The Vietnam War was New Zealand's longest and most controversial military engagement of the 20th century. No Front Line explores this war like never before, from the perspective of New Zealanders who were there at the time, in their own words: on operations, on a mission for good, on orders, or simply out for adventure. It relays military, civilian and domestic histories in a narrative that is at once sincere, direct and undeniable - sometimes shocking and always absorbing. These war stories take readers on operations with gunners, infantrymen, pilots and troopers to face the fear and the heartbreak of devastating loss. The book also includes important reflections from non-combatant engineers, defence and civilian medics, aid workers and administrators; it profiles civilian and service personnel treating Vietnamese casualties in provincial hospitals; it places on record the integral role of women in Vietnam, as nurses, doctors, aid workers, journalists and entertainers. Back home in New Zealand, veterans' families recall the war's reach into the suburbs - both then and now. No Front Line is compiled from over 150 veteran interviews recorded over five years.
It presents a window into our collected experience of the Vietnam War, an episode in New Zealand history that cannot be ignored.