Boots on the Ground: America's War in Vietnam (National Book Awards Longlist)

★ "Partridge proves once again that nonfiction can be every bit as dramatic as the best fiction."*

America's war in Vietnam. In over a decade of bitter fighting, it claimed the lives of more than 58,000 American soldiers and beleaguered four US presidents. More than forty years after America left Vietnam in defeat in 1975, the war remains controversial and divisive both in the United States and abroad.

The history of this era is complex; the cultural impact extraordinary. But it's the personal stories of eight people—six American soldiers, one American military nurse, and one Vietnamese refugee—that create the heartbeat of Boots on the Ground. From dense jungles and terrifying firefights to chaotic helicopter rescues and harrowing escapes, each individual experience reveals a different facet of the war and moves us forward in time. Alternating with these chapters are profiles of key American leaders and events, reminding us of all that was happening at home during the war, including peace protests, presidential scandals, and veterans' struggles to acclimate to life after Vietnam.

With more than one hundred photographs, award-winning author Elizabeth Partridge's unflinching book captures the intensity, frustration, and lasting impacts of one of the most tumultuous periods of American history.

*Kirkus Reviews, starred review of Marching for Freedom 

Elizabeth Partridge is the author of seventeen books, including Boots on the Ground: America’s War in Vietnam, and Marching to Freedom: Walk Together, Children, and Don’t You Grow Weary. She’s also written biographies on Dorothea Lange, Woody Guthrie, and John Lennon. Her books have received many honors, including National Book Award Finalist, Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, Los Angeles Times Book Prize, Michael L. Printz Honor, SCBWI Golden Kite Award, School Library Journal’s Battle of the Books, and the Jane Addams Children’s Book Award.

Elizabeth Partridge graduated with a degree in Women’s Studies from the University of California at Berkeley, and later studied traditional Chinese medicine. She was an acupuncturist for more than twenty years before closing her medical practice to write full-time.

Elizabeth lives in a messy, exuberant three-generation household in Berkeley. Fortunately, one room is her office, and when she closes the door, no one bothers her and she can work on her next book.