Description
Book SynopsisIsaacs reports and writes for those whose lives were changed by the war and for a generation that has come of age without memory of Vietnam but who nonetheless feels its shadow in the country they soon will lead.
Trade ReviewMore than 20 years after the fall of Saigon, Vietnam still haunts us. It is the war that never seems to go away. Arnold Isaacs's readable and insightful new book, Vietnam Shadows, is an effort to explore comprehensively the many facets of this phenomenon. -- George C. Herring Chicago Tribune A finely balanced retrospection that is emotionally and morally engaged, and that works by deft indirection... Isaacs deploys telling tangents, revealing juxtapositions, and shrewd asides to deepen our understanding of the impact of the war. His range is impressive... his judgments are sound, and his exquisite nose for detecting self-deception leads him to some awkward truths about the wartime mythologies that have become encased in middle-aged amber. -- Adam Garfinkle New York Times Written with exemplary detachment for one who was witness to the blood baths, Vietnam Shadows covers a broad range of subjects... Here the Vietnam of syndromes, MIA myths, noble causes, and ignoble casuistries receives critical scrutiny, while the America of veterans, the Vietnam generation, and the new Americans from Southeast Asia comes into trenchant focus. -- Robert Andersen Washington Post Book World No event in the post-World War II era, many have argued, had such far reaching and tragic effects on American society, politics, and international relations as the Vietnam War. These 'far reaching effects' are the subject of Arnold R. Isaacs's comprehensive, insightful, and indeed, compassionate book. -- William B. Pickett Journal of Military History
Table of ContentsPreface
Chapter 1. The Wall
Chapter 2. The Veterans
Chapter 3. The Generation
Chapter 4. The Syndrome
Chapter 5. The Myth
Chapter 6. Learning About the War
Chapter 7. The New Americans
Chapter 8. Ghosts
Epilogue
Bibliographical Essay
List of Sources
Index
