One of the defining characteristics of the Vietnam War was the unprecedented opportunity that the media had to observe the conflict. In this volume, the Associated Press has made available an extraordinary archive of photographs taken by photojournalists covering Vietnam from the start of the Indochina War in 1945 to the fall of Saigon in 1975. Readers will not only see many of the iconic pictures of this war (the self-immolating Buddhist monk, the naked girl fleeing her napalmed village) but will encounter many more besides. They will learn the backstory of each moment caught on film, including how the photographer managed to capture the shot. Interspersed among the chronological images are concise overviews of the war. Pete Hamill's foreword offers insight into the experiences and dangers faced by the journalists. VERDICT From the mundane to the horrific and from the sad to the beautiful, these images encapsulate multiple aspects of this complicated conflict. Readers studying the Vietnam War, photography, or journalism will appreciate this work. For a visual title that focuses more on the history of the war, see Chris McNab and Andy Wiest's The Illustrated History of the Vietnam War.—Joshua Wallace, South Texas Coll. Lib., McAllen