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Rumour Of War Caputo by Philip Caputo

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stephaniebooks's review against another edition

5.0

This is an incredible and thoughtful perspective on the War in Vietnam from one of the soldiers who had to live the war on the ground. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a good perspective on Vietnam.

paul_cornelius's review against another edition

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4.0

Caputo's look back at the beginning of America's major intervention into the Vietnam War. Heretofore, the emphasis on counterinsurgency had ruled strategic and tactical thinking. With the landing of US forces at Danang in 1965, all that began to change. From a perimeter base force to moving out into defensive patrols, Caputo's experience echoes in microcosm America's gradual escalation into a full out war in Indochina, albeit with a mishmash of restrictions and off limit areas. He also details his work counting casualties and the absurd situations that arose therefrom.

Caputo's book helped kick off the avalanche of Vietnam War related books that formed a sort of literary subgenre in the late 1970s and 1980s. This is one of the most important. I can't say the same for Caputo's subsequent fiction, but this work is vital to any student of the war or the literature that emerged from it.