The American War in Vietnam was one of the most morally contentious events of the twentieth century, and it produced an extraordinary outpouring of poetry. Yet the complex ethical terrain of the conflict is remarkably underexplored, and the prodigious poetic voice of its American participants remains largely unheard. In A Shadow on Our Hearts, Adam Gilbert rectifies these oversights by utilizing the vast body of soldier-poetry to examine the war’s core moral issues.

“This is the real deal – the big book on soldier-poetry of the Vietnam War that we have waited a half a century to get written.” – Phillip Beidler, author of American Literature and the Experience of Vietnam

Five veterans who lived through the war will be doing readings of their contributions to A Shadow on Our Hearts. From  firsthand experiences, these pieces reflect on what it meant to be witnesses, victims, and perpetrators of the war’s violence.