Dereliction of Duty: Johnson, McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Lies That Led to Vietnam

"The war in Vietnam was not lost in the field, nor was it lost on the front pages of the New York Times or the college campuses. It was lost in Washington, D.C." - H. R. McMaster (from the Conclusion) Dereliction Of Duty is a stunning analysis of how and why the United States became involved in an all-out and disastrous war in Southeast Asia. Fully and convincingly researched, based on transcripts and personal accounts of crucial meetings, confrontations and decisions, it is the only book that fully re-creates what happened and why. H. R. McMaster pinpoints the policies and decisions that got the United States into the morass and reveals who made these decisions and the motives behind them, disproving the published theories of other historians and excuses of the participants. A page-turning narrative, Dereliction Of Duty focuses on a fascinating cast of characters: President Lyndon Johnson, Robert McNamara, General Maxwell Taylor, McGeorge Bundy and other top aides who deliberately deceived the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the U.S. Congress and the American public. McMaster's only book, Dereliction of Duty is an explosive and authoritative new look at the controversy concerning the United States involvement in Vietnam.

• The Best and the Brightest
• In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam
• The Pentagon Papers: The Secret History of the Vietnam War
• A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam
• We Were Soldiers Once...and Young: Ia Drang - The Battle That Changed the War in Vietnam
• Vietnam: An Epic Tragedy, 1945-1975
• The Soldier and the State: The Theory and Politics of Civil–Military Relations (Belknap Press S)
• Vietnam: A History
• Secrets: A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers
• We Were Soldiers Once...and Young: Ia Drang - The Battle That Changed the War in Vietnam