The book ‘The winning side’, by Huy Duc, is revealing in two ways. First, it presents an account of how the historically crucial episode of the 1968 Tet offensive was, as an event seen as caused by decisions in Hanoi (clearly, these are proximate causes, as the historical context is far greater in scope), ‘decided upon’. Second, in that Huy Duc’s account tells us much about his views of how these decisions were taken, and their political milieu, it tells us how he presents his own views and thinking about that milieu.