Publisher's Synopsis
SUMMATION OF A "POPULAR" WAR
Author V. I. Brown wrote this memoir from authority. He grew up with the war, participated as a member of the military and then observed its aftermath. He provides a penetrating, chronological examination of the war's policies, politics, judicial decisions, public opinion and reflection in the popular culture. As he examines such complex topics as anti-war sentiment, dissent within the military and the galvanizing of the clergy against the war, Brown offers an in-depth glimpse into the turmoil and emotions spawned by the war that gripped the nation for over a decade.
Herein one will find a more complete chronological examination of the Vietnam Conflict than has previously been available. All of the factors which compelled the U. S. to intervene in a foreign civil war are spelled out in vivid detail from the war's inception to its termination. Also examined is the climate within the national and international communities which led up to the conflict. This book details how the war was an exercise in deception, in futility, in the power of ego and also a lesson in how the U.S. contradicted its own ideals. Further, the author affirms what others including CBS News and The New York Times contended during and after the conflict: that the government almost continually promulgated deceptive information in order to justify continued pursuit of the war. In the end the reader will comprehend that it was all for nothing, and indeed that the former enemy earned what a U. S. President wanted for Vietnam.
Herein one will further observe the war's impact on the lives of the many "players" in the "comédie", both major and minor, who were elevated to the stage of one of the great events of history. The degree to which the war reverberates in U. S. society is also examined in detail. As of this writing, the war is still in the national consciousness.
