The Vietnam War in History, Literature and Film

An innovative treatment of key episodes of the Vietnam War clarifies the relationships among history, literature, and film.

Mark Taylor offers an interdisciplinary approach to the Vietnam War a popular but complex subject that has been variously discussed by historians, filmmakers, and novelists. After outlining the chronology of events during the Vietnam War, Taylor examines five crucial events including the My Lai Massacre, the siege at Khe Sanh, and the homecoming of veterans to explore how "truth" is told in the various tellings. Texts and films examined include The Green Berets, JFK, John Newman's JFK and Vietnam, Dispatches, The Peers Report, The Deerhunter, In the Lake of the Woods, and the Rambo films.