This essay from The Oxford Companion to American Military History goes into the causes of the Vietnam War and shows how the United States became embroiled incrementally from the 1950s up to 1965. An interesting section explains how the...

A detailed timeline showing the events leading up to and during the Vietnam War. Begins in 1802 with French involvement in Vietnam and continues up to the bombing of North Vietnam by the United States in 1965.

American sociopolitical activism became especially prominent during the period of societal upheaval which began during the 1950s. The African American civil rights movement led the way, soon followed by a substantial anti-war movement...