One of the most acclaimed books of our timethe definitive Vietnam War expos and the winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. When he came to Vietnam in 1962 Lieutenant Colonel John Paul Vann was the one clearsighted participant in an enterprise riddled with arrogance and selfdeception a charismatic soldier who put his life and career on the line in an attempt to convince his superiors that the war should be fought another way. By the time he died in 1972 Vann had embraced the follies he once decried. He died believing that the war had been won. In this magisterial book a monument of history and biography that was awarded the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize for Nonfiction a renowned journalist tells the story of John Vannthe one irreplaceable American in Vietnamand of the tragedy that destroyed a country and squandered so much of Americas young manhood and resources. show more