ISBN: 9781558492790

Written by one of the nation's most incisive cultural historians, this book offers a wide-ranging exploration of the causes, meaning, and continuing significance of the American war in Vi… More...

Written by one of the nation's most incisive cultural historians, this book offers a wide-ranging exploration of the causes, meaning, and continuing significance of the American war in Vietnam. It is a synthesis of H. Bruce Franklin's decades of engagement with that conflict -- a fusion of critical analysis, meticulous scholarship, and moral insight that reveals crucial truths about the war while exposing the many fantasies about Vietnam that permeate American culture and politics.Franklin presents the Vietnam War not as a "mistake", a "quagmire", or a "noble cause" but as a defining event in modern global history. He begins by examining some of the iconic images of the war, showing how their meaning has changed over time and placing them in the context of other American representations of warfare, from the heroic paintings of the Revolutionary era through Civil War photography to the "virtual" imagery of the Gulf War. Subsequent chapters explore the forgotten history of the antiwar movement all the way back to 1945; literature by Vietnam veterans; the crucial role of Vietnam in politics, the media, and the "culture wars" still raging in America; interactions between the war and America's technological imagination, including such manifestations as superweapons, Star Trek, and other science fiction; and the genesis and persistent influence of the POW/MIA myth.Throughout the book Franklin explores the complex interplay of culture, technology, politics, and power. The result is an original and profound analysis of the continuing impact of the Vietnam War on American culture."Wonderfully written, deeply researched, and insightfully argued. . . . I am especially enthusiastic aboutthe value of this book to college classes on the Vietnam War and modern U.S. culture. Here, in one place, teachers can present students with stimulating analyses of many crucial topics which heretofore could only be found, if at all, in separate books". -- Christian G. Appy, author of Working-Class War: American Combat Soldiers in Vietnam. Media > Book, [PU: University of Massachusetts Press]<

2000, ISBN: 1558492798

[EAN: 9781558492790], [SC: 14.65], [PU: Amherst, University of Massachusetts Press], USA WARS UNITED STATES AMERICAN STUDIES WARFARE HISTORY MILITARIA MILITARY OPERATIONS MILITARISM REGIM… More...

[EAN: 9781558492790], [SC: 14.65], [PU: Amherst, University of Massachusetts Press], USA WARS UNITED STATES AMERICAN STUDIES WARFARE HISTORY MILITARIA MILITARY OPERATIONS MILITARISM REGIMENTAL HISTORIES POLITICS ARMED CONFLICTS FORCES VIETNAM, BRAND NEW. Virgin copy, not yet traded. 8vo. Pp. xiv, 258. With halftone illustrations (some full-page); notes, index. Hardcover, half cloth, spine lettered in silver, with dust-jacket. ~ First edition. Franklin presents the Vietnam War as a defining event in modern global history, and offers a wide-ranging exploration of the causes, meaning, and continuing significance of the American war in Vietnam. "A brilliant reinterpretation of the Vietnam War. Wonderfully written, deeply researched, and insightfully argued."<