'Small Wars brings together three interconnected series by photographer An-My Lê. In "Viêt Nam," Lê returns to the country she left in her teens and attempts to reconcile memories of her childhood home with the contemporary landscape; in "Small Wars," she engages a small community of Vietnam War reenactors; and in "29 Palms," she documents the preparations of marines in the California desert as they undergo training for the recent conflict in the Middle East. Taken together, this trilogy brilliantly presents a complexly layered exploration of the issues surrounding landscape, memory, and the representation of violence and war. With great precision and clarity, Lê is able to evoke the work of classic, nineteenth-century masters of the landscape genre, as well as that of the New Topographics — but by weaving in her own personal narrative of refuge and return, she pushes beyond both to produce a uniquely revelatory body of work.' (Back cover)

With essay by Richard B. Woodward and interview by Hilton Als. Artist biography included.