The American South and the Vietnam War

Winner of the 2015 Georgia Historical Records Advisory Council Award for Excellence in Research Using the Holdings of Archives

A major contribution to the existing literature on the Vietnam conflict. The American South and the Vietnam War intervenes in key and historiographically underdeveloped conversations regarding the role of domestic politics and domestic regionalism in the making and implementation of U.S. foreign policy. It will be the gold standard on the topic.

~Andrew L. Johns, Brigham Young University

An important book on the Vietnam War and American culture. Fry is the leading expert on the topic, and no other book of this scope exists. The South played a significant role in the policymaking and conduct of the war, and the way it reacted to and was affected by the war are critical to understanding this pivotal era.

~John Ernst, Morehead State University

A major contribution in an undeveloped area of foreign relations. Fry's research is superb and his writing is clear and persuasive.

~George C. Herring, author of From Colony to Superpower: U.S. Foreign Relations since 1776

Dixie loomed large over the American political landscape of the 1960s, particularly during the Vietnam conflict, and Joseph Fry captures its power. He masterfully balances the South of martial, conservative, and religious reputation with a nuanced treatment of the less-known aspects of the region's influence, including antiwar activism. Sensitive and judicious, this book portrays a region with grace and clarity, and gives that region its due in the national story. Regionalism itself is wielded smartly to analyze foreign and domestic policies. A tour de force for regional studies.

~Thomas W. Zeiler, author of Annihilation: A Global Military History of World War II

This is a nicely written and exhaustively researched study of the South's integral role in shaping national events and its divided reaction to and impact on the Vietnam War. A welcome addition to the field.

~Howard Jones, University Research Professor of History Emeritus, University of Alabama

While recent trends in the writing of U.S. history have emphasized globalization, it is also true that regional trends within the American national story remain significant. In The American South and the Vietnam War, Joseph Fry offers great insight into how the regional identity of the American South intersected with the making of U.S. foreign relations in the crucial engagement in Southeast Asia. Anyone interested in recent American history will enjoy this deeply researched study.

~Thomas Borstelmann, author of The 1970s and The Cold War and the Color Line

Fry is a veteran scholar who has skillfully and perceptively written about the complex politics of Vietnam, and he has consistently highlighted the South's complicated perspective on the war.

~Ohio Valley History

Joseph A. Fry convincingly demonstrates that the American South had a particularly strong influence on both foreign policy and the prosecution of the Vietnam War. The book is well researched and provides a nuanced look at the region's complex and important role in the war. The American South and the Vietnam War provides valuable insight into how one region of the United States influenced and dominated American foreign policy and ultimately the decision to go to war in Vietnam.

~Register of the Kentucky Historical Society

Built on exhaustive research and a lifetime of study of US foreign policy, Joseph Fry has written the definitive work on the South and the Vietnam War.

~Pacific Historical Review

If one is looking for an authoritative history of the Vietnam War and the American South, this is it. With his fourth book on the subject of the South and US foreign relations, the author of this study has proven himself to be the leading expert in this area. He masterfully mines all of the relevant primary and secondary sources on the South in the Vietnam War, creating the definitive history of this topic to date.

~Historian

Joseph A. Fry offers a convincing regional explanation for the Vietnam War's escalation and duration. In doing so, he adds needed insights into a larger national and international story as well as contemporary American politics. Fry captures the nuances and agonies of the American South's struggles over the war. He draws on an impressive amount of research—letters, archives, polling, and news media—to provide an all-but-the-kitchen-sink history of the American South and the Vietnam War.

~Journal of American-East Asian Relations