Christian G. Appy explores how the Vietnam war was managed, reported, packaged, and consumed; the myths that were created; why decisions were made; who (if anyone) got left behind; America's accountability for atrocities and how the real 'Vietnam syndrome' has played out in popular culture and our foreign policy. He reports across newspaper accounts, TV coverage, Pentagon stats and position papers, memoirs, movies, novels, and more to create a completely fresh account of the meaning of the war, asking the hard questions.