Telltale Hearts: The Origins and Impact of the Vietnam Antiwar Movement

More than two decades after the end of the Vietnam war, America's wounds have yet to heal. Still there is one conviction that most hawks and doves, then and now, share: that for better or worse, the Vietnam antiwar movement played an important role in turning American opinion against the war, limiting and ultimately ending US military activity in Southeast Asia. In reality however, this article of faith is quite wrong, as Telltale Hearts convincingly demonstrates. The antiwar movement, even at its radical height, was of marginal value and at times actually proved counterproductive to stopping or limiting the war. The movement unwittingly helped prolong the carnage, and more people on both sides were killed as a result.