Vietnam a Reader: From the Pages of Vietnam Magazine Book

Dien Bien Phu, the Gulf of Tonkin incident, the Tet offensive these and other battles are revisited in Vietnam: A Reader, a collection of essays and personal accounts from Vietnam magazine, edited by Brig. Gen. David Zabecki of the Army Reserve. Contributors include military officers, journalists and others who witnessed fighting. Former L.A. Times war correspondent George McArthur critiques the antiwar conventional wisdom circulated by some of his high-profile colleagues. A retired U.S. Army colonel, William Wilson, recalls his horror and disillusionment as he investigated the My Lai massacre for the government. The anthology offers a range of perspectives on the war, though most pieces focus on specific battles and individual experiences, avoiding polemical arguments for either side. (Mar.)