Overview

There are many lessons to be learned from the Vietnam War, foremost among them being that war as an instrument of peace is not viable. Solheim provides a full picture of the war era at home and in Southeast Asia by combining historical narrative with biographical profiles and personal reflections. He allows the story to unfold in multiple layers, as seen through the eyes of those who were involved on all sides of the conflict: the North Vietnamese, the South Vietnamese, the American generals and politicians, and the American war correspondents and antiwar protestors. With this book, Solheim explores, and hopes to answer, vital questions about the American war in Vietnam. What is the meaning and significance of the Vietnam War for Americans today? What lessons have Americans learned from our defeat and how should we apply that knowledge in implementing current foreign policy? Who or what is to be blamed for the loss in Vietnam? How can we heal our nation from the Vietnam War syndrome? How do we fit the Vietnam War era into our greater historical narrative?

Full Product Details

9780275983086

Table of Contents

Reviews

Solheim presents a narrative history of the US war in Vietnam that generally focuses on the political and military decisions of top leaders from Eisenhower and Kennedy's early involvement through the Johnson and Nixon years. Interspersed throughout are short profiles of important individuals from the era, including General Creighton Abrams, Jane Fonda, Vietnamese General Vo Nguyen Giap, Abbie Hoffman, Black Panther Eldridge Cleaver, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, reporter Seymour Hersh, and Bob Dylan. At the end of the book, he offers his own autobiographical account of growing up in the Vietnam War era. - Reference & Research Book News Bruce O. Solheim has taught the history of the Vietnam War for a dozen years. In his latest book, The Vietnam War Era: A Personal Journey, Solheim, an Army veteran and a history professor at Citrus College in California, has come up with a unique and insightful look at that period. The first three-fourths of the book is an excellent summary of the history of the Vietnam War with enlightening sidebars on many people who were involved in itfrom Gen. Earle Wheeler to Oliver Stone. Solheim completes the book with a riveting account of his personal story, including details of his older brothers Vietnam War experiences and his two Army tours of duty after the Vietnam War. - Vietnam Veterans of America

Bruce Solheim's The Vietnam War Era: A Historical Guide is a scholarly treatise on a haunting subject that requires ongoing and thorough examination. America's military actions in Southeast Asia and the resulting turmoil at home created a large and complex set of events that defy simple or easy explanations. Solheim's book will help students of the American war in Vietnam define and understand the issues involved in this tragic Cold War conflict. The volume is timely, gripping and infused with intelligent insight. - Walter Jones, Assistant Head of Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah, Salt Lake City Bruce Solheim's 'people's history' reminds us of the human dimensions of warfare. It underscores - what Americans too often ignore - the Vietnamese as well as the American side of America's longest war. Solheim provides biographical sketches of a wide range of men and women, whose ideas, experiences, and roles illuminate the war. This is an important contribution. - Gary R. Hess, Bowling Green State University

Author Information

Bruce O. Solheim is Professor of History at Citrus College in Glendora, California. He is a veteran of the U.S. Army. Solheim is the author of The Nordic Nexus: A Lesson in Peaceful Security (Praeger, 1994), and On Top of the World: Women's Political Leadership in Scandinavia and Beyond (Greenwood Press, 2000).

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