The Long Reckoning

There's a world of books about the American war in South Asia, about what we did to its people and to ourselves. The Long Reckoning is different, a vivid, deeply researched account of some extraordinary Americans who have devoted themselves to undoing what they can of all that appalling damage. -Geoffrey C. Ward, co-author of The Vietnam War: An Intimate History George Black has given us a deeply moving book that embeds the story of his characters both in a new analysis of why the American War was so destructive and in an evocative portrait of modern Vietnam. The Long Reckoning is a must read to better understand the tragedy of this flawed war. -Craig McNamara, author of Because Our Fathers Lied George Black's masterpiece, The Long Reckoning, illuminates the Vietnam War's twin legacies - Agent Orange and leftover bombs - that even now continue destroying the lives of Vietnamese citizens and U.S. veterans. With color and empathy, Black weaves a vivid story of real people, providing a fresh, thoughtful look at a painful war's long aftermath. It's a spell-binding read, full of insight, horror, goodness and bravery. -Ted Osius, former U.S. ambassador to Vietnam and the author of Nothing Is Impossible: America's Reconciliation with Vietnam The Vietnam war never really goes away. It hides, and then the scab gets torn off again. The Long Reckoning is about many things, but at its heart it's about Agent Orange, and the damage that chemical did, and continues to do, to the bodies and souls of two nations. Movingly, morally, George Black tamps down his story to a handful of people, though principally two American vets. One is a wounded warrior, the other served in military intelligence. They meet now at the bridge of wanting to help make right that which was so wrong. -Paul Hendrickson, author of The Living and the Dead: Robert McNamara and Five Lives of a Lost War