A review by nataliereinhart
Boots on the Ground: America's War in Vietnam by Elizabeth Partridge

4.0

I really appreciated the Vietnam War perspectives this book shared, from veterans to refugees to memorial designers. As much as I know the basic facts of the war from teaching it every year, it’s easy to gloss over the many, many complicated experiences of those who actually lived through the war, particularly those who saw and/or participated in the violence firsthand. Partridge does a wonderful job of threading the timeline of the war through the experiences of these individuals, and asks us (importantly, in language that is accessible to readers of all ages) to struggle with the same questions that the nation did during and after Vietnam—questions that remain perennially relevant for all U.S. military engagement abroad.