. My dad would have liked it.”

https://vvabooks.wordpress.com/2025/08/02/endurance-by-paul-belford/

Reader Reviews

Thanks so much for your book, Endurance. I loved it. It’s wise, concise, and interesting. It draws on lots of sources that those our age knows about broadly (George Kennan, etc.) but synthesizes them wonderfully. And it required no endurance at all at 123 pages.

Jerald A. Jacobs, Partner – Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP

Your wonderful book, Endurance, makes a solid case for our initial engagement in Vietnam and explains the enormous complexities of our disengagement with insight, concision, and clarity. I particularly valued your deep historical and geopolitical setting for the war, including your discussions of Marxism and Leninist-Marxism as well as nationalism and liberal democracy. Your perspective on the Eastern and Western national ambitions and political values underlying the many 20th century crises helps explain the motivations of the parties militarily engaged and those politically interested in the Vietnam War and its outcome.

Charles A. O'Connor III, JD, DLS, and Vietnam Vet

Not every man has a book in him and most who do never get around to writing it. You’ve done it and it shows that you’re a natural teacher. The organization, layout, and structure of the lessons you sought to impart are impressive. They brought back many memories for me. In fact, there was nothing in “Endurance” that I didn’t know, but it refreshed my memories and reconfirmed all of them. You made many points, and there wasn’t one I disagree with. And your principal conclusions are also those which I’ve held for many years. The main one is that the US saw in Vietnam a piece of a much larger puzzle and threat, one which we were primarily interested in halting, or at least “containing”, i.e., the spread of communism, a world movement we saw as threatening our entire construct of values and beliefs.

David Passage, retired US Ambassador and career foreign service officer

I just devoted an afternoon to reading “Endurance” and I really enjoyed it. One of the things I love about reading history is being reminded about events I had forgotten and learning of new ways in which they interrelate. Developing the first half of your book to how most of the 20th century led us inexorably to Vietnam was fascinating. Now recalled historical facts, developed in the historical context that your narrative created, gave me a much better understanding of what happened, and what was lost, and ultimately what was won – time. I sincerely appreciated the opportunity to read Endurance. Great book!

Bill Moroney – Past President/CEO, Utilities Telecom Council

Congratulations on this brilliant book. It is amazing how much thought and information you compacted into it. I also liked your little stylistic asides engaging with the reader as you recap the path of the narrative. Before reading it, I had a pretty good sense of the historic Cold War context and big power stakes leading up to the war and a general sense of the politics concerning its conduct and drawn out closure, but your book added so much detail as well as philosophical and moral frameworks to my understanding. Your Jesuit tutors would be proud of that particular feature.

Bernard Casey, JD, Retired Partner Reed Smith LLP, Vietnam Veteran.

Thanks for the copy of ENDURANCE. As I told a friend after reading it, it explains Vietnam. So, thank you.

Paul Kuzma, Kuzma Construction, friend and neighbor.