James Reston, Jr. was an assistant to Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall before serving in the US Army from 1965 to 1968. He is the bestselling author of seventeen books-including The Conviction of Richard Nixon: The Untold Story of the Frost/Nixon Interviews, which helped inspire the film Frost/Nixon (2008)-three plays, and numerous articles in The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, and the New York Times Magazine. He won the Prix Italia and Dupont-Columbus Award for his NPR radio documentary, Father Cares: The Last of Jonestown. He lives with his wife in Chevy Chase, Maryland.
"The divisions that ripped the country apart during the Vietnam War
were rekindled in the struggle to bring the Vietnam Memorial to
life. But unlike the war itself, that second struggle resulted in a
shared reconciliation this extraordinary book charts."Ken
Burns
"This book is just fantastic in its insights and quality of
writing."—Jan Scruggs, founder and president emeritus of the
Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund
"Superb and unexpectedly affecting . . . [The] definitive history
of the memorial."—New York Times Book Review
"Reston retells the story dramatically, dredging up material that
many of the players in this drama might wish to remain
forgotten."—Washington Post
“Searing and sweeping, Reston’s narrative captures the political,
cultural, and social ferment of those heady days of Vietnam and its
aftermath with great skill and erudition. A Rift in the Earth is an
indispensable guide through the cultural wars at the heart of the
memorial itself, and a powerful reminder why it was so important
that we find a way to move forward from the division of war to
begin a healing within our country and between the United States
and Vietnam.”—John F. Kerry, 68th US Secretary of State
"This is a story that needs to be told, and James Reston, Jr.,
tells it very well. I believe that readers will soon find
themselves taking and even changing sides as the Art War in his
account heats up and then reaches its conclusion. For me, the Wall
and the entranceway that resulted from the Art War controversy
provide a place to find closure for those who fought the war, those
whose loved ones did not return, and even those who violently
opposed it."Lieutenant General Ron Christmas, USMC (Retired),
Former President & CEO, Marine Corps Heritage Foundation
“In A Rift in the Earth, Army veteran James Reston details the
controversy surrounding the creation of the Vietnam War Memorial --
an undertaking that reopened political, moral and cultural
divisions about the war long after its end. Deeply personal, as
moving as it is instructive, Reston’s account captures the
complicated struggle that ensued over how to honor our Vietnam War
veterans, and reminds us that in the decades following that bloody
and protracted conflict, a generation of Americans continue to find
healing at the powerful memorial in our nation’s capital.”—Senator
John McCain
“A Rift in the Earth is an absolutely fascinating account of the
artistic, political, personal, and cultural tensions that arose
from America's most divisive war, and that led to one the country's
greatest works of public art. I followed the controversy over the
Vietnam Veterans memorial when it was underway, but I learned from
almost every page of this book. This is a great narrative and
reportorial success."—James Fallows, The Atlantic
“James Reston's clear-eyed account of how the Vietnam Veterans
Memorial came to be is fascinating, wrenching, and ultimately
uplifting. He illuminates the war and its complicated aftermath
with a dramatic narrative of the fierce battle behind the
Memorial's creation. Told from a deeply affecting personal
perspective, this is an important story about the significance of
art to the nation.”—Bobbie Ann Mason, author of In Country and The
Girl in the Blue Beret
"The Vietnam Memorial Wall would never have existed if a handful of
angry Vietnam Veterans and their influential allies had won their
fight to kill the project a generation ago. Reston's riveting
history of the battle for Maya Lin's unconventional and moving
monument brings to life the personalities on both sides as well as
the emotions that galvanized such intense disagreement and mirrored
the deep rift of the war itself. Equally powerful is Reston's final
"Author's Reflection," about his journey to Vietnam today to
recapture the last days of a friend killed in Hue whose name is on
the Wall."Myra MacPherson, author of the bestselling Long Time
Passing: Vietnam and the Haunted Generation and the award-winning
All Governments Lie: The Life and Times of Rebel Journalist I. F.
Stone
"Powerful . . . Readers will find it nearly impossible not to have
visceral reactions, taking sides in these events that, in light of
fights over Civil War monuments today, still seem fresh."Kirkus,
starred review
"Moving . . . casts a wide net of interest and will appeal to
Vietnam-era scholars, art historians, and general readers."Library
Journal
“Historian and Vietnam veteran Reston shares the rocky,
controversy-filled story behind the Vietnam Veterans Memorial
(popularly known as the Wall) in this well-written examination of
how the memorial was conceived and built. . . . A creditable
account of this contentious affair.”—Publishers Weekly
“Reston offers a fascinating and multifaceted account of the
memorial’s history—and politics.”—“Revisiting the Vietnam War” by
Neil Wyatt, Library Journal
“Reston, who served in army intelligence during the Vietnam War,
dramatically and incisively chronicles the “art war” over the
Vietnam Veterans Memorial that raged from 1979 to 1984, reopening
the wounds of that tragic conflict. . . . As current battles are
waged over public statues honoring leaders of the Confederacy,
Reston’s account of an earlier struggle over the art of remembrance
offers a clarifying and affecting perspective.”—Booklist
“Reston’s newest book is not only timely, it’s also the perfect
complement to Ken Burns’s ten-part documentary on the Vietnam War,
airing now on PBS.”—Houston Press
"For those readers who believe the study of history may contain
meaning for the present generation, this book, especially when
combined with David Halberstam’s The Best and the Brightest and Ken
Burns’s recent Vietnam documentary, will illuminate a dark corner
in America’s past. . . . A fitting capstone to that critical period
of our history."—Lincoln Journal Star
"The divisions that ripped the country apart during the Vietnam War
were rekindled in the struggle to bring the Vietnam Memorial to
life. But unlike the war itself, that second struggle resulted in a
shared reconciliation this extraordinary book charts."Ken
Burns
"This book is just fantastic in its insights and quality of
writing."—Jan Scruggs, founder and president emeritus of the
Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund
"Superb and unexpectedly affecting . . . [The] definitive history
of the memorial."—New York Times Book Review
"Reston retells the story dramatically, dredging up material that
many of the players in this drama might wish to remain
forgotten."—Washington Post
“Searing and sweeping, Reston’s narrative captures the political,
cultural, and social ferment of those heady days of Vietnam and its
aftermath with great skill and erudition. A Rift in the Earth is an
indispensable guide through the cultural wars at the heart of the
memorial itself, and a powerful reminder why it was so important
that we find a way to move forward from the division of war to
begin a healing within our country and between the United States
and Vietnam.”—John F. Kerry, 68th US Secretary of State
"This is a story that needs to be told, and James Reston, Jr.,
tells it very well. I believe that readers will soon find
themselves taking and even changing sides as the Art War in his
account heats up and then reaches its conclusion. For me, the Wall
and the entranceway that resulted from the Art War controversy
provide a place to find closure for those who fought the war, those
whose loved ones did not return, and even those who violently
opposed it."Lieutenant General Ron Christmas, USMC (Retired),
Former President & CEO, Marine Corps Heritage Foundation
“In A Rift in the Earth, Army veteran James Reston details the
controversy surrounding the creation of the Vietnam War Memorial --
an undertaking that reopened political, moral and cultural
divisions about the war long after its end. Deeply personal, as
moving as it is instructive, Reston’s account captures the
complicated struggle that ensued over how to honor our Vietnam War
veterans, and reminds us that in the decades following that bloody
and protracted conflict, a generation of Americans continue to find
healing at the powerful memorial in our nation’s capital.”—Senator
John McCain
“A Rift in the Earth is an absolutely fascinating account of the
artistic, political, personal, and cultural tensions that arose
from America's most divisive war, and that led to one the country's
greatest works of public art. I followed the controversy over the
Vietnam Veterans memorial when it was underway, but I learned from
almost every page of this book. This is a great narrative and
reportorial success."—James Fallows, The Atlantic
“James Reston's clear-eyed account of how the Vietnam Veterans
Memorial came to be is fascinating, wrenching, and ultimately
uplifting. He illuminates the war and its complicated aftermath
with a dramatic narrative of the fierce battle behind the
Memorial's creation. Told from a deeply affecting personal
perspective, this is an important story about the significance of
art to the nation.”—Bobbie Ann Mason, author of In Country and The
Girl in the Blue Beret
"The Vietnam Memorial Wall would never have existed if a handful of
angry Vietnam Veterans and their influential allies had won their
fight to kill the project a generation ago. Reston's riveting
history of the battle for Maya Lin's unconventional and moving
monument brings to life the personalities on both sides as well as
the emotions that galvanized such intense disagreement and mirrored
the deep rift of the war itself. Equally powerful is Reston's final
"Author's Reflection," about his journey to Vietnam today to
recapture the last days of a friend killed in Hue whose name is on
the Wall."Myra MacPherson, author of the bestselling Long Time
Passing: Vietnam and the Haunted Generation and the award-winning
All Governments Lie: The Life and Times of Rebel Journalist I. F.
Stone
"Powerful . . . Readers will find it nearly impossible not to have
visceral reactions, taking sides in these events that, in light of
fights over Civil War monuments today, still seem fresh."Kirkus,
starred review
"Moving . . . casts a wide net of interest and will appeal to
Vietnam-era scholars, art historians, and general readers."Library
Journal
“Historian and Vietnam veteran Reston shares the rocky,
controversy-filled story behind the Vietnam Veterans Memorial
(popularly known as the Wall) in this well-written examination of
how the memorial was conceived and built. . . . A creditable
account of this contentious affair.”—Publishers Weekly
“Reston offers a fascinating and multifaceted account of the
memorial’s history—and politics.”—“Revisiting the Vietnam War” by
Neil Wyatt, Library Journal
“Reston, who served in army intelligence during the Vietnam War,
dramatically and incisively chronicles the “art war” over the
Vietnam Veterans Memorial that raged from 1979 to 1984, reopening
the wounds of that tragic conflict. . . . As current battles are
waged over public statues honoring leaders of the Confederacy,
Reston’s account of an earlier struggle over the art of remembrance
offers a clarifying and affecting perspective.”—Booklist
“Reston’s newest book is not only timely, it’s also the perfect
complement to Ken Burns’s ten-part documentary on the Vietnam War,
airing now on PBS.”—Houston Press
"For those readers who believe the study of history may contain
meaning for the present generation, this book, especially when
combined with David Halberstam’s The Best and the Brightest and Ken
Burns’s recent Vietnam documentary, will illuminate a dark corner
in America’s past. . . . A fitting capstone to that critical period
of our history."—Lincoln Journal Star
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