This edition seeks to update the history of U.S. involvement in Vietnam. The opening of new records and the proliferation of scholarship on the war have filled out our knowledge of the reasons for America’s intervention, the nature of its involvement, and the causes and consequences of its failure, and I have sought throughout the book to incorporate new information and interpretations where they seemed appropriate and necessary.
... In keeping with the purpose of the “America in Crisis” series, it seeks to integrate military, diplomatic, and political factors in such a way as to clarify America’s involvement and ultimate failure in Vietnam.
From the Preface