THE ELEPHANT AND THE TIGER (originally published as a hardcover in 1990 by Hippocrene Books), is a thorough and thought-provoking history of the Vietnam War. It chronicles the events from Dec. 13, 1954, the date when the U.S. first signed a formal agreement with France to assume more responsibility for equipping and training the South Vietnamese armed forces, until 1975 when South Vietnam's army was swept aside by the North Vietnamese Army and the last Americans were forced to flee the country in defeat.