Mike Lepine creates an extraordinary, panoramic view of all sides of the war. His narrative begins well before American forces set foot in Vietnam, delving into French colonialism's contribution to the 1945 Vietnamese revolution, and revealing how the Cold War concerns of the 1950s led the United States to back the French. The heart of the book covers the American war," ranging from the overthrow of Ngo Dinh Diem and the impact of the Tet Offensive to Nixon's expansion of the war intoCambodia and Laos and the peace agreement of 1973 which resulted in the ending of the conflict in 1975. This illustrated book and three DVD set provides an extensive examination of the brutal conflict that was the Vietnam War. The DVDs feature Billy Brown, a young American recruit who is the guiding thread of these powerful and unusual films put together from American archive material left forgotten or subject to censorship until now."