The Vietnam War in History, Literature and Film 9781474473118

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THE VIETNAM WAR IN HISTORY, LITERATURE AND FILM

BAAS Paperbacks Series Editors: Philip Joh~ Davies, Professor of American Studies at De Montfort University; George McKay, Professor of English and American Studies at the University of Central Lancashire; Simon Newman, Sir Denis Brogan Chair in American Studies at the University of Glasgow; and Carol R. Smith, Senior Lecturer in English and American Studies at King Alfred's College, Winchester.

Published in association with the British Association for American Studies, this exciting series has become an indispensable collection in American Studies. Each volume tackles an important area and is written by an accepted academic expert within the discipline. Books selected for the series are clearly written introductions designed to offer students definitive short surveys of key topics in the field. Titles in the series include: The Cultures ofthe American New West

Neil Campbell Gender, Ethnicity and Sexuality in Contemporary American Film

Jude Davies and Carol R. Smith The United States and World War II

Martin Folly The Sixties in America: History, Politics and Protest

M. J. Heale The United States and European Reconstruction

John Killick Religion in America to z865

Bryan F. LeBeau American Exceptionalism Deborah L. Madsen The Amen"can Landscape

Stephen F. Mills Slavery and Servitude in North America, z6o:;-z8oo

Kenneth Morgan ]a1_1_ in American Culture

Peter Townsend The New Deal

Fiona Venn Animation and America

Paul Wells Political Scandals in the USA

Robert Williams

The Vietnam War in History, Literature and Film

MARK TAYLOR

EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY PRESS

© Mark Taylor, 2003 Edinburgh University Press Ltd 22 George Square, Edinburgh Typeset in Fournier by Koinonia, Manchester, and printed and bound in Great Britain by CPT Antony Rowe, East bourne. Transferred to digital print 2008 A CIP Record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN o 7486 I 533 4 (paperback) The right of Mark Taylor to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

Contents

List of Illustrations Map of South-east Asia Time line

vi Vll

V111

Introduction: Understanding America's War in Vietnam I

Telling True War Stories

IO

2

Heroes

33

3 Cinematic History: The Case of]FK 4 Battles Villains 6 Veterans

I3I

Conclusion: Telling Differences A Guide to Further Reading

I)I

Glossary

I)4

Index

I))

Illustrations

2

Map of South-east Asia (1954-75)

v11

American soldiers in Vietnam

34

3 President Johnson listening to a tape sent to him by his son-in-law, Captain Charles Robb

62

4 American soldiers carry a wounded comrade out of combat

85

Map of Son My

108

6 Some of the dead at My Lai 4

111

7 Vietnam veterans at the memorial wall in Washington DC

136

CHIN A

_,

)

THAILAND '-

I:

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