{"product_id":"armed-with-abundance-consumerism-and-soldiering-in-the-vietnam-war-paperback","title":"Armed with Abundance: Consumerism and Soldiering in the Vietnam War - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eMeredith H. Lair\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePopular representations of the Vietnam War tend to emphasize violence, deprivation, and trauma. By contrast, in \u003ci\u003eArmed with Abundance\u003c\/i\u003e, Meredith Lair focuses on the noncombat experiences of U.S. soldiers in Vietnam, redrawing the landscape of the war so that swimming pools, ice cream, visits from celebrities, and other \"comforts\" share the frame with combat.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTo address a tenuous morale situation, military authorities, Lair reveals, wielded abundance to insulate soldiers--and, by extension, the American public--from boredom and deprivation, making the project of war perhaps easier and certainly more palatable. The result was dozens of overbuilt bases in South Vietnam that grew more elaborate as the war dragged on. Relying on memoirs, military documents, and G.I. newspapers, Lair finds that consumption and satiety, rather than privation and sacrifice, defined most soldiers' Vietnam deployments. Abundance quarantined the U.S. occupation force from the impoverished people it ostensibly had come to liberate, undermining efforts to win Vietnamese \"hearts and minds\" and burdening veterans with disappointment that their wartime service did not measure up to public expectations. With an epilogue that finds a similar paradigm at work in Iraq, \u003ci\u003eArmed with Abundance\u003c\/i\u003e offers a unique and provocative perspective on modern American warfare. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 320\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.9 x 9.1 x 6.1 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eIllustrated:\u003c\/strong\u003e Yes\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e August 01, 2014\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47433893249202,"sku":"9781469619033","price":64.73,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0770\/3891\/1666\/files\/ea4d80fae5f785c62eca70a75f14e0e0.webp?v=1778616473","url":"https:\/\/box.dadyminds.org\/products\/armed-with-abundance-consumerism-and-soldiering-in-the-vietnam-war-paperback","provider":"DADYMINDS BOX","version":"1.0","type":"link"}