Top 5 books I’ve read- the doctor does an INCREDIBLE job of incorporating journal entries from soldiers/veterans, quotes and events from the Iliad, and medical knowledge to explain various phenomena related to war and trauma, there was a SUPER good balance of war stories and the stories after. I felt like I learned a lot about war and the physical/ psychological trauma following it, as well as the impacts on the family and friends of surviving veterans upon their return. A special thank you to the veterans who allowed their therapy transcripts to be published- everyone has to read this!!!

Great information and personal accounts of combat PTSD, but the information is slightly outdated due to the publication date (1994). The use of DSM III-R diagnostic criteria was appropriate for the year of publication, but is now outdated. Those using this book as a resource need to look up the diagnostic criteria for PTSD in the DSM 5.

My Evaluation from a recon squad leader in Vietnam

I was in recon in Vietnam as a squad leader. I recognize and better understand behaviors and higher command mistakes that I didn't recognize previously.
Unfortunately, some of my bad memories were also revived by this book. Fifty years later I can better handle those thoughts.
I think Vietnam veterans and their spouses would probably benefit most from this book, followed by current combat veterans and officers who aspire to lead and to be most effective as leaders.
BIB

This is a really interesting and valuable book. The author is a classicist, who is very familiar with Homer's Iliad dealing with the Trojan wars, an a psychiatrist who has had extensive experience dealing with Vietnam veterans who suffer from chronic combat related ptsd, (as I do). It has been very difficult to work my way through the effects of my war experience on my psyche and as a result on my life. There have been many admissions to veterans' facilities and many hours of work with psychologists, psychiatrists and counselors. None seemed to do me much good from my point of view, simply because they did not understand what they were dealing with nor how to treat the veterans concerned. Ultimately anything I have been able to achieve in developing ways to manage my life have been down to me.

In that process I have become convinced that it is the deconstruction of the sense of self that leads to the damage of the soul so evident with Vietnam ( and I have no doubt Afghanistan and Iraq) veterans and this book confirms that view. The author has also thrown light on issues that relate to that deconstruction of the soldier's sense of self that I had not thought of. Through his reference to an ancient Greek battle he has been able to show the commonality of the soldiers' experience and through contrast to point up issues that were fundamental and potent in the mental and emotional trauma inflicted on veterans during the Indo China war.

There were specifics of the American experience that did not relate to Australians who participated because our approach to soldiering was different but the fundamentals remain the same. Primary among these was the sense of betrayal we all felt. Betrayal particularly by our politicians who lied us into war for their own political ends and by a wider society which just dismissed our service as inconsequential at best and as somehow morally flawed at worst. This book should be mandated reading for anyone involved with veterans who suffer in this way.

We begin in the moral world of the soldier-what his culture understands it and betrayal by a commander . . . Achilles' experience of war of American soldiers in Vietnam. It created a very new interpretation of the classic hero who I used to view with disgust.
Rather than a highly principled individual whose sense of humanity are destroyed by his commanders disgusting conduct. Which inspires atrocities based on corruption of the soldiers individual dignity.

What an insightful book! We were only supposed to read a few chapters for class but I wanted to read the whole thing. It also makes me want to reread the Iliad with a new perspective. There were a lot of valuable lessons that I picked up from this and it will definitely be one that I will keep on my shelf.

We enjoy scant few opportunities to read our recent history in the light of more ancient examples. This pairing of Vietnam combat experience with the narrative of The Iliad is a wonderful exercise. I hope for more interrelation of the classics to come.

Achilles in Vietnam is a study of the impact of PTSD on the human personality, using The Iliad to illustrate the impact of this problem with emphasis on the reasons why Vietnam was more traumatic for many veterans than other conflicts have been. This was a good book to read along with The Iliad and helped me bring out some of the underlying themes throughout Homer’s text.
This book contained some very keen observations in it. You just have to fight through all of the boring psychology jargon and read it carefully and analytically to understand its numerous messages. If there is one problem I had with the way it was written, I would say that it throws a great deal of information at you and never lets up. Leaving you to sort out the mess inside your head. It’s a great analysis of the trauma of war though, and the way in which Shay can relate it back to the work of Homer is rather impressive. However, while it was interesting, this is a very dry and difficult read, not something you should pick up just for kicks. I would recommend it to anybody looking to further their knowledge on any of these subjects, but don’t expect it to be an enjoyable read.

A devastating book. Tragic but necessary and needed all the same today as it was twenty years ago. The way Shay reads Vietnam through the lens of Homer illuminates both the conflict and the Iliad. Shay speaks beautifully in defense of those who are suffering and those who are dead. Essential reading for anyone interested in the modern military or Homer and Classics.

Incredibly insightful and troubling - how serving in combat in a mistaken war is so destructive to a person's spirit.

This is a somewhat difficult book to review, but I would go so far as to say this is an absolute must-read for understanding combat trauma. The Achilles argument was enlightening because it contextualized war within the scope of thousands of years of history and thousands of years of soldiering. Shay's treatment of the morally wounded is quite respectful and profoundly thoughtful. The book is peppered with the raw experience of combat survivors, so it is sometimes difficult to read; however, this works in way to allow the reader to increase his own understanding and compassion of those who've survived such experiences. One of the most important points of the book is an examination of what Shay names a "berserker" response which he introduces after outlining Achilles' rampage on the Trojans following the death of his closest companion, Patroclus. This was one of the more useful aspects of the book because such a response is rarely addressed with such thoughtful analysis as this is done by Shay- not just in the Achilles illustration, but in how he transfers the experience to our own time. Shay goes beyond just the devastating effects of the response and critically examines many aspects how it takes shape and why we observe its increased prevalence in the American military.

This book takes a long look at the horrors of combat that are often seen portrayed in movies or TV or video games and examines the actual damage being done to veterans. The comparisons between The Iliad and the war in Vietnam, are surprisingly poignant considering that The Trojan war was fought using swords and shields around 3000 years ago and Vietnam was fought within the last century with automatic weapons. It also provides new information that help contextualize much of The Iliad, and in some cases removes some of my issues with the narrative. In terms of the modern military, this book does nothing short of tear apart the way that veterans were treated psychologically in Vietnam. The statistics provided are sobering, and the author breaks these complex psychological triggers down into terms that can be explained to someone without that background, drawing on testimonials from Vietnam veterans and quotes from The Iliad. It even was able to have me reexamine the role of the theater in Ancient Greece in a way I had never considered.

Overall, enjoyment is the wrong term for reading of this book, but it is a well-written examination of the psychological trauma experienced by soldiers in Vietnam and I would recommend it to anyone who reads military history, military novels, or anyone who has read The Iliad.