Historical Books

Dispatches
By Michael Herr
Alfred A. Knopf, 1977
Esquire correspondent Herr takes description of the Vietnam War to another level. Any student of U.S. history should find this book both fascinating and disturbing. The chapters are entitled: Breathing In; Hell Sucks; Khe Sanh; Illumination Rounds; Colleagues; and Breathing Out. Herr's descriptions are so good you can smell the soldier's sweat, blood, fear and gunpowder.

Sal Si Puedes: Cesar Chavez and the New American Revolution
By Peter Matthiessen
1973
No Grapes! Chavez's struggle to unionize migrant Mexican-American farm workers is wonderfully described in this book. Founder of the United Farm Workers Organizing Committee, Chavez is a small, frail man with a huge passion for achieving social justice.

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