Why read An Army Afire?

Book cover of An Army Afire: How the US Army Confronted Its Racial Crisis in the Vietnam Era

Book description

By the Tet Offensive in early 1968, what had been widely heralded as the best qualified, best-trained army in US history was descending into crisis as the Vietnam War raged without end. Morale was tanking. AWOL rates were rising. And in August of that year, a group of Black soldiers…

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Why read it?

1 author picked An Army Afire as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Brian McAllister Linn

Author

Blending extensive research with masterful analysis, Beth Bailey explains the US Army’s resolution of racial turmoil in the post-Vietnam era.

Bailey skillfully places what the Army termed “the race question” within the broader spectrum of societal and generational unrest in American society. She artfully intersects ‘big narrative’ with detailed micro studies on points of conflict and conciliation, such as Darmstadt 27 and the “salt and pepper” Davisons.

Through it all, Bailey illustrates how an institutional culture founded on discipline and leadership struggled to overcome internal evidence that it was providing neither.

This is a book that is both disturbing in…

From Brian's 3 favorite reads in 2023.