At the Hands of Historians: The Antiwar Movement of the Vietnam Era

Popular myth today associates the anti-Vietnam War movement with radical New Left politics, counterculture, and student protest, if not also with violence. That those stereotypes originated from media coverage at the time is widely assumed, no doubt, but our images of the antiwar movement also were constructed and were reinforced by the historical literature written during and in the decade or so after the war. Since about 1988, however, writing in the field has broadened our understanding of the movement and has given it fresh nuances. The movement now seems to have had a broader, more diversified, more mainstream base than its stereotype would allow and to have persevered after the New Left disintegrated. There is still an agenda of research and writing in this field, and not least is to challenge the prevailing images of antiwar protest.