The Real War - by Jonathan Schell (Paperback)

About the Book

The village of Ben Suc originally published in 1967; The military half in 1968; both published by Knopf.

Book Synopsis

Jonathan Schell's extraordinary on-the-scene writing about Vietnam has stood the test of time in our continuing attempt to understand how and why the United States went to war-and how and why it lost.

In "The Village of Ben Suc" written "with skill that many a veteran reporter will envy" (New York Times), Schell recounts how American forces destroyed a village caught up in the largest American military operation of the war-he flies into Ben Suc in the attack helicopters, follows the assault on the village, and describes the fate of the villages after they have been taken to refugee camps. In "Military Half," Schell describes the destruction of two entire provinces in South Vietnam by American bombing and ground operations-he flies in the air-control planes that guide the bombing and provides firsthand accounts of the runs and their results. In "Real War," Schell offers a personal look back at the war he reported decades before.

The Real War is without equal in re-creating the sights, the sounds, and the feel of Vietnam.

"If, years from now, Americans are willing to read any books about the war, let them be The Village of Ben Suc and The Military Half by Jonathan Schell. They tell everything." -Gloria Emerson

Review Quotes

"If, years from now, Americans are willing to read any books about the war being so quickly forgotten, let them be The Village of Ben Suc and The Military Half, by Jonathan Schell. They tell everything." --Gloria Emerson

"[Written] with a skill that many a veteran war reporter will envy." --The New York Times

About the Author

JONATHAN SCHELL was born in 1943 in New York City, where he still lives. His previous books are History in Sherman Park, an account of two voters in the 1984 presidential election; The Abolition; The Fate of the Earth; and The Time of Illusion.