A Rumor of War | 
 enlarge | Author: Philip Caputo
Publisher: Holt Paperbacks
Category: Book
List Price: $15.00
Buy Used: $2.70
You Save: $12.30 (82%)
New (51) Used (125) Collectible (7) from $2.70
Avg. Customer Rating:  105 reviews
Sales Rank: 22312
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 356
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.5 x 1.1
ISBN: 080504695X
Dewey Decimal Number: 959.70438
EAN: 9780805046953
ASIN: 080504695X
Publication Date: November 15, 1996
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
The classic Vietnam memoir, as relevant today as it was almost thirty years ago. In March of 1965, Marine Lieutenent Philip J. Caputo landed at Da Nang with the first ground combat unit deployed to Vietnam. Sixteen months later, having served on the line in one of modern history’s ugliest wars, he returned home—physically whole but emotionally wasted, his youthful idealism forever gone.
A Rumor of War is more than one soldier’s story. Upon its publication in 1977, it shattered America’s indifference to the fate of the men sent to fight in the jungles of Vietnam. In the years since then, it has become not only a basic text on the Vietnam War but also a renowned classic in the literature of wars throughout history and, as Caputo explains, of “the things men do in war and the things war does to men.”
“A singular and marvelous work.” —The New York Times
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| Customer Reviews: Read 100 more reviews...
Viet nam account October 8, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Caputo's account as a combat officer is the best book on direct experience in Nam. It ranks up there with Normen Mailer's The Naked and fhe Dead and Audie Murphy's WW2 account of his combat experience in To Hell and Back superbley written--gripping. Maurice
Excellent look into front line Vietnam June 6, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I thought this book was the best book on Vietnam that I have ever read. Its a facinating look into life as a line officer in a front line Marine Infantry batallion during the early part of the war. Caputo holds nothing back when it comes to describing life on the front line and what goes through the minds of these young, too young Marines who fought on the front line. An excellent read and I highly reccomend it.
Well written and engrossing June 3, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Its a page turner from start to finish. A very unique view of the war.
 Caputo wasn't much of a marine May 31, 2008
5 out of 11 found this review helpful
Caputo wasn't much of a marine. He started complaining about Vietnam before he arrived. Every page is filled with criticism, cynicism, griping, complaining, and self-serving tripe. He wanted to be a hero, but he didn't have what it took to be anything but a whining wimp. Certainly he writes well. But writing well and living well are entirely different. He doesn't understand honor or duty. Sure the war was politicized, but so is every war. Sure the rules of engagement were stupid, but a soldier serves. Caputo did not serve; rather he whined. Many of us who served in Vietnam believed there were many things that made no sense. But we didn't turn tail and run. We served. For those who want to understand what is was like to be a soldier in Vietnam, read "We Were Soldiers Once... and Young" or "Steel My Soldiers' Hearts". If you want to know what is was like to be useless in Vietnam, read this book.
 Real life account May 29, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I assigned this book to my college students for a closer glimpse of the Vietnam Conflict. I had not read it before, but had done research and study on the subject. I found Caputo's book to be insightful, controversial and thought provoking. He doesn't glamorize the war but explains how it effected soldiers and one of the many reasons it was such a mess. Throughout the book, Caputo shows how the conditions changed the average American teenager into a robotic killer and how their experiences stayed with them. In the end, he speaks against the war, but not in the normal Jane Fonda version of bashing the military and labeling them rapists and baby killer. Caputo talks about how the government was at fault and created the situations that lead to PTSD and other issues for returning soldiers.
A must read to understand the war and its effects on our soldiers.
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