'When I look back and I see what I used to do ... there were a lot of things wrong that I would never ever admit to at the time ... I thought I was fine, but I wasn’t.' Alan Thornton (1/7 Construction Squadron, 1968–69).

The medical and psychological legacies of the Vietnam War are major and continuing issues for veterans, their families and the community, yet the facts about the impact of Agent Orange, post-traumatic stress disorder and other long-term health aspects are little understood. The Long Shadow: Australia’s Vietnam Veterans Since the War sets the record straight about the health of Vietnam veterans and reveals a more detailed and complex picture.

Profiling the stories of the veterans themselves, The Long Shadow takes a broad approach to the medical legacies, exploring the postwar experiences of veterans, the evolution and development of the repatriation system in the post-Vietnam decades, and the evolving medical understanding of veterans’ health issues.

Peter Yule is a Research Fellow of the School of Historical and Philosophical Studies at the University of Melbourne. He has published over 20 books on Australian military, medical, and economic history, including histories of the Collins Class submarine project, Australian National Airways, and the Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne.

Details: Non-fiction, published 2020.

Format: Hard cover, illustrations (photographs), 688 pages.

Dimensions: 23.4 cm (h) x 15.3 cm (w) x 6.4 cm (d) / 1,420 grams.