Introduction -- Fatal politics -- Vietnamization -- "A nightmare of recrimination" -- "A hell of a shift" -- How to kill a withdrawal deadline -- "I'm being perfectly cynical" -- "We want a decent interval" -- Meeting Zhou -- "Old friends" -- "He deserves our confidence" -- JFK v. Nixon -- The Kennedy critique -- The liberal mistake -- "Super secret agent" -- Sixty-six percent for six months -- "One arm tied behind" -- "Why does the Air Force constantly undercut us?" -- The appearance of success -- "Any means necessary" -- "A Russian game, a Chinese game and an election game" -- "It could be a bit longer" -- The Democrats -- "No one will give a damn" -- "Idealism with integrity" -- "Our terms will eventually destroy him" -- Blowup 1968 -- "We're behind the trees!" -- "Saving face or saving lives" -- "Brutalize him" -- Kissinger v. Thieu -- "No possibility whatever" -- "The man who should cry is I" -- "The fellow is off of his head" -- No coalition government -- "Peace is at hand" -- "A little bit diabolically" -- The Chennault Affair -- "The clearest choice" -- Election day 1972 -- Promises and threats -- Christmas bombing -- "Let us be proud" -- The prisoners dilemma -- The final cutoff -- Stabbed in the back -- "We can blame them for the whole thing" -- Nixon's DolchstoÇlegende -- Unearthing Nixon's strategy -- The University of Virginia's Miller Center -- Decision points -- The Nixon tapes -- Interpretive inertia -- Last days in Vietnam -- A better war -- The aid-cutoff myth -- How wars don't end -- Questions unasked.