The Vietnam War: A Graphic History

The Vietnam War: A Graphic History is written by award-winning military historian (and former Marvel Comics editor) Dwight Zimmerman. It is illustrated by veteran comics illustrator Wayne Vansant, who illustrated Marvel Comics’ “The ‘Nam” as well as several graphic volumes on the American Civil War and the Korean War.

A clear graphic narrative that works potently as a learning tool for middle grades and high school students, The Vietnam War: A Graphic History has a central focus on the decade, from 1962 through 1972, when the U.S. commitment in Vietnam expanded from a few hundred advisors to a half-million young men fighting to keep South Vietnam an independent, democracy-based country.

Military conscription does not exist in America today, but in the 1950s, 1960s, and the early part of the 1970s, every able-bodied 18-year-old American male had to register for the draft, and the vast majority of fighting men sent to Vietnam were in fact drafted. This brought their families, and the whole of American civilian society, into a heated debate on the necessity and moral viability of the war.

The Vietnam War: A Graphic History examines how several American presidents and their individual agendas, as well as the national media – which broadcast the war into American homes daily – impacted the war effort and helped create the greatest divide in American society since the Civil War.

Preview

Nominations/Awards

Winner of the 2010 Gold Medal in the Artistic/Graphic category from the Military Writers Society of America

1st Place Winner of the 2010 Branson Stars and Flags Book Award (Photography / Graphics)

Reviews

Dwight Zimmerman and Wayne Vansant treat the complicated and controversial history of America’s war in Vietnam with clarity and sensitivity in this graphic history. For those new to the story, it is a concise yet comprehensive and vivid overview; for those who remember the war, it is a stunning retrospective.

—Craig L. Symonds, author of Lincoln and His Admirals

Dwight Jon Zimmerman and Wayne Vansant have created a truly graphic history of America’s tragic misadventure in Vietnam. They show the mistaken assumptions, failed policies, and hubris that doomed American efforts to prevent a Communist takeover of South Vietnam. At the same time they maintain a balanced presentation that leans to neither the pro-war nor anti-war side in this country’s most divisive conflict.

—James M. McPherson , author of Battle Cry of Freedom

An emotionally moving combination of graphics and text clearly describing the events that led up to a war and years of bloodshed, which threatened the unity of the American people.

—Joe Kubert, author of Fax from Sarajevo and Yossel

You are not likely to find a more balanced, comprehensive, and accurate—yet marvelously accessible—overview of the Vietnam War than Dwight Zimmerman’s and Wayne Vansant’s graphic history. If you want a good introduction to that war, don’t go to Wikipedia; go here.

—Tony Koltz, coauthor of The Battle for Peace

Zimmerman and Vansant do a memorable job . . . A painstaking and even-handed tour of the politics and the strategic mistakes, the battles and the protests, the lives lost and the lessons learned.

—The Arizona Republic

This book has not only answered so many questions for me, but it has encapsulated the entire scope of the war into such easily digested segments without ever once feeling pedantic. I’m loving it for being so ambitious and respecting it for accomplishing it with such aplomb. I would have that what writer Dwight Jon Zimmerman and artist Wayne Vansant have done would be incredibly difficult, but they make it look quite easy.

—John Hogan, Graphic Novel Reporter

I’ve waited years for a graphic novel like this—an historic account of the Vietnam War—and Dwight Jon Zimmerman and Wayne Vansant expertly deliver it! Over the years pop culture has dealt with Vietnam artistically, mainly in film, offering personalized perspectives of this troubling time. The Vietnam War: A Graphic History instead is focused on the facts, and the actual war itself—which is an incredibly gripping tale. With the state of the world today, the lessons of Vietnam are more relevant than ever before, making The Vietnam War: A Graphic History a must-read graphic novel for all ages!

—Jim Salicrup, Papercutz Editor-in-Chief,
Trustee of the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art

Zimmerman and Vansant lead the reader though the military, political and social history of an incredibly complex topic. They show the North Vietnamese as well as the American viewpoints, and the successes and failures of both sides. No one book can properly tell the history of the Vietnam war, but Mr. Zimmerman and Mr. Vansant’s graphic history is a valuable introduction to the conflict.”

—Larry Bond, bestselling author and game designer of Harpoon

The Vietnam War: A Graphic History is an innovative way to present a complex period in American history. Using actual dialogue with illustrations of the personalities involved, it brings the people and the events to life.

 — Philip Caputo, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of A Rumor of War