Light at the End of the Tunnel

Of all of the wars in which the U.S. has been engaged, none has been as divisive as the conflict in Vietnam. The repercussions of this unsettling episode in American history still resonate in our society. Although it ended more than 30 years ago, the Vietnam War continues to fascinate and trouble Americans. The third edition of Light at the End of the Tunnel gives a full overview of the conflict. Starting with Ho Chi Minh's revolt against the French, editor Andrew J. Rotter takes the reader through the succeeding years as scholars, government officials, journalists, and others recount the important events in the conflict and examine issues that developed during this tumultuous time. This book is essential reading for anyone who has an interest in understanding the Vietnam War. The readings in it will enlighten students about this turning point in the history of the United States and the world. The third edition includes greater coverage of the Vietnamese experience of the war and reflects the growing interest in understanding the war as an international event, not just a bilateral or trilateral conflict.

Andrew J. Rotter is Charles A. Dana Professor of History at Colgate University.

Chapter 1: Getting In, 1945-1952 1. Ho Chi Minh: The Untried Gamble 2. The United States, Its Allies and the Bao Dai Experiment Chapter 2: Fighting Shy, 1953-1961 3. Dwight D. Eisenhower and Wholehearted Support of Ngo Dinh Diem 4. Geneva, 1954: The Precarious Peace 5. The CIA Comes to Vietnam Chapter 3: Digging In, 1961-1968 6. No "Non-Essential Areas": Kennedy and Vietnam 7. The Tonkin Gulf Resolution 8. Lyndon Johnson Chooses War 9. The Tet Offensive, 1968 10. A Dissenter in the Administration Chapter 4: Getting Out, 1968-1975 11. Nixon, Kissinger, and a Pax Americana 12. Bombing Hanoi, Mining Haiphong, and the Moscow Summit 13. Stabbed in the Back Chapter 5: Allies and Enemies 14. Ngo Dinh Diem, the Impossible Ally 15. Ngo Dinh Diem, Modernizer 16. The Foreign Policy of North Vietnam 17. The National Liberation Front and the Land Chapter 6: The Battlefield 18. Getting Hit 19. Feeling Cold 20. Nursing and Disillusionment 21. They Did Not Know Good From Evil 22. My Lai: The Killing Begins Chapter 7: International Dimensions of the War 23. The Soviet Union and American Escalation 24. China and American Escalation 25. The Vietnamese and Global Revolutions Chapter 8: Laos and Cambodia 26. The War in Laos 27. Bombing Cambodia: A Critique 28. Bombing Cambodia: A Defense Chapter 9: Interpreting the War 29. A Clash of Cultures 30. An Opportunity for Power 31. A Defense of Freedom 32. An Act of Imperialism 33. An Assertion of Manhood Chapter 10: The War in America 34. Working-Class War 35. Seeds of a Movement 36. Women at the Barricades, Then and Now Chapter 11: The Legacy of War 37. Saigon: The End and the Beginning 38. Homecoming USA 39. Amerasians: A People in Between Chapter 12: Afterword 40. Letting Go