A Time of War [Mass Market Paperback]

Michael Peterson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1991

The realities of a futile campaign are portrayed in this novel of the Vietnam War. The action ranges from the White House to the jungle, from the American Embassy in Saigon to the front lines. Michael Peterson has also written "The Immortal Dragon".

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This Vietnam war story involves secret negotiations for peace, CIA operatives against a French spy and soldiers' struggle to survive while obeying nonsensical commanding officers. "Peterson adroitly evokes embassy intrigue and his battle scenes are immediate and compelling," said PW. "Some readers may be taken aback by the powerful, troubled current of sexuality, however."
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

"Despite a decidedly slick texture, the book succeeds on the basis of pure story, meticulous plot, and the sincere, conscientious rendition of honorable intent in both the war's supporters and detractors," said LJ's reviewer at this book's debut (LJ 1/90). This Vietnam War story draws on Peterson's own experiences as a marine. Order Stealth titles online at www.stealthpress.com.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 739 pages
• Publisher: Pocket (April 1, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671701266
• ISBN-13: 978-0671701260
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,141,477 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars politico-military potboiler, February 25, 2001

By 

Orrin C. Judd "brothersjudddotcom" (Hanover, NH USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Time of War: A Time of War (Paperback)

If you're looking for a Vietnam War novel, but you don't want to wade in too deep, this is perfect lightweight fare. Think of it as a cross between Tom Clancy and Graham Greene (see Orrin's review of The Quiet American)--with the civil servant as superhero trying to navigate a moral cesspool. Bradley Lawrence Marshall is the blue blood, war hero, diplomat who is sent to Vietnam as the personal emissary of President Johnson, to find a way out. In country, he meets with real figures like General Westmoreland, who tries to convince him everything is copacetic. But he also meets folks like: his driver, Corporal Mead, a decent though violent American lad of ambiguous sexuality, who is sick of the war; Lacouture, a flamboyant, Guy Burgess-like, Frenchman who sells information to all sides and loves Mead; and the insidious CIA station chief, Wilson Abbot Lord, who lives to fight the Communists and, fearing that Marshall will end the war, plots to kill him. And it's all set against the backdrop of the Tet Offensive.

The whole premise, of Johnson and a bureaucrat secretly planning an exit strategy, doesn't withstand much scrutiny and the stereotypes and clichés run rampant. But taken on its own terms, as a sort of politico-military potboiler with only mild pretensions of addressing issues in any serious way, it succeeds pretty well. It's certainly a more diverting read than many of the more critically acclaimed novels of the war.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Timely take on the futility of American military intervention, February 12, 2007

By 

Frank J. O'Connor "Booklover" (Methuen, MA United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: A Time of War (Hardcover)

While this novel is not on the level of timeless literature, it is a compelling read filled with interesting characters, a serpentine plot, and lots of sex and violence, underpinned by a sharply critical perspective on the Vietnam misadventure. As you read it, you cannot help thinking of "Iraq." Example: "This is an enemy we cannot defeat and an ally we cannot prop."

Adding to the tragic nature of this novel is the fact that its author, a Vietnam veteran, was convicted in 2003 of the murder of his wife and now serves a life sentence for the crime. A riveting documentary on the case "The Staircase" is available on dvd and is highly recommended.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars an opportunity to be subversive, December 15, 2011

By 

Bruce P. Barten (Saint Paul, MN United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Time of War (Hardcover)

Literary life has rarely been as interesting as when an author can convince Americans that President LBJ needed to have peace in Vietnam for what he wanted to accomplish in domestic politics, but the strength of the World War Wit mentality in American forces was so strong that LBJ never had a chance to get anything he wanted for Vietnam. Part of my appreciation for baby boomers as a bunch of spoiled brats is based on my own participation in the draft, military training, Vietnam, Cambodia, Harvard Law School, the Minnesota State Bar Association, the intellectual death wish sweepstakes, becoming an involuntary unBranched Davidian, and having a first anniversary deleted expletive celebration on April 22, 1995, with an attitude to match a response linked to Richard Nixon, when he was told that Jack Ruby had shot Lee Harvey Oswald:

Two rights don't make a wrong.

I was more than ready to read the novel A Time of War (1990) by Michael Peterson. I was craving anything that could help me accept the feeling that if David Koresh were to spring up right next to me, the feds would burn this place down and kill him. LBJ thought he was holding back escalation "because I won't let Curtis LeMay pound it into a cow flop. Bomb, bomb, bomb - that's all I hear!" he shouted. (p. 2).