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xxiv Introduction The greatest irony of the Vietnam War occurred in Vietnam, where the communist regime, faced with economic stagnation and a restless popula- tion that no longer had a war of national liberation to inspire it, opened the gates to foreign investment and by 2001 had initiated trade relations with its old enemy, the United States. Luxury hotels and resorts opened. Ameri- can tourists on bicycling and hiking trips reported no animosity from the Vietnamese. At odds with China since 1979 when it turned back a Chinese invasion, Vietnam has been willing to turn to the United States for aid. In 2018, ­ Vietnam welcomed the U.S. aircraft carrier Carl Vinson to Da Nang, the city that once served as the staging post for U.S. operations. “It’s a pretty big and historic step, since a carrier has not been here for 40 years,” said the Carl Vinson’s commander, Rear Admiral John V. Fuller (Beech 2018). For him, calling on Da Nang was something of a family milestone. His father had served in Vietnam. FURTHER READING Beech, Hannah. “U.S. Aircraft Carrier Arrives in Vietnam, With Message for China,” New York Times, March 4, 2018. Bodard, Lucien. 1967. The Quicksand War: Prelude to Vietnam. London: Faber and Faber. Burroughs, William. “The Coming of the Purple Better One,” Esquire, November 1968. Ebert, James R. 1993. A Life in a Year: The American Infantryman in Vietnam, 1965–1972. Novato, CA: Presidio Press. Lerner, Max. 1957. American Civilization: Life and Thought in the United States Today. New York: Simon and Schuster. Mailer, Norman. 1968. The Armies of the Night. London: Weidenfeld & Nicholson. McAlister, John T., and Paul Mus. 1970. The Vietnamese and Their Revolution. New York: Harper & Row. McDonald, Country Joe. 2000. “How I Wrote the Rag.” countryjoe.com. Mr. X. “The Sources of Soviet Conduct.” Foreign Affairs, July 1947. Oberdorfer, Don. 2001. Tet! The Turning Point in the Vietnam War. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. Ward, Geoffrey C., and Ken Burns. 2017. The Vietnam War: An Intimate History. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. Wintle, Justin. 1991. The Vietnam Wars. New York: St. Martin’s Press.