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A review by the_david_cooke
A Rumor of War: The Classic Vietnam Memoir by Philip Caputo
5.0
I grew up in the era of the Vietnam War. Saigon fell in my senior year. My experiences as a young child was centered around all that was wrong about the war. I found myself identifying with the antiwar movement. Those youthful experiences have framed my view of wars and armed conflicts to this day.
This was my first foray into a book about Vietnam. I thoroughly loved it. It brought back the mental images of the news stories I watched television and introduced an entirely deeper level of understanding for those who were in those battles.
The author promises early in the book, that it "does not pretend to be history. It has nothing to do with politics, power, strategy, influence, national interests, or foreign policy; it is simply a story about war, about the things men do in war and the things war does to them." While this promise is honored, there is no doubt that,in this story, exists a piece of history that makes reading it all the more worthwhile.
This was my first foray into a book about Vietnam. I thoroughly loved it. It brought back the mental images of the news stories I watched television and introduced an entirely deeper level of understanding for those who were in those battles.
The author promises early in the book, that it "does not pretend to be history. It has nothing to do with politics, power, strategy, influence, national interests, or foreign policy; it is simply a story about war, about the things men do in war and the things war does to them." While this promise is honored, there is no doubt that,in this story, exists a piece of history that makes reading it all the more worthwhile.