Vietnam and America: A Documented History

Fearful that an ""America ignorant and innocent of Vietnam can again freely move against the self-determination of other nations,'' the editors have compiled here a history of United States involvement in Vietnam that draws equally on original material and surveys. Included are Vietnam's 1945 Declaration of Independencepart of which paraphrases our ownthe highlights of other key statements, speeches and treaties of the past 40 years, as well as such widely varied selections as Robert Scheer on the ``Vietnam lobby'' of the '50s, Seymour Hersh's account of the My Lai massacre, General Giap's recollection of the fall of Dien Bien Phu, and several excerpts from the Pentagon Papers. Although the publication of this material in one volume is immensely useful, the editors' notes are sometimes overbearing, as if the reader isn't trusted to come independently to their conclusionthat U.S. policy in Vietnam should be condemned. November