They Marched Into Sunlight: War and Peace Vietnam and America October 1967 Paperback – Import, 4 October 2004

Excellent book, a real gem if you are into the era. Well documented and if you have the chance, please also catch the PBS documentary

In his book, "The Sociological Imagination", the late C. Wright Mills described the mark of meaningful social analysis as employing the ability to intersect the lives of ordinary human beings purposefully within the locus of their unique historical circumstances. In this masterful work by Pulitzer Prize winner David Maraniss, such a perspective is wonderfully achieved concerning the meanings and contexts of the Vietnam War for those of us who lived through it. Maraniss does so by juxtaposing two disparate events occurring over a two-day period in October 1967, a savagely waged battle in Vietnam and an anti-war demonstration on the campus grounds of the University of Wisconsin in Madison. And the slowly emerging set of similarities and differences associated with these two sets of events emerges, in all its Techicolor hues and tones, as never before for the reader's edification and entertainment.Deftly avoiding the twin traps of first, Hollywood stereo types of both sets of circumstances one the one hand, and second, the nifty neo-conservative reconstructions of the truth a la David Lind as Vietnam being a 'necessary war' on the other, Maraniss dips deep into the heart of the complexities, contradictions, and human emotions swirling through one of the most contentious, ardently contested, and sometimes revolutionary period in 20th century American history. The cast of characters is long and difficult to keep in place, encompassing some six pages in the book's frontispiece. Likewise, the events and intertwining circumstances is sometimes not as well explained as it might be for any who are not familiar with it. Yet despite these quibbles, this is truly a magical book, one that transported me back to one of the most fascinating and memorable periods of my own life. The author's wondrous way with prose makes this effort seem more a novel than history, and surely that will make the book eminently accessible to a whole new generation of people willing to read serious nonfiction works.A work of this magnitude is a seemingly overwhelming challenge, yet the author manages to draw the characters vividly and meaningfully, drawing our attention to the ways in which each of them individually and all of them collectively are swept up by the uncontrollable currents of events transpiring around them. The narrative pace is set wonderfully, and Maraniss somehow catches the essence of both the horror of the war as a personal event for the soldiers on both sides of the battle as well as the moral ambiguities associated with the ideological struggle ensuing on the home front. Even more amazing, he poses important moral questions relevant to current affairs in terms of his questioning America's perceptions about its role in the wider world as well as the terrible cost of the war, both in Vietnam and at home, for the individuals involved and the society at large. And in so doing he raises serious doubt about the jingoistic approach of another President yet ready to unleash the dogs of war without considering the long-term consequences of so doing for ordinary people. Enjoy!

Prompt delivery. Item as described. Thank you

This is an exceptionally well researched book of the state of America during the Vietnam War @ home and abroad. By overlaying a devastating ambush in Vietnam causing massive American casualties with a protest at the Univ. of Wisconsin Madison campus, Marinuss shows the full range of the American perspective as it was impacted by the war. But in addition to these two viewpoints, Marinuss also reconstructs meetings inside the White House and at Military headquarters as they debate the merits of the war and the political ramifications. Marinuss does a great job showing the anguish in the country as well as in the White House.While the total book is engrossing and filled with facts reconstructing the mood of the county, I actually found the mood of American political and military leaders most interesting. Clearly, LBJ was caught in a quagmire and regretted the course in which he had led the country. Military leaders come off much worse with continued misinformation to attempt to mislead the American public as to the status of the war. Most telling is after this horrible ambush, not only do the leaders refuse to call it an ambush, they grossly misstate the Viet Cong killed to give the appearance that more were killed than Americans and therefore it must be an American victory. This is sad as many brave Americans were slaughtered and this misinformation does them no justice.I strongly recommend this book for anyone with interest in the real Vietnam War both home and abroad. Also, I recommend this book for anyone wanting to know what it was like living in America in the 60s. One word of caution. This book is a commitment of over 400 pages in small print. While this is very well researched, if I have one complaint, the author seemed to want to tell the complete story of every character he introduced and therefore at times in can be long and slow and slightly off topic.As a final note, for any soldiers reading this, I applaud you on performing your duty in very trying times. Your sacrifice was no less than anyone in other wars and went a long way in forcing America to evaluate such conflicts prior to sending American soldiers on foreign soil.

I bought this book after seeing the Storyville documentary on BBC and I have bought it for 3 other people as well. The book is a fascinating report of the anti-war campaign by students at Wisconsin University alongside the events of an offensive and ambush of American soldiers in Vietnam.Whatever your views of the Vietnam War the book provokes you to think about the viewpoint of the soldiers serving in the war and their families and the devastation that the war evoked as well as the anti-war protests.The book is very densely written and there are a lot of people to keep track of but if you persevere then I think you will find it is a book that has a long-lasting impact.