Journalist George Black on the 50th Anniversary of the End of the Vietnam War

St. Louis County Library and the JCC of St. Louis are pleased to host an SLCL Authors @ the J event with journalist and historian George Black, author of “The Long Reckoning: A Story of War, Peace, and Redemption in Vietnam.” Presented by SLCL’s Westfall Politics & History Author Series.

The event will take place on Monday, April 10 at 7:00 p.m. at the JCC’s Staenberg Family Center – Mirowitz Performing Arts Center, 2 Millstone Campus Drive, St. Louis, MO 63146.

The program is free and open to the public. Books will be available for purchase at the event from Left Bank Books.

Acclaimed journalist George Black presents The American war in Vietnam has left many long-lasting scars that have not yet been sufficiently examined. The worst of them were inflicted in a tiny area bounded by the demilitarized zone between North and South Vietnam and the Ho Chi Minh Trail in neighboring Laos. That small region saw the most intense aerial bombing campaign in history, the massive use of toxic chemicals, and the heaviest casualties on both sides.

In The Long Reckoning, George Black recounts the inspirational story of the small cast of characters—veterans, scientists, and Quaker-inspired pacifists, and their Vietnamese partners—who used their moral authority, scientific and political ingenuity, and sheer persistence to attempt to heal the horrors that were left in the wake of the military engagement in Southeast Asia. Their intersecting story is one of reconciliation and personal redemption, embedded in a vivid portrait of Vietnam today, with all its startling collisions between past and present, in which one-time mortal enemies, in the endless shape-shifting of geopolitics, have been transformed into close allies and partners.

The Long Reckoning is being published on the 50th anniversary of the day the last American combat soldier left Vietnam.

George Black is the author of seven previous books on subjects including India, China, and foreign policy. His writing has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, and many other publications.

Program sites are accessible. With at least two weeks' notice, accommodations will be made for persons with disabilities. Call 314-994-3300 or contact us.