Written by one of the nation's most incisive cultural historians, this book offers a wide-ranging exploration of the causes, meaning, and continuing significance of the American war in Vietnam. It is a synthesis of H. Bruce Franklin's decades of engagement with that conflict — a fusion of critical analysis, meticulous scholarship, and moral insight that reveals crucial truths about the war while exposing the many fantasies about Vietnam that permeate American culture and politics.<P>Franklin presents the Vietnam War not as a "mistake", a "quagmire", or a "noble cause" but as a defining event in modern global history. He begins by examining some of the iconic images of the war, showing how their meaning has changed over time and placing them in the context of other American representations of warfare, from the heroic paintings of the Revolutionary era through Civil War photography to the "virtual" imagery of the Gulf War. Subsequent chapters explore the forgotten history of the antiwar movement all the way back to 1945; literature by Vietnam veterans; the crucial role of Vietnam in politics, the media, and the "culture wars" still raging in America; interactions between the war and America's technological imagination, including such manifestations as superweapons, Star Trek, and other science fiction; and the genesis and persistent influence of the POW/MIA myth. Throughout the book Franklin explores the complex interplay of culture, technology, politics, and power. The result is an original and profound analysis of the continuing impact of the Vietnam War on American culture.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [203]-233) and index.

Prologue: on "differing perceptions of reality" — From realism to virtual reality: images of America's wars — Plausibility of denial — The antiwar movement we are supposed to forget — Burning illusions: the napalm campaign — 1968: or, bring the war home — The Vietnam War and the culture wars; or, the perils of western civilization — Star Trek and kicking the Vietnam syndrome — The Vietnam war as American science fiction and fantasy — Missing in action in the twenty-first century.