Philip Caputo's Autobiographies: A Rumor Of War

Autobiographies such as A Rumor of War can be a great source of information about topics throughout history. By definition an autobiography is considered a primary source. Primary sources are any documents that contain information about a topic either directly from the time in question or from the memory of a person who had been present in the time. Among the different types of sources there are autobiographies, photographs, newspapers, and a number of other things. Secondary sources are sources that are not from the time period however still talk about the time in question. Secondary sources include biographies, and textbooks. Each source has it’s own advantages and disadvantages. To understand the differences between the different sources one must examine the differences of an autobiography compared to other primary sources as well as comparing it to some secondary sources. Primary sources are considered to be the most accurate when it comes to studying history. A Rumor of War, an autobiography by Philip Caputo about his experiences during the Vietnam War, is one such source. As an autobiography it has many advantages in its ability to pass along knowledge. One of the advantages is that Mr. Caputo was there and experienced the war first hand. As a result the book is able to pass along an in depth view of what it was like day to day for soldiers during the war. Unfortunately one of the things that allows for the in depth view also is
Some of the advantages include its ability to tell a more complete, in depth, and for the most part accurate account of what happened. Some of the disadvantages include the possibility that memory could be clouded by time and that it does not always provide a general overview. For the purposes of a history class however, A Rumor of War makes an excellent teaching