Over thirty years ago the last helicopter clattered away from the roof of the American Embassy in Saigon: a symbolic scene in the final drama of the nation's failed intervention in Vietnam. For over thirty years the legacy of the Vietnam War and its impact on American politics and society has been a subject of enduring fascination and controversy. Vietnam's relevance as a cultural reference point is seen clearly in the context of the current debates over Americas 'war on terror' and the continuing war in Iraq. This book brings together leading cultural commentators, critics and historians to offer fresh and important insights into how the experience of the Vietnam War shapes contemporary America. It is essential reading for those who wish to understand the ways in which the reverberations of that conflict continue to echo in America's cultural imagination long after the fighting came to an end.