Marxist documentarian Emile de Antonio delivers both a condemnation of the Vietnam War and a history lesson on its roots. Beginning with the French colonialists at the turn of the 20th century and continuing through Communist leader Ho Chi Minh's rise to power and the beginnings of American involvement in the region in the early 1950s, de Antonio combines historical news footage and his own interviews with prominent figures like peace activist Daniel Berrigan and journalist David Halberstam.