Vietnam: Explaining America's Lost War

Preface ix

1 From the Streets to the Books: The Origins of an Enduring Debate 1

2 A Necessary War or a Mistaken War? 25

3 “Kennedy Exceptionalism” or “Missed Opportunity for Peace” or “Lost Victory?” – The Movement toward War, 1961-1965 50

4 The Revisionist Critique of the “Other War” – The Clausewitzian Alternative 84

5 The Revisionist Critique of the “Strategy for Defeat” – The Clausewitzian Alternative 84

6 The Media and the War: Shaping or Reflecting Public Opinion? 133

7 The Tet Offensive: A decisive American Victory or a Prolongation of Stalemate? 154

8 Nixon-Kissinger and the Ending of the War; A “Lost Victory” or “Neither Peace nor Honor?” 179

9 Conclusion 207

Bibliography 211

Index 214