The first book of its kind, Less than Victory explores both the impact the Vietnam War had on American Catholics, and the impact of the nation's largest religious group upon its most controversial war. Through the 1960s, Roman Catholics made up one-quarter of the population, and were deeply involved in all aspects of war. In this book, Steven J. Brady argues that American Catholics introduced the moral, as opposed to the prudential, argument about the war earlier and more comprehensively than other groups. The Catholic debate on morality was three cornered: some saw the war as inherently immoral, others as morally obligatory, while others focused on the morality of the means – napalm, torture, and free-fire zones – that the US and the Army of the Republic of Vietnam were employing. These debates presaged greater Catholic involvement in war and peace issues, provoking a shift away from traditional ideas of a just war across American Catholic thinking and dialogue.

‘Steven Brady's elegant study of American Catholics ranks among the most incisive social histories of the Vietnam era to be published in recent years. Less than Victory is a must-read for anyone interested in not only the history of the Catholic Church but also the broader question of how American religious communities have confronted war.'

Mark A. Lawrence - author of The Vietnam War: A Concise International History

‘With Less Than Victory, Steven Brady persuasively shows how Catholics-from the laity to the hierarchy-debated the morality of the Vietnam War early on, challenging the idea that Catholics were late to oppose the war.'

Theresa Keeley - author of Reagan's Gun-Toting Nuns: The Catholic Conflict over Cold War Human Rights Policy in Central America