Shipping Estimate
USA
- USA
- CAN
- USA
- CAN
Ships within 48 hours · Estimated delivery Jul 14 - Jul 19
Promo Codes Available:
For Your Every Summer RSVP, with Code: SUMMER15
Description
Desertion in the Time of Vietnam: A MemoirIn 1969 Jack Todd was twenty three and happy beyond his dreams. He had left behind a hardscrabble youth in a small Nebraska town, had an exciting job as a reporter for the Miami Herald, and was in love with his beautiful Cuban American girlfriend. As the war in Vietnam drew closer, he assumed that he would fight, as the men in his family had always fought, though he was increasingly troubled by America's role there. His oldest friend, who had just
In 1969 Jack Todd was twenty-three and happy beyond his dreams. He had left behind a hardscrabble youth in a small Nebraska town, had an exciting job as a reporter for the Miami Herald, and was in love with his beautiful Cuban American girlfriend. As the war in Vietnam drew closer, he assumed that he would fight, as the men in his family had always fought, though he was increasingly troubled by America's role there. His oldest friend, who had just returned from Vietnam, pleaded with Jack to dodge the draft and go to Canada, but Jack entered the army. He had almost completed basic training when, on Christmas leave, he made an agonizing decision. By now deeply opposed to the war, he crossed the border into Canada, leaving behind his family, the girl he loved, and his homeland.Now one of Canada's most successful journalists, Jack Todd is a remarkable writer of great power and vibrancy. It has taken him thirty years to come to terms with the guilt and shame of desertion, to break the silence, and to tell this controversial, moving, and profoundly American story. The result is an eloquent account of a tortured time in our nation's history told with searing honesty, passion, and literary verve.
Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: University of Nebraska Press
Published: 03/01/2012
ISBN: 9780803239814
Pages: 293
Weight: 0.81lbs
Size: 8.01h x 5.30w x 0.90d
Shipping Notes
- Free Standard Shipping on $100+ Orders to the USA.
- Except Preorder products are shipped in 48 hours.
- Delivery to the USA:
- Standard Shipping : 3-10 business days
- If time is of the essence, please consider selecting expedited delivery for faster service.
Exchange/Return Notes
- We offer a 30-day return/exchange service after receiving.
- Final sale items are not eligible for returns or exchanges.
- To process your return/exchange, please contact us at [email protected]
- Please click here for more details>>> Return & Exchange Policy
4.2 ★★★★★
Based on 987 reviews
Sort
Product Reviews
★★★★★ 5
Spectacular Albeit Unknown History of Race Relations
Format: Hardcover
This is a great piece of historiography about something few know about at all --- slavery in New York City in the 18th century. How about a slave "rebellion" in New York City, how about more people burned at the stake than in the Salem witchcraft trials, how about dark byways and highways of old New York, barely transformed from its days as New Amsterdam, dark plots in dank places, shrill frightened tyrants overreacting with bloody retribution, burned ruins of an early African American village in Central Park?
One cannot make up this stuff, it is too real so it must be history at its best.
And written by one of our premier authors of history, a woman who makes our history live in The New Yorker to the acclaim of many, and yet whose best book, this one, is still too little known.
If you appreciate Harry Truman's remark that the only new thing under the Sun is the history you haven't read, then this is one to curl up with and marvel at; a great way to spend a rainy day or a dark night.
WAS THIS REVIEW HELPFUL?YesReportShare
Reviewed in the United States on January 22, 2010
★★★★★ 4
Good, but not great.
Format: Paperback
Kudos to Lepore for delving into an important, little known subject, which she does better than most historians. At times, however, I think she felt the need to put every little piece of information she got into the book. It was way too long. Some good research, but she has done better. Still, worth checking out. I like to think I know American history, but I know nothing about this awful chapter.
WAS THIS REVIEW HELPFUL?YesReportShare
Reviewed in the United States on April 1, 2019
★★★★★ 5
DAMN, this is a great book!
Format: Hardcover
All history books should be this detailed, this readable, this humane. Lepore knows how to write about a horrible, nearly forgotten episode in NYC history. Unlike many historians, she steps away from overt politics or raw emotion. She knows that this subject is too serious to be shouted. It is the rare history book that is packed with facts as well as knowledge.
I felt like Lepore was taking my hand and leading me through the smelly streets of lower Manhattan in 1741, like I could almost see the faces of...what were they, anyway? The victims of a horrible hoax? The demented planners of a plot to burn the city? Or something in between, where thieves can also be the keepers of ancient rites from a distant homeland, where the world is turned upside down?
I could go on and on, but just buy the book!
WAS THIS REVIEW HELPFUL?YesReportShare
Reviewed in the United States on May 20, 2008
★★★★★ 3
New York Burning
Format: Paperback
.
This is an important book that explores in depth what is usually only found in textbooks as a one-sentence summation:
"In 1741 there was a slave uprising in New York City."
Scholars will probably be happier starting with the Appendix and bibliography and then reading the book. The text is disorganized and uneven, and although this is non-fiction, the characters could have been more finely drawn. Peter Zenger's trail keeps popping up in unexpected places, often disconnected from the action the author is working on. Some sections are heavy on primary documents and period writings, others are more poetic.
Yes, I do understand the parallels with the Salem Witch Trials. The Salem Witch Trials get more press today because of Arthur Miller's "Crucible." Color and religion of the participants aside, both events are stories of group think and mass hysteria, fear and anger. There is plenty of room here for a first-class film or play to be written.
Read this book, learn from it. Expect to complain about it.
Kim Burdick
Stanton, DE
WAS THIS REVIEW HELPFUL?YesReportShare
Reviewed in the United States on November 7, 2014
★★★★★ 5
What You Didn't Know
Format: Paperback
Did you know that if you were a Catholic Priest on the streets of New York in 1747 that you'd be arrested and hung! Great book if you're interested in the times during which our founding Fathers were growing up. It'll give you a different concept on how slavery was different in NYC as opposed to in the South, and how many of the streets in NYC got there names from English magistrates. If you like history, especially of NYC, you'll love this book.
WAS THIS REVIEW HELPFUL?YesReportShare
Reviewed in the United States on January 24, 2015