Nam, A Photographic History

Book excerpt: Both military and press photographers as well as soldiers and civilians recorded on film the harrowing events of the Vietnam War. From French Indochina to the fall of Saigon and on to the war's aftermath, from casualties to prisoners to protestors back home, NAM features the images and stories that document this important era. With 700 fully captioned images supported by an expert historical account of the course of the war, this wide-ranging book provides an unflinching portrait of the longest conflict ever fought by U.S. armed forces. The Vietnam War is without doubt one of the most significant events in the history of the United States. It remains the longest conflict ever fought by the U.S. armed forces and the longest war in modern history. More than 50,000 U.S. servicemen lost their lives during the struggle in Southeast Asia, but numbers alone cannot convey the impact of the war on the world's most powerful democracy. The tensions it created and the passions it unleashed threatened to tear the fabric of U.S. society asunder. The war shattered one president's dreams of a new society and destroyed the career of another. Carefully researched, minutely detailed, illustrated with hundreds of historical photographs, many in color, and with maps by the celebrated military cartographer Richard Natkiel, NAM: A Photographic History is both a fascinating recapitulation of the war, exactly as the world experienced it, and an important work of reference for laymen and scholars alike.