Odysseus in America: Combat Trauma and the Trials of Homecoming

This brilliant successor to the groundbreaking Achilles in Vietnam (Richard Rhodes, author of The Making of the Atomic Bomb) examines the problems faced by combat veterans reentering civilian society through a unique allegorical reading of Homer's The Odyssey. In this ambitious follow-up to Achilles in Vietnam, Dr. Jonathan Shay uses the Odyssey, the story of a soldier's homecoming, to illuminate the pitfalls that trap many veterans on the road back to civilian life. Seamlessly combining important psychological work and brilliant literary interpretation with an impassioned plea to renovate American military institutions, Shay deepens our understanding of both the combat veteran's experience and one of the world's greatest classics.