Like Rolling Thunder: The Air War in Vietnam, 1964–1975

FLAMING DART. COMMANDO HUNT. ROLLING THUNDER. With dramatic names right out of a Hollywood blockbuster, these strike operations conducted by the United States Air Force were part of an aerial campaign that spanned over a decade, sprawled over four countries, and involved the dropping of countless tons of bombs. In this insightful and lively book, distinguished scholar Ronald B. Frankum, Jr. captures the full extent of the struggle. The first brief overview of the air war in Vietnam, Like Rolling Thunder examines each theatre of operation—South Vietnam, North Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia—and explores the extent to which the aerial campaigns aided U.S. tactics and strategy. Comprehensive yet concise, the work is a fresh look at this conflict's bitterly contested and hard fought air war.

Table of Contents:
Introduction Chapter 1: The Early Air War Chapter 2: A Gradual Response: The Air War over North Vietnam, 1965–1968 Chapter 3: In Command and Control: The South Vietnam Air Campaigns, 1965–1968 Chapter 4: The Secret War: The Air War in Laos, 1964–1975 Chapter 5: Nixon's Other War: The Air Campaign in Cambodia, 1969–1975 Chapter 6: A Year of Decision, 1972 Conclusion Bibliographic Essay Appendix: Aircraft Flown in Southeast Asia

About the Author :
Ronald B. Frankum, Jr., served as associate director of the Vietnam Center at Texas Tech University. He is the author of Silent Partners: The United States and Australia in Vietnam, and he teaches at Millersville University.

Review :
Frankum provides a concise and insightful summary of the complex and contentious issues of the air war in Southeast Asia. If one has time for but one book on the air war, I strongly recommend that volume be Like Rolling Thunder. A concise, comprehensive account of the air war in Southeast Asia, packed with data, that covers all theaters of the war. A timely and judicious account, Like Rolling Thunder skillfully addresses both the successes and failures of one of the more controversial aspects of America's war in Southeast Asia. Presents a concise history of the air war in Vietnam. Ronald B. Frankum, Jr., . . . offers a compelling, readable, and concise overview of a complex, intricate, and long air war, perhaps the dominant aspect of America's longest war. . . . Much of the earlier writing on air war, mine included, reflected passions attached to the controversies we lived. Frankum's writing—thankfully—is devoid of such emotion. Like Rolling Thunder offers a good overview of a complex story bolstered by statistics, informative maps, photographs of the primary weapon systems, and a useful glossary to make sense of the abundant acronyms. The concluding bibliographic essay alone is worth the price of the book. It will be especially useful in undergraduate Vietnam War courses.