American Reckoning: The Vietnam War and Our National Identity
Christian G. Appy
How did the Vietnam War change the way Americans think of themselves as a people and a nation? Christian G. Appy, author of the widely praised oral history of the Vietnam War Patriots, now examines the relationship between the war's realities and myths and its impact on the US's national identity, conscience, pride, shame, popular culture and postwar foreign policy. Drawing on a vast variety of sources from movies, songs and novels to official documents, media coverage and contemporary commentary, Appy offers an original interpretation of the war.
Award History
0 wins · 1 total
| Award | Year | Result | Category / Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in NonfictionMajor | 2016 | Longlist | Official source |
Experimental book profileGenerated by GPT-5.4 nano · may contain inaccuracies
This is an unverified interpretation of the catalog description, offered as an opt-in discovery experiment—not as bibliographic fact.
01 Central figures
None extracted with sufficient confidence.
02 Central places
None extracted with sufficient confidence.
03 Suggested argument
The Vietnam War’s realities and myths reshaped Americans’ national identity, affecting conscience, pride and shame, popular culture, and postwar foreign policy.
Model confidence 70%
04 Reading orientation
45 / 100 academicTrade / academic crossover
An estimate of intended readership and scholarly apparatus—not quality or importance.
Confidence percentages are the model's own estimates. Profile confidence: 72%.