Dereliction of Duty: Johnson, McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Lies That Led to Vietnam

The author, who at time of writing the book was a serving member of the US military and has recently been cleared for promotion to two-star rank, has compiled a well-researched history of the actions of President Johnson, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara during the lead-up to the Vietnam War. Dense with recollections of actual correspondence and conversations, this gives an exhaustive—and damning—account of the slide into disaster. It leads the reader to consider what level of responsibility is held by both military and civilian leaders when it comes to the planning of military intervention and conflict, and at what stage a campaign gains its own momentum and becomes ‘inevitable’.