The Wars we took to Vietnam: Cultural Conflict and Storytelling.

We have long awaited such a detailed reading of Vietnam fiction and nonfiction by American authors and filmmakers. Milton Bates has chosen - quite properly - to examine the conceptual frameworks of Americans reflected in the literature. In conducting his studies, he has been conscientious, honest, and - in his own way - fair. Yet this book delivers a skewed report of the Vietnam legacy.

The cover art features a painting entitled "Forms of Delirium" by John Saccaso; this grotesque image echoes the tone of the book. According to Professor Bates, the America that went to war did so with a number of cultural myths blinding it to the realities of the struggle:

* Perverted in our attitudes toward the frontier by our Puritan heritage, we struck out with heartless violence at a demonized people.

* As a racist society, we wrote the draft laws so that black Americans were channeled to frontline units.

* As a capitalist society, we misused our working class on ...