To cover the Vietnam War, The Associated Press gathered an extraordinary group of superb photojournalists in its Saigon bureau, creating one of the greatest photographic legacies of the 20th century. Collected in “Vietnam: The Real War” are images that tell the story of a war that has left a deep and lasting impression on American life.

From Malcolm Browne’s photograph of the burning monk and Nick Ut’s picture of a 9-year-old running from a napalm attack to Eddie Adams’ photograph of the execution of a Viet Cong prisoner, “Vietnam: the Real War” contains images that both recorded and changed history. In a moving introduction, writer Pete Hamill, who reported from Vietnam in 1965, celebrates their achievement.

Explore the timeline below to preview photographs from the book and discover the key events that helped shape this critical time period.

Photo captions from: "Vietnam: The Real War," published by Abrams. Text by Mike Silverman.

View the “Vietnam:The Real War” photo collection on AP Images >