Overview

Nearly a quarter-century after the fall of Saigon, the memory of America's defeat in Vietnam continues to haunt the national psyche. In Vietnam Shadows, former war correspondent Arnold Isaacs turns his reportorial eye to the conflict since Vietnam, covering the skirmishes and firefights of a cultural battle--some would say stalemate--that refuses to end. Isaacs takes on the popular myths and misconceptions about Vietnam--among them the mistaken belief that the U.S. military lacked clear goals. (""In many conversations with U.S. officers in Vietnam, I do not recall discovering any who were in doubt about what they were supposed to do there."") He exposes the myth of the MIAs--a myth sustained not only by grieving relatives but also by professional con men of breathtaking cynicism--and shows how the many false MIA stories may nonetheless reveal a deeper truth: ""We lost something in Vietnam and we want it back."" Isaacs talks to the veterans unable to forget the war no one wanted to talk to them about. He explores the class divisions deepened by a conflict in which the privileged avoided service that an earlier generation had embraced as a duty. (691 Harvard alumni died in World War II, Isaacs points out; in Vietnam, nineteen.) And he shows how the ""Vietnam Syndrome"" continues to affect nearly every major U.S. foreign policy decision, from the Persian Gulf to Somalia, Bosnia, and Haiti. Capturing the ironic legacies of a war that abounds in them, Isaacs introduces the ""new Americans""--the Vietnamese, Thais, and Cambodians--who fled Indochina to settle in the U.S., where fashion spreads in the New York Times Magazine feature models photographed in Vietnamese settings wearing ""Indo-chic clothes"" that sell for four to five years' income for the average Vietnamese. (""Farm girl's jacket in 'periwinkle blue' raw silk: USD 1,460 by Richard Tyler."") And he recounts the experiences of Americans who have returned to Vietnam, only to find their former enemies turned entrepreneurs--such as the operators of a popular Saigon bar called Apocalypse Now. Isaacs reports and writes for those whose lives were changed by the war and also 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. ""More than 20 years after the fall of Saigon, Vietnam still haunts us. It is the war that never seems to go away. Arnold Isaacs' readable and insightful new book, 'Vietnam Shadows,' is an effort to explore comprehensively the many facets of this phenomenon.""--George C. Herring, Chicago Tribune ""Isaacs makes use of the appropriate volumes and his own experience as he takes stock of the impact of the war on American memory and examines the influence of that memory on individuals' lives as well as on the course of national events ...For those who know little or nothing about the war, this book is a good place to start along the journey of understanding what happened and how it has affected American history over the last three decades. Othes who know a great deal about the war should find it most helpful in providing an objective balanced perspective on the legacies of that conflict. It is a valuable book.""--Edward M. Coffman, University of Wisconsin, Madison ""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 Anderson, Washington Post Book World""The author masterfully leads us through the long shadows the war still casts ...Vietnam Shadows is a profound reading experience.""--Lawrence Hall, Newark Star-Ledger ""A wise and superbly written account of the war's engaging legacy in American life ...The journey to Vietnam that so many Americans began in the 1960s is till far from over. Isaacs' book provides a sensitive guide to the twists and turns of this journey and to the anguish and uncertainty that it has produced.""--Charles S. Neu, America""Isaacs offers ...an exceptional survey of the political, social, cultural, and military aspects of the conflict while presenting a compelling treatise on how Vietnam continues to affect our society. An engaging writer, Isaacs backs his work with extensive research; strongly recommended.""--Library Journal ""Isaacs covers a good deal of territory in this sober, strongly written, and persuasively argued book ...A valuable book that shows vividly how the Vietnam War continues to have a wide impact on American society.""--Kirkus Reviews ""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

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9780801863448

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Reviews

<p>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

More 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 *

<p>More 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

<p> 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

Author Information

Arnold R. Isaacs is the author of the acclaimed Without Honor: Defeat in Vietnam and Cambodia and coauthor of Pawns of War. He spent the final years of the Vietnam War as a correspondent for the Baltimore Sun. Since 1984, he has taught courses on Vietnam at Towson University in Towson, Maryland.

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