"A Rift in the Earth: Art, Memory, and the Fight for a Vietnam Memorial" was published in 2017. Springing from the roots of his military service during the Vietnam War, the book tells the story of the five-year battle between youthful Maya Lin, the winning designer of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington and a determined group of veterans, led by ex-Virginia senator Jim Webb, who opposed the design as insulting to veterans and who tried to scuttle the choice. The New York Times dubbed "A Rift in the Earth" "a superb and unexpectedly affecting book."