From thousands of letters written to Dr. Benjamin Spock during the Vietnam War, Foley (Confronting the War Machine: Draft Resistance During the Vietnam War
) has carefully culled 218 missives from America's "silent majority." The result, revealing the home-front experience of the war from 1965 to 1972, reflects a public opinion that was not monolithic but rather characterized by "nuance, subtlety, and... ambivalence." As the iconic author of the 1950s child-rearing bible, Baby and Child Care
, and a leading antiwar figure, Spock was a lightning rod for both the war's opponents and proponents. These passionate, articulate letters come from the parents of soldiers serving in Vietnam and of sons facing the draft, student protesters, soldiers serving in Vietnam, WWII veterans, and draft resisters in both the U.S. and Canada. They praise Spock and vilify him. Arranged chronologically by year and thematically within each year (e.g., peace proposals, war and children, anticommunism), with historical context and analysis, the collection doesn't really shed new light on that era, but in view of divisiveness over the war in Iraq, many may find the frustration, fear and grief expressed here newly relevant. B&w photos. (Nov.)
