There is little disagreement that the war in Vietnam has left this country shaken and numb. This book offers some trenchant insights into how we can assess the damage, pick up the pieces, and learn from our ordeal.

First, the author says, we must understand that we have not experienced a defeat but a "military failure," a phenomenon with distinct characteristics. How a nation reacts to the fact of failure depends on how honest it is in evaluating its situation. Corson presents case studies of earlier failures suffered by ancient Rome, Spain, and Britain.

He examines the consequences of failure on the U.S. military establishment, government, youth, middle class, and the economy. Then he presents graphic scenarios of how we can deal with these consequences. We can turn inward and become obsessed with personal and national security, ignoring the social problems that have been exacerbated by the war. We can compromise between our tendency to withdraw and our better instincts. Or we can face the situation and make the sacrifices necessary to profit from our failure by developing long overdue solutions to both our domestic and international problems.

This is not an optimistic book. Corson has too firm a grasp on historical perspective and current political and social reality to be sanguine about which scenario we will choose. But his broad-ranging analysis of our dilemma should give us ammunition with which to nurture our better instincts.