Download or read book Backfire written by Loren Baritz and published by . This book was released on 1998-06-30 with total page 404 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In a probing look at the myths of American culture that led us into the Vietnam quagmire, Loren Baritz exposes our national illusions: the conviction of our moral supremacy, our assumption that Americans are more idealistic than other people, and our faith in a technology that supposedly makes us invincible. He also reveals how Vietnam changed American culture today, from the successes and failures of the Washington bureaucracy to the destruction of the traditional military code of honor.