num_pages: 400
description: In a probing look at the myths of American culture that led us into the Vietnam quagmire, Loren Baritz exposes our national illusions: the conviction of our moral supremacy, our assumption that Americans are more idealistic than other people, and our faith in a technology that supposedly makes us invincible. He also reveals how Vietnam changed American culture today, from the successes and failures of the Washington bureaucracy to the destruction of the traditional military code of honor.
language: English
title: Backfire: A History of How American Culture Led Us into Vietnam and Made Us Fight the Way We Did
titlecomplete: Backfire: A History of How American Culture Led Us into Vietnam and Made Us Fight the Way We Did
genres: 20th Century, Military Fiction, History, War, Politics, Nonfiction
ratings_count: 92
publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press