Until the Last Gun Is Silent

“Until the Last Gun Is Silent is a remarkable and revelatory book. Matthew F. Delmont uses the stories of Coretta Scott King and war hero Dwight ‘Skip’ Johnson, along with many others, to give us a fresh look at the high and lasting costs of the Vietnam War and how Black Americans, as they did before and do now, navigated the tension between patriotism and protest, Americanism and activism.”
—Henry Louis Gates, Jr., New York Times bestselling author of Stony the Road

“Matthew F. Delmont possesses the gifts of an adventurous historian and a lively writer. In this groundbreaking book, he weaves together two often overlooked stories that help us better understand the intersection of the civil rights struggle and the Vietnam War, vividly reminding us that protest was and must always be an important part of patriotism.”
—Jonathan Eig, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of King: A Life

“African Americans have participated in every American war since the Revolution, demonstrating their patriotic fervor. Matthew F. Delmont’s Until the Last Gun Is Silent is a fascinating account of how the Vietnam War complicated Black people’s beliefs about military service and patriotism. Riveting and poignant, this is history at its best.”
—Annette Gordon-Reed, Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award–winning author of On Juneteenth

“Matthew Delmont braids together two lives: one of a man now forgotten, the other of a woman who, though familiar to us, had a fierce passion for justice far too little known. Their combined stories illuminate a crucial era whose wounds are still with us. An unusually moving and haunting book.”
—Adam Hochschild, author of American Midnight: The Great War, a Violent Peace, and Democracy’s Forgotten Crisis

“By narrating Coretta Scott King’s antiwar activism alongside the tragic story of Medal of Honor recipient Dwight ‘Skip’ Johnson, Matthew Delmont delfty explores the linkages between the ‘major evils’ of racism, poverty, and war, and how a group of Black patriots responded. At turns inspiring and devastating, nuanced and enraging, Until the Last Gun Is Silent is an extraordinary book.”
—Phil Klay, National Book Award–winning author of Redeployment

“Matthew F. Delmont has given us a great gift in Until the Last Gun Is Silent by restoring Coretta Scott King’s pivotal leadership of the antiwar movement. She didn’t just lead her husband, who stressed, ‘she educated me.’ She led the nation in challenging U.S. involvement in Vietnam and the misprioritization of resources to war that were needed at home. An essential read for our times.”
—Jeanne Theoharis, author of King of the North: Martin Luther King Jr.’s Life of Struggle Outside the South

“Until the Last Gun Is Silent is a propulsive history book, admirable in its sweep, its intimacy, and its purpose. In telling the story of Coretta Scott King, a well-known, vocal opponent of the war in Vietnam, and Skip Johnson, a young man whose life is changed when he is drafted to fight in it, this book calls readers to rethink what it truly means to serve one’s country—and the sacrifices made when doing so.”
—Robert Samuels, Pulitzer Prize–winning coauthor of His Name Is George Floyd

“In Until the Last Gun Is Silent, his brilliant and timely book about race and America during the Vietnam War, historian Matthew F. Delmont has undertaken an important mission, illuminating the intertwined stories of two misunderstood and underappreciated figures of that era. A captivating book by a gifted storyteller.”
—David Maraniss, New York Times bestselling author of They Marched Into Sunlight: War and Peace, Vietnam and America, October 1967

“Meticulously researched and beautifully written . . . With masterful storytelling and graceful prose, Until the Last Gun Is Silent will force readers to reckon with how domestic racism and foreign military conflict are intertwined.” —BookPage, starred review

“Delmont does great service by highlighting [Coretta Scott King’s] work, which has long been overshadowed. . . . A fluent history of an era fast receding in memory.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“A revealing narrative that will be valuable for both public and academic collections, focusing on the Vietnam War.”
—Library Journal