About the Author

Penny Coleman, the author ofVillage Elders, lives with her family in New York City. For more information, visit her website atwww.flashbackhome.com.

Reviews

This book is long overdue and should be mandatory reading for all those who have seen combat, including in Iraq, and for those who love them and live with them.—Margaret Ferguson, national board chair of the Gold Star Wives of America

"A tautly argued study…Coleman chillingly reveals the hidden cost of war. Further, with force and conviction, she shows how the U.S. military has systematically denied and cynically managed the psychic impact of war on its soldiers . . . [Flashback] will surely generate further attention to a sadly timely subject." —Publishers Weekly

"Well-crafted, insightful…With this book, an important subject is hidden no longer."—Marc Leepson, The VVA Veteran

"Flashback is a remarkable combination of painful experience and thoughtful interpretation. The descriptions of suicides of Vietnam veterans by women who loved them, together with a wide-ranging exploration of war and trauma, provide a new and original perspective on Vietnam. Coleman concludes with a moving plea that 'we accept the truth that war itself is an illness that sickens our society as surely and in much the same way as it sickens our citizens and our soldiers.' Few authors have done more to confront that sickness as a step toward cure."—Dr. Robert Jay Lifton, author of Home from the War

"A well-researched and well-documented publication with a uniquely human touch." —Library Journal, starred review

This book is long overdue and should be mandatory reading for all those who have seen combat, including in Iraq, and for those who love them and live with them.-Margaret Ferguson, national board chair of the Gold Star Wives of America

"A tautly argued study...Coleman chillingly reveals the hidden cost of war. Further, with force and conviction, she shows how the U.S. military has systematically denied and cynically managed the psychic impact of war on its soldiers . . . [Flashback] will surely generate further attention to a sadly timely subject." -Publishers Weekly

"Well-crafted, insightful...With this book, an important subject is hidden no longer."-Marc Leepson, The VVA Veteran

"Flashback is a remarkable combination of painful experience and thoughtful interpretation. The descriptions of suicides of Vietnam veterans by women who loved them, together with a wide-ranging exploration of war and trauma, provide a new and original perspective on Vietnam. Coleman concludes with a moving plea that 'we accept the truth that war itself is an illness that sickens our society as surely and in much the same way as it sickens our citizens and our soldiers.' Few authors have done more to confront that sickness as a step toward cure."-Dr. Robert Jay Lifton, author of Home from the War

"A well-researched and well-documented publication with a uniquely human touch." -Library Journal, starred review

A Vietnam War widow whose late husband suffered from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and eventually committed suicide, Coleman (photojournalism/photography, International Ctr. for Photography & New Jersey City Univ.; Village Elders) wrote this book to remind people that soldiers often face internal conflicts once they return home-many suffer horrible mental breakdowns and become "casualties of war." She interviewed women whose husbands survived battles but succumbed to the effects of war, researched instances of PTSD dating back to the Civil War, and compiled statistical information pertaining to American soldiers serving in the Middle East. The prevalence of PTSD among veterans of the Iraq war and the high suicide rate among military personnel in Iraq are also examined. By sharing women's stories of suicide and loss, Coleman hopes both to provide a means of healing for the present and to issue a warning for the future. Similar to Keith Armstrong's Courage After Fire: Coping Strategies for Troops Returning from Iraq and Afghanistan and Their Families, this is a well-researched and well-documented publication with a uniquely human touch. An essential part of any public library collection.-Melody Ballard, Washoe Cty. Lib. Syst., Reno, NV Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.