Combat at Close Quarters: Warfare on the Rivers and Canals of Vietnam

Edward J. Marolda has served as Acting Director of Naval History and Senior Historian of the Naval Historical Center (redesignated the Naval History and Heritage Command). He has written a number of books on the U.S. Navy’s modern experience in Southeast Asia, including From Military Assistance to Combat, 1959–1965, vol. 2 (with Oscar P. Fitzgerald) in the official series The United States Navy and the Vietnam Conflict, and By Sea, Air, and Land: An Illustrated History of the U.S. Navy and the War in Southeast Asia. Dr. Marolda holds degrees in history from Pennsylvania Military College (BA), Georgetown University (MA), and George Washington University (PhD). R. Blake Dunnavent is an associate professor of history at Louisiana State University in Shreveport. He is the author of Brown Water Warfare: The U.S. Navy in Riverine Warfare and the Emergence of a Tactical Doctrine, 1775–1970. He also authored chapters in two books: “Maverick—Elmo Russell Zumwalt, Jr. (1920–2000),” in Nineteen Gun Salute: Case Studies of Strategic and Operational Naval Leadership during the 20th Century, John B. Hattendorf and Bruce A. Elleman, eds. (Naval War College Press, 2010); and “Battle for the Mekong: The River War in Vietnam,” in Rolling Thunder in a Gentle Land. He earned a BA from Abilene Christian University (1990), and holds MA (1992) and PhD (1998) degrees in history from Texas Tech University.