Battle Green Vietnam: The 1971 March on Concord, Lexington, and Boston will appeal to public historians for multiple reasons. Author Elise Lemire, professor of literature, Purchase College, SUNY, demonstrates that Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW) successfully invoked US history and historic sites to make their case against the war. Further, VVAW took on the roles of Revolutionary colonists and employed guerrilla street theater to publicize their cause. Lemire identifies the aim of the book as “reveal[ing] the power of place and performance in oppositional politics” (4). The book chronicles the 1971 VVAW reenactment-in-reverse of Paul Revere’s 1775 ride. Revere rode from Boston west to Concord and Lexington to warn of the approaching Redcoats. The antiwar veterans marched from what are now suburban towns to Boston to sound the alarm about the violent, unjust war being waged in the name of the American people.

VVAW members organized their group in...

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