Based on an exceptional collection of letters written by an American soldier during his tour of duty,
Everyman in Vietnam: A Soldier's Journey into the Quagmire
provides a gripping and multi-dimensional way to understand the nature and enduring significance of the Vietnam conflict. The book's vivid, intimate, and accessible account of Jimmy Gilch, an ordinary American soldier in Vietnam, offers a unique glimpse into the complexities and contradictions of the American intervention there. The movement back and forth between the larger history of the war and the experiences of Gilch fighting in a very particular place at a particular time gives readers a sense of the concrete nature of the war in Vietnam that is often absent in more general treatments. Offering an instructive example of the craft of history in action,
Everyman in Vietnam
explores the history of the multinational and global processes that led to the U.S. interventions, the political calculations on opposing sides that shaped successive decisions for military escalation, and Vietnamese perspectives on the conflict.