A review by ajlewis2
Secrets: A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers by Daniel Ellsberg

5.0

This is a very detailed story that is well-written and intriguing. I've long wanted to get an account of the events surrounding the Vietnam War, because I confess that I was pretty much ignorant of what was going on during that time. I was a young adult then. I saw "The Post" recently and that nudged me to look into Ellsberg. Finding this book, I figured I could probably get a pretty accurate look at things from him. I got what I was looking for and in a form that made for a very good read. It took me about 3 months of off and on reading, but at no point did I ever consider abandoning the book. I simply had to mix in some other reading, because this is one very heavy story. I'm grateful that an end to that war finally came and thankful to Daniel Ellsberg and the many others who worked toward that end.
The book, incidentally, goes much farther back than just the Pentagon Papers. Much of the book is about history and personal experience in Vietnam with the reasoning of the assessment of the futility of a war there. That was advice that was sadly not heeded by several presidents.