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Arnold R. Isaacs

Vietnam Shadows: The War, Its Ghosts, and Its Legacy (The American Moment) Paperback – April 14, 2000

by Arnold R. Isaacs (Author)

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Post war reflections by those who were there.

Nearly a quarter-century after the fall of Saigon, the memory of America's defeat in Vietnam continues to haunt the national psyche. In Vietnam Shadows, former war correspondent Arnold Isaacs turns his reportorial eye to the conflict since Vietnam, covering the skirmishes and firefights of a cultural battle―some would say stalemate―that refuses to end.

Isaacs takes on the popular myths and misconceptions about Vietnam―among them the mistaken belief that the U.S. military lacked clear goals. ("In many conversations with U.S. officers in Vietnam, I do not recall discovering any who were in doubt about what they were supposed to do there.") He exposes the myth of the MIAs―a myth sustained not only by grieving relatives but also by professional con men of breathtaking cynicism―and shows how the many false MIA stories may nonetheless reveal a deeper truth: "We lost something in Vietnam and we want it back." Isaacs talks to the veterans unable to forget the war no one wanted to talk to them about. He explores the class divisions deepened by a conflict in which the privileged avoided service that an earlier generation had embraced as a duty. (691 Harvard alumni died in World War II, Isaacs points out; in Vietnam, nineteen.) And he shows how the "Vietnam Syndrome" continues to affect nearly every major U.S. foreign policy decision, from the Persian Gulf to Somalia, Bosnia, and Haiti.

Capturing the ironic legacies of a war that abounds in them, Isaacs introduces the "new Americans"―the Vietnamese, Thais, and Cambodians―who fled Indochina to settle in the U.S., where fashion spreads in the New York Times Magazine feature models photographed in Vietnamese settings wearing "Indo-chic clothes" that sell for four to five years' income for the average Vietnamese. ("Farm girl's jacket in 'periwinkle blue' raw silk: $1,460 by Richard Tyler.") And he recounts the experiences of Americans who have returned to Vietnam, only to find their former enemies turned entrepreneurs―such as the operators of a popular Saigon bar called Apocalypse Now.

Isaacs reports and writes for those whose lives were changed by the war and also for a generation that has come of age without memory of Vietnam but who nonetheless feels its shadow in the country they soon will lead.

Print length

256 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Johns Hopkins University Press
Publication date

April 14, 2000
Dimensions

6 x 0.61 x 9 inches
ISBN-10

0801863449
ISBN-13

978-0801863448
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Editorial Reviews

Review

More than 20 years after the fall of Saigon, Vietnam still haunts us. It is the war that never seems to go away. Arnold Isaacs's readable and insightful new book, Vietnam Shadows, is an effort to explore comprehensively the many facets of this phenomenon.

-- George C. Herring ― Chicago Tribune

A finely balanced retrospection that is emotionally and morally engaged, and that works by deft indirection . . . Isaacs deploys telling tangents, revealing juxtapositions, and shrewd asides to deepen our understanding of the impact of the war. His range is impressive . . . his judgments are sound, and his exquisite nose for detecting self-deception leads him to some awkward truths about the wartime mythologies that have become encased in middle-aged amber.

-- Adam Garfinkle ― New York Times

Written with exemplary detachment for one who was witness to the blood baths, Vietnam Shadows covers a broad range of subjects . . . Here the Vietnam of syndromes, MIA myths, noble causes, and ignoble casuistries receives critical scrutiny, while the America of veterans, the Vietnam generation, and the new Americans from Southeast Asia comes into trenchant focus.

-- Robert Andersen ― Washington Post Book World

No event in the post-World War II era, many have argued, had such far reaching and tragic effects on American society, politics, and international relations as the Vietnam War. These 'far reaching effects' are the subject of Arnold R. Isaacs's comprehensive, insightful, and indeed, compassionate book.

-- William B. Pickett ― Journal of Military History

Book Description

Post war reflections by those who were there.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Johns Hopkins University Press; 1st edition (April 14, 2000)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 256 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0801863449
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0801863448
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12.8 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.61 x 9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #2,924,996 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,947 in Vietnam War Biographies (Books)
- #2,943 in Southeast Asia History
- #3,190 in Historical Asian Biographies (Books)

Customer Reviews:
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Charles A. Krohn

Absorbing and somewhat dated

Reviewed in the United States on December 19, 2013

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While I challenge some of the passages early in this book, I heartedly agree with sentiments that are more wishful thinking than factual. But who could foresee that if our involvement in Vietnam was a disaster, how can one describe our adventures in Afghanistan and Pakistan? He quotes Don Oberdorfer: "We're not going to have another Vietnam now because we've already had Vietnam," Isaacs then interpolates: "...meaning that America would never again be unaware of the risks and uncertainties of stepping into another country's violence. This was written in 1977; it could not be written in 2013.

Having visited south Vietnam recently, I can attest how that part of the country is a powerhouse of capitalism, from big factories to little shops and restaurants. This makes me wonder if those who sacrificed so much to expand communism and a collective cultural now feel the effort was worth it? I suppose the old men who now hold the reins of power would agree it was, but I suspect future generations will have their own interpretation.

2 people found this helpful

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Josh M.

Read me

Reviewed in the United States on June 6, 2021

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Nostalgia...interesting take on this concept. We’ve sent many to their deaths over nostalgia.

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Luv 2 read

A most valid examination of the Vietnam War and what ...

Reviewed in the United States on February 17, 2016

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A most valid examination of the Vietnam War and what it did to America. This book should be in every high school library in America.

Reviewed in the United States on August 20, 2017

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As described and fast shipping.

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Brian Leverenz

Vietnam is still with us and will be so for a long time!

Reviewed in the United States on September 25, 2000

Mr. Isaacs has done a credible job of detailing the ongoing tragedy of Vietnam and its impact upon our politics, our foreign policy, our citizenry, Vietnamese immigrants and many veterans groups and issues, especially the POW/MIA issue. THat he does so in so short a book is a testament to the emotional power of his writing. However, the chapters are uneven, some are so short as to be barely worth mentioning, others give us an overview of issues without going to deeply in to them. The most interesting chapters are the ones on the POW/MIA issue and our ongoing Vietnam syndrome. In the POW/MIA chapter, the author nicely skewers those who continue to perpetrate the myth that there are still POW's in Vietnam. Inded this is one of the greatest postwar tragedies, that many groups feed off the grief of families by keeping this issue at the forefront of their conciousness (and their pocketbook) when in fact there is no proof, living or otherwise of any remaining POW's in Nam. Isaacs points out the folly of the issue and the fact that it keeps us from both reconciling with the families of those lost and normalizing relations with a country that is eager to put the war behind it as well. But the author points out that the war was never really about Vietnam, but more about us, and that is the real tragedy and the source of many of the misunderstandings of the war. The longer the war went on, the more the issue became saving American pride and face, and the less the issue was the people of Vietnam and the impact the war had upon them. Indeed, most postwar discussion focuses on what might have happened if we had either pulled out earlier or let the military unleash its full power, instead of talking about what did happen and why. This only lends credence to the authors point that the issues of the war have not yet been resolved, nor are they likely to be for a long time. If you are looking for a good overview of post Vietnam war issues, this is an excellent source book; but if you want to go into depth on one then its probably not what you are looking for, though it is useful in framing issues. Since this book came out there has been a huge output of information on the war, much of it excellent, though much of it falls into the trap of discussing what ifs instead of what did happen. And those of us who follow politics have heard the frequent references to the Vietnam syndrome by Clinton, BUsh, Reagan and others, both in describing past conflicts, i.e. the GUlf War, BOsnia, Haiti, and in framing future foreign invlovements, i.e. John McCain. Though the author only glazes over the issue i nthe syndrome chapter, another tragedy of Vietnam is that the U.S still has no recognizable foreign policy i nthe post cold war world. Good, if too short of a book, though unquestioably many will find fault with the author's politcs, even in a post war context.

5 people found this helpful

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Paul S.

DECLASSIFIED DIA DOCUMENTS LISTED POWS STILL ALIVE AFTER THE WAR

Reviewed in the United States on May 1, 2019

My family knows for a fact that POWs were knowingly abandoned by our military and government when the war ended. My brother, Joseph A. Matejov was sent on a reconnaissance mission over the Ho Chi Minh trail 8 days after the signing of the Peace Treaty. His plane, the Baron 52, was shot down over Laos, and within weeks, the day we negotiated a treaty with Laos (for a secret war we were not supposed to be fighting), all 8 crew members on that flight were declared KIA. This was despite much evidence that 4 of the men were captured. THE DIA MAINTAINED RECORDS OF THEIR CAPTURE, DESPITE TESTIFYING TO THE SENATE SELECT COMMITTEE THAT ALL WERE KILLED IN THE CRASH. THE SCC'S HIRED INVESTIGATOR, SEDGWICK TOURISON, DELIVERED THIS EVIDENCE TO THE COMMITTEE, YET THEY CHOSE, INSTEAD, THE LIES DECLARING THEM KIA.
THIS AUTHOR HAS DISTORTED THE FACTS - OR HAS CHOSEN ONLY TO BELIEVE THE LIES PERPERTRATED BY OUR GOVERNMENT. THEY DECLARED "THE MYSTERY OF BARON 52, SOLVED" IN A WASH POST ARTICLE IN 1995, STATING THAT ALL 8 CREWMEMBERS WERE IDENTIFIED BY 31 BONE FRAGMENTS. WE HAVE IN OUR POSSESSION, A LETTER FROM THE FORENSIC SCIENTISTS FROM CILHI, THAT THEY COULD NOT EVEN DETERMINE WHETHER OR NOT THESE BONES WERE HUMAN!!!!!

Helpful

Exceptionally absorbing commentary

Reviewed in the United States on June 20, 2005

The author spent two or so years as a correspondent in Vietnam (1972-1975) The book has eight chapters, each discussing a factor involved with the aftermath to the war and how the war has affected events and people since its end and up to 1997. When the book was written the desire to avoid "another Vietnam" was strong. Our present President has however disregarded that desire and one would like to have an updated version of the author's thoughts on how Vietnam has affected the present war--which has proven the prescience of the first President Bush in avoiding a prolonged first Gulf War. This book is as fine a discussion of the aftereffects of Vietnam as I have read--I only wish it were updated to consider the events since 1997.

2 people found this helpful

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alainviet

Insightful

Reviewed in the United States on March 8, 2004

The book discusses about the Vietnam War topics that have been ignored in the past: the veterans, the wall, the syndrome, the myth and the refugees. Basically it is about the long-term effects of the war on the public and the nation.

It is a well-written and conceived book that explained why the Vietnam War would not go away in the minds of many Americans. Part of it is related to the fact that Americans, especially veterans have invested so much in the process and have not gotten anything out of it, except physical and emotional scars. And to this day many still have not recovered from these scars.

5 people found this helpful

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