The United States and the legacy of the Vietnam War / edited by Jon Roper.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Roper, Jon.

Series:

Global conflict and security since 1945

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Vietnam War, 1961-1975--United States.

Vietnam War, 1961-1975.

Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Influence.

Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Social aspects--United States.

United States--Civilization--1970-.

United States.

Civilization.

Physical Description:

xii, 192 pages ; 22 cm.

Place of Publication:

Basingstoke ; New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 2007.

Summary:

Over thirty years ago, the last helicopter clattered away from the roof of the American Embassy in Saigon: a symbolic scene in the final drama of the nation's failed intervention in Vietnam. For over thirty years the legacy of the Vietnam War and its impact on American politics and society has been a subject of enduring fascination and controversy. Vietnam's relevance as a cultural reference point is seen clearly in the context of the current debates over America's war on terror' and the continuing war in Iraq. This book brings together leading cultural commentators, critics and historians to offer fresh and important insights into how the experience of the Vietnam War shapes contemporary America. It is essential reading for those who wish to understand the ways in which the reverberations of that conflict continue to echo in America's cultural imagination long after the fighting came to an end.

Contents:

1 Over Thirty Years / Jon Roper 1

2 The Long Shadow of Vietnam / Jonathan Schell 21

3 'Vietnam' in the New American Century / H. Bruce Franklin 33

4 Apocalypse Now Redux and the Curse of Vietnam / John Hellmann 51

5 Imagining Vietnam: Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried / Subarno Chattarji 72

6 The Vietnam War: (Post-)Colonial Fictional Discourses and (Hi-)Stories / Walter W. Holbling 89

7 King Philip's Shadow: Vietnam, Iraq and the Indian Wars / Philip H. Melling 121

8 After the Wars are Over: 'Lost Cause,' 'Noble Cause,' National Unity and the Presidency / Jon Roper 143

9 Kenny and Me: A Story of War and Friendship / W. D. Ehrhart 170.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780230500426

0230500420

OCLC:

156890888