cover image A Rift in the Earth: Art, Memory, and the Fight for a Vietnam War Memorial

A Rift in the Earth: Art, Memory, and the Fight for a Vietnam War Memorial

James Reston Jr. Arcade, $24.99 (272p) ISBN 978-1-62872-856-9

Historian and U.S. Army veteran Reston (Luther’s Fortress) shares the rocky, controversy-filled story behind the Vietnam Veterans Memorial (popularly known as the Wall) in this well-written examination of how the memorial was conceived and built. The story of the Wall has been told before, including in two first-person books by men who were instrumental in building it: Jan Scruggs (To Heal a Nation, written with Joel Swerdlow) and Robert Doubek (Creating the Vietnam Veterans Memorial). Reston makes liberal use of those two books here, along with many secondary sources. Few of the main players come out unscathed in Reston’s telling: while Scruggs vacillated in his support for extra design elements, designer Maya Lin remained “brusque and uncompromising”; Tom Carhart and Jim Webb, critics of Lin’s design, are portrayed as blustering bullies; benefactor H. Ross Perot was bullheaded and petulant; and memorial proponent Sen. John Warner was “self-congratulatory.” Some readers may take issue with Reston’s occasional references to the Wall as the “Vietnam Memorial” or the “Vietnam War Memorial.” The memorial was not intended as a monument to the war; rather, it was designed as a tribute to those who served in the war, living and dead. That minor criticism aside, Reston has produced a creditable account of this contentious affair. Illus. Agent: Markus Hoffman, Regal Hoffman & Associates. (Sept.)

Correction: An earlier version of this review incorrectly identified the author as a Vietnam Veteran.