"Taking on what one former U.S. ambassador called "the last ghost of the Vietnam War," this book examines the far-reaching impact of Agent Orange, the most infamous of the dioxin-contaminated herbicides used by American forces in Southeast Asia. Beginning in the early 1960s, when chemical defoliants were first deployed in Vietnam, Edwin A. Martini looks for answers to a host of still unresolved questions. What did chemical manufacturers and American policymakers know about the effects of dioxin on human beings, and when did they know it? How much do scientists and doctors know even today? Was the use of Agent Orange a form of chemical warfare? What can, and should, be done for U.S. veterans, Vietnamese victims, and others around the world who believe they have medical problems caused by Agent Orange? Martini draws on military and government records, scientific research, visits to contaminated sites, and personal interviews to disentangle conflicting claims and evaluate often ambiguous evidence. Yet for all the answers it provides, this book also reveals how much uncertainty-scientific, medical, legal, and political-continues to surround the legacy of Agent Orange."--Back cover.

List of abbreviations and acronyms -- Introduction: approaching Agent Orange -- Only you can prevent forests: the chemical war and the illusion of control -- Hearts, minds, and herbicides: the politics of the chemical war -- Incinerating Agent Orange: dioxin, disposal, and the environmental imaginary -- The politics of uncertainty: science, policy, and the state -- "All those others so unfortunate": Vietnam and the global legacies of the chemical war -- Conclusion: Agent Orange and the limits of science and history.