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A review by caseydmc
My Lai: Vietnam, 1968, and the Descent Into Darkness by Howard Jones
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.5
Really one of the hardest books I've read this year, in terms of content. For those who were born a generation after Vietnam or later, long after news, trial coverage, or public discourse about the consequences of this massive act of violence and the ensuing government coverup--as significant as this event was, it's not often covered in the cursory whitewashed versions of Vietnam conflict history to which Americans are exposed during school. The author provides a comprehensive account informed by primary sources, since-declassified documents, and interviews from as impartial historian take as one can in describing war crimes. Be advised that there is enough description of the horrors perpetuated against civilians--elderly, women, children--to demonstrate the severity of the situation, without being a morbid or grotesque "trauma p*rn."
Graphic: Physical abuse, Murder, Mass/school shootings, Gun violence, Child death, War, Racial slurs, Suicide, Death, Sexual violence, Rape, Violence, Sexual assault, and Racism