There has long been a total disconnect between those who protested against the Vietnam War and those who were sent to fight there. In this skilfully crafted memoir, former protester Biff Ward bridges the chasm between these two parties. Deeply moving, often funny, sometimes shocking, this highly readable book weaves together the three themes of anti-war protest, the experiences of Vietnam veterans, and the author's love affair with the people and culture of Vietnam.
I have been studying the impact of the war on the lives of Vietnam veterans for many years and I learnt more from this book than any other I have read.
- Peter Yule, author of the medical history of the veterans of the Vietnam War, The Long Shadow
Compassion, courage, and a desire for true connection: Biff Ward brings those to every page in this thoroughly original and thought-provoking exploration of war from the perspective of an anti-war protester who goes on to listen deeply and openly to the stories of soldiers. Remarkable.
- Nigel Featherstone, author of Bodies of Men
This book illuminates like a searchlight the long shadows cast by the highly controversial Vietnam War - across protestors, combatants, ordinary civilians, and on national psyches. As an Australian who has long pondered our role in that devastating conflict, the book became for me an irresistible inspiration to visit Vietnam, and to understand its resilient reconciliation.
- Jackie Yowell, publisher
"For many anti-Vietnam War protesters, their days in the movement are the stuff of nostalgia. But for Biff Ward, protest against the war would become the foundation of a continuing engagement with Vietnam and the legacies of its American War - for the people of Vietnam itself, but also for the men sent there by their governments to fight. She presents a profoundly human and personal account, a tender story of pain and resilience, and an ode to a country that has endured in the face of everything that a tragic modern history has thrown in its path."
- Frank Bongiorno, Professor of History at the Australian National University
From the comfort of the moral certainties of her years as an anti-Vietnam war protestor, Biff Ward enters the alien world of traumatized Vietnam veterans, driven to understand who they are. As she hears their emotion-filled stories she is absorbed into their community where she encounters her veteran muse. A compelling read.
- Graham Walker, Vietnam veteran, AM, the 'intellectual driving force' for the veteran community
in relation to justice around the Agent Orange issue,
as described by Peter Yule.
