Achilles in Vietnam Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character

"Clearly one of the most important scholarly works to have emerged from the Vietnam War. Beyond that, it is also an intensely moving work, intensely passionate, reaching back through centuries to touch and heal. -Tim O'Brien, author of The Things They Carried

"A fascinating book that is simultaneously brilliant on Greek classics and the Vietnam War, on modern psychiatry and the archetypes of human struggle. And, on top of that, it says something that is directly meaningful to the way many of us live our lives. Remarkable." -Robert Olen Butler, Pulitzer Prize-winner author of A Good Scent From a Strange Mountain

"A transcendent literary adventure. His compassionate book deserves a place in the lasting literature of the Vietnam War." -Herbert Mitgang, The New York Times

"Shay's astute analysis of the human psyche and his inventive linking of his patients' symptoms to the actions of the characters in Homer's classic story make this book well worth reading for anyone who would lead troops in both peace and war." -Thomas E. Neven, Marine Corps Gazette

"Eloquent, disturbing, and original." -Jon Spayde, The Utne Reader