cover image Vietnam: 9a War on Two Fronts

Vietnam: 9a War on Two Fronts

Sidney Lens. Dutton Books, $15.95 (12pp) ISBN 978-0-525-67320-0

More impassioned and less inclusive than Vietnam: Why We Fought (see review above), this short volume by a leader of the 1960s peace movement concentrates on American protest against the war in Vietnam. Lens quickly reviews the history of Vietnam in the 20th century, outlines U.S. military strategy (neglecting, however, the heroism or specific contributions of individual soldiers) and analyzes LBJ's motives for escalating the war. As Gen. Westmoreland and Henry Kissinger in particular earn Lens's fury, the founders of the peace movement draw especial praise and their tactics are singled out: rallies; teach-ins; resistance to the draft, including the burning of draft cards; refusal to pay federal taxes; etc. While some adults may sympathize with Lens's politics, his ideology is perhaps too much in evidence: for example, his discussion of the police brutality during the 1968 Chicago Democratic Party convention begins with the observation that ``the authorities were incapable of dealing with the Yippies' sense of fun.'' Photographs, confined to two inserts (of six and eight pages, respectively), are both badly laid out and poorly reproduced. Ages 12-up. (Oct.)