A friend writes:

Just saw your item on Vietnam books. I agree that anything written by John Roche, whether from his time in government or after, is worth reading. As something of a Vietnam buff myself, I think the most comprehensive, however revisionist, book I’ve read on the war is Michael Lind’s “Vietnam: The Necessary War.” (I assume that’s the Lind work you were referring to.) [Correct–RP] Despite Lind’s recent zaniness about George W. Bush and his general haughtiness, his Vietnam book is second to none.

NR, as it happens, ran a negative review of Lind’s book by H. R. McMaster. I admire McMaster, but I thought Lind had the better of the argument.