his was a short, yet exhaustive history of the fights that went into creating the Vietnam War Memorial.

I was too young to notice or care at the time, but it got ugly and vicious before they even broke ground.

As I was reading this account, I thought about my one visit to the memorial some years back. All that fighting, and the memorial ended up being one of the most moving and substantial memorials for war dead in history. I didn't think I would be affected at all, but being surrounded by all those names of the dead I was overcome with grief halfway down the wall. All those families missing a loved one, and for what? Stroking the egos of the POTUS, Pentagon warmongers, and the profits of the industrial military complex. Communism isn't poisoning our food and water supplies like the domestic chemical companies are. It was a big tantrum over nothing.

Recommended for history geeks, war history geeks, art scholars, and fans of public/memorial art.

A quite remarkable book. The story of the genesis and establishment of the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington DC, USA.
The subtext of the title says "Art, Memory and the Fight for a Vietnam War Memorial."
It is a complex issue and a deep scar in the American psyche. Not surprising given the political fall out of a conflict they government loss the ability to win, the honesty to admit its futility and the courage to withdraw in terms of saving combat lives rather than face.
It is a book that might not immediately appeal to me but kept me engrossed throughout not to take sides but to understand both arguments. In essence how could a national memorial be representative of a defeat, a waste of a country's youth and a reflect those from the anti-war lobby.
Brilliantly written, with an independent voice that has the measure of all aspects of the struggle to remember those that died and those who dodged the draft.
But it also gives great insight into the world of art and design. The chance for serendipity when a competition is launched and the potential winner being an unknown graduate student. How one person's version can move a nation. How a memorial can salve wounds and heal memory sufficient to finally move on.
The aspects of a national consciousness and a corporate meaning and that of an individual were well discussed and explored beyond what was immediately seen. That use of sensual responses to a slab of black granite rather than to regurgitate the past. It strikes me that is the principle role of art design in the widest sense, through architecture, the use of landscape and the focus of remembrance.
I enjoyed the summery of the difficult years between the concept and its construction. It was good that the story of the major players continued in the epilogue.
Finally I found it absolutely fitting that the author revealed his own journey and associations with that War. I loved his trip of remembrance and physical attachment to the wall.
I love books that point to other works you may be interested in, the authors other works may also now pique my desire further. It is also good to be reminded of books you have previously read like Perfume River by Robert Olen Butler in the grand scale of things it shows me why it was such an emotional aspect of his novel.
Finally this is a book of academic value and standing in its range and delivery. However, at no time did it seem dry and part of a study project as it reads like the best fiction and with the same drivers.