Perspective

"In Pharaoh's Army, Memories of the Lost War," is the autobiographical account of writer Tobias Wolff's year in Vietnam as a Special Forces officer. It is, therefore, told in the first person narrative. No one could be a better choice to write about Wolff's memories of his military service and its aftermath than the man himself since he, of course, actually experienced the events and because he is an accomplished and successful writer.

Although Tobias Wolff was fortunate enough to survive the war, he was a witness to the unspeakable cruelty and losses of the "lost war." His account brings a fresh view of an oft told story. The reader gets inside Wolff's mind to learn that even a Special Forces officer who was deemed by his commanders to have "command presence" had self-doubt and fear and regret that he chose to serve. It is an honest account...