Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Taking the reader in the mountains and forests that the Americans called "Indian country," Stevens presents the Viet Nam War as an extension of the romantic myth of the American frontier. In seven operations on the Ho Chi Minh Trail, the reader enters an exotic, exhilarating, terrifying world. Documented by military reports, Steven's powerful and poetic prose and his complex examination of the Viet Nam War elevate his Trail journey into the realm of myth.
Synopsis
In this narrative of jungle combat, Richard L. Stevens, a U.S. Foreign Service civilian is guided on the Trail by the ex-Viet Cong guerilla Viet, master of deep-forest war. Stevens, an ex-Marine but a neophyte here, is drawn ever deeper into the jungle--and into combat--by his obsession with the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Viet, a captured VC forced to lead Americans and South Vietnamese on missions back to his home base on the Trail, becomes Steven's teacher and friend, but possibly he is a VC still, a double double agent.
Stevens's powerful and poetic prose and is complex examination of the Viet Nam War elevate his Trail journey into the realm of myth. A universal theme unwinds here: the mythic hero-journey between life and death is a trail traveled by all.