Among the most positive is an abundance of topnotch books, many written by veterans of the conflict. United states involvement in vietnam in the 1950s and early 1960s consisted of sending military advisers to help the south vietnamese in their struggle against communists in the north. How the north vietnamese remember the vietnam war, 40. Memoirs of a victim turned soldier accounts of the vietnam war from the perspective of vietnamese are often overlooked, and books by south vietnamese soldiers in particular are relatively rare. Thanks to a south vietnamese turn in the study of the vietnam war, they are beginningslowlyto shed this burden. Books from the north vietnamese perspective hey all, ive read many books, watched numerous documentaries on the war, all of which primarily cover the american experience of it. Cheng guan ang existing studies of the vietnam war have been written mostly from an american perspective, using western sources, and viewing the conflict through western eyes. Ready to read the most celebrated and best vietnam war books. A vietnamese perspective on the wars war is boring. Fields of fire is a brilliant book about the vietnam war. Nguyens book draws on 54 oral history interviews with veterans of the. Examining the flaws and failures of the vietnam war. A body bag fits more than just its intended corpse.
The vietnam war was a long, costly and divisive conflict that pitted the communist government of north vietnam against south vietnam and its principal ally, the united states. How young vietnamese view the vietnam war the atlantic. While we might have made it our war, the vietnam war was about one group of people, the vietnamese. Using neverbeforeseen archival materials from the vietnam ministry of foreign affairs, as well as materials from other archives around the world, nguyen explores the politics of war making and peacemaking not only from the north vietnamese perspective but also from that of south vietnam, the soviet union, china, and the united states. While the list of books about this conflict includes hundreds of enlightening works, we. Apr 30, 2020 new novel offers female perspective on the vietnam war a woman walks next to a hoarding marking the 45th anniversary of the fall of saigon, in hanoi agence france presse 30 apr 2020. Apr 16, 2015 hanoi, vietnamforty years ago, on april 30, 1975, nguyen dang phat experienced the happiest day of his life. The definitive collection of fiction and nonfiction on the war 1998 by stewart onan diving into a book about the vietnam war can be a daunting task. He was also present at dien bien phu and several other historic battles. Book examines vietnam war from viet congs point of view pbs. A history of the vietnamese cambridge concise histories.
Mar 06, 2015 dog soldiers won the 1975 national book award for fiction, the first vietnam war novel to do so. What struck me about it is the similarity of the feeling between people who just by the grace of god, by luck, were on. Hal kushner joined the army and served as a flight surgeon in. The ultimate 2020 list of best vietnam books to read. Memories of the vietnam war and after, is a contribution to this process. The vietnam war is as remote to them as the war of 1812 or the war of jenkins ear. What is the best book about vietnam war written from vietnam. Sep 11, 2017 the vietnam war is as remote to them as the war of 1812 or the war of jenkins ear.
Popular vietnam books meet your next favorite book. Sorrow of war offers the north vietnamese perspective by tracing the war haunted life of kien, a former infantryman turned writer, as he. A group of south vietnamese army soldiers and an american soldier with two captured vietcong suspects, in plaines des joncs, south vietnam. Told entirely from suzys perspective, it deals with confusion, anxiety, fear. Surprisingly, few works have focused on the subject of this study. The vietnam war has roots in vietnams centuries of domination by imperial and colonial powersfirst china, which ruled ancient vietnam, and then france, which took control of vietnam in the late 1800s and established french indochina. A north vietnamese perspective on the war bui tin on. The best vietnam war books, as recommended by vietnam war vet karl. In the early 1900s, nationalist movements emerged in vietnam, demanding more selfgovernance and less french influence. Revolution and war in a global perspective book 7 kindle edition by asselin, pierre. Those who did speak out against the war put themselves in danger.
A vietnam war reader american and vietnamese perspectives. The ten best memoirs of the vietnam war council on. Best books on vietnam 194 books meet your next favorite book. Discover delightful childrens books with prime book box, a subscription that. Ang cheng guan has produced firstrate works recounting that experience, and communist decisionmaking in particular, including the vietnam war from the other side. War senselessly wounds everyone right down the line. The book includes some great observations and agonizing human truths about the nonstop combat of the war. A history is a monster of a book, a dense 700pluspage comprehensive history of the region that offers an overview of some 175 years of vietnamese history before focusing in meticulous detail on the period from 1945 to 1975 when the communist revolution began against the french and culminated in the defeat of the. Another revolutionary telling of the vietnam war, bao ninhs the sorrow of war is reported to have been written against the communist partys wishes. Hanois road to the vietnam war, 19541965 from indochina to vietnam. Next on your list of vietnam war books is one written from the perspective of the viet cong. These include winners of national book awards and pulitzer prizes, both fiction and nonfiction. Some, like the ken burns documentary delve a bit into the north vietnamese vc experience. Nov 08, 2018 americas war in vietnam was largely defense secretary robert mcnamaras progeny.
As its title suggests, it tells the story from the perspective of the vietnamese. The story follows an anonymous north vietnamese narrator whos. The vietnam war stands as one of the pivotal moments in recent u. The best vietnam war books five books expert recommendations. Hanoi, vietnamforty years ago, on april 30, 1975, nguyen dang phat experienced the happiest day of his life. The vietnam war was a complex and heated political issue and was one of the most unpopular and divisive wars in u. A slew of war memoirs stand with the best writing of that genre. Sorrow of war offers the north vietnamese perspective by tracing the warhaunted life of kien, a former infantryman turned writer, as he. Last night i dreamed of peace the diary of dang thuy tram by dang thuy tram this book offers a vietnamese perspective on the vietnam war the charm.
Aug 17, 2017 you will learn much more about vietnam and its culture with this book than others about the war that i have read so far. In a voice both lyrical and stark, duong thu huong, one of vietnams most beloved writers. At the height of the cold war it dominated global attention for over a decade. This book is a translated diary of a young vietnamese doctor who came from a somewhat welloff family in hanoi. Dog soldiers won the 1975 national book award for fiction, the first vietnam war novel to do so. What is the best book about vietnam war written from. Tin bui answers questions about the war from the perspective of a north vietnamese officer. Dec, 2017 this book happens to be one of the best novels about vietnam and will give you some great insight into what it was like to be in this war.
This book is unique in the sense it is organized in a question and answer format. During this time, people who had prowar stances were called hawks, while those who were antiwar were called doves. Some people think that the majority of people who were against the war were hippies, young people who were part of a. In this book, he generally does not praise the american soldier who fought in the war. Hastings endeavors to relate the vietnamese perspective, underscoring the roles played by. Winner of the 2016 pulitzer prize for fiction, this debut novel could fit into half a dozen genres of vietnam war books from war narrative to immigrant story, from mystery to political, from metafiction to historical and even dark comedy. Here are my picks for the ten best memoirs of the vietnam war. A memoire ok, ghost written of a viet cong politician who served in the upper echelons of viet cong secret government in south vietnam during the early days of the second south east asia war up to 1968 when he was caught and swapped for south vietnamese agents.
This book happens to be one of the best novels about vietnam and will give you some great insight into what it was like to be in this war. Next on your list of vietnam war books is one written from the perspective of the. For my research paper on vietnam i chose to read the book when heaven and earth changed places. The photographs bellow are often excluded from our textbooks. A vietnamese perspective on the wars war is boring medium. Look at the sources bellow and create an interpretation of the vietnamese perspective of the vietnam war. This book, based on extensive original research, including vietnamese, chinese and former soviet sources, presents a history of the war from the perspective of the vietnamese communists. Her voice is both innocent and courageous, and it gives the reader an intimate sense of the dread vietnamese fighters felt against american firepower. It is therefore unfortunate that for the most part the book is also rather dry. Featuring modern portraits and firsthand accounts, this book offers a unique perspective on the vietnam war, bringing together the stories of american vietnam war veterans, southern vietnamese war veterans and civilians. Vietnamese army shares his insights into many aspects of the vietnam war. Take the 58,000 american soldiers lost in vietnam and multiply by four, five, sixand only then does one begin to realize the damage this war has done war when necessary, is unspeakable. Cao dai a vietnamese religious sect with saints ranging from buddha and jesus to charlie chaplin and joan of arc.
The narrator, le ly, is the youngest of six children born to peasant farmers in ka ly, a town on the central coast of vietnam. What is the best book about vietnam war written from vietnams. Huffman served in the united states army from 1968 to 1989. But when it was reported that north vietnam had fired on u. Ten vietnam war novels to read council on foreign relations. Apr 30, 2015 and unlike my ap history book, the vietnamese textbook i read contained little information about the cold war ideology that motivated the united states to enter the conflict. Perspectives on vietnam historical society of pennsylvania. He chooses the best books on the vietnam war, exploring its moral ambiguities, the warrior mentality, the humanity of the enemy, and more. New novel offers female perspective on the vietnam war a woman walks next to a hoarding marking the 45th anniversary of the fall of saigon, in hanoi agence france presse 30 apr 2020. One of the things i loved so muchand that broke my heart so cleanlyabout the things they carried was that it reminded me of another beloved war book, slaughterhousefive, in that both books are. Stewart onans the vietnam reader is perfect for the indecisive as it highlights the best texts from an american perspective, including fiction, nonfiction, poetry. Recommended vietnams history before and after 1975 books. Using neverbeforeseen archival materials from the vietnam ministry of foreign affairs, as well as materials from other archives around the world, nguyen explores the politics of warmaking and peacemaking not only from the north vietnamese perspective but also from that of south vietnam, the soviet union, china, and the united states.
Hanois road to the vietnam war, 19541965 from indochina to. The vietnam war, as seen by the victors the atlantic. Existing studies of the vietnam war have been written mostly from an american perspective, using western sources, and viewing the conflict through western eyes. Smith identified three broad phases in the evolution of western scholarship on the communist side of. He is a former marine corps officer, vietnam veteran, longtime activist for peace and social justice, and the coordinator of the long island chapter of veterans for peace. By the early 1960s, his office had become a dynamo room for waging and escalating the cold war. Unseen pictures of the vietnam war from the other side. One soldiers perspective like many others who were serving, my grandfather, ronald gene huffman, was young. Readers weighed in on the best books about the vietnam war.
The vietnamese communist perspective in the last decade, there have been a growing number of scholarly writings on the vietnam war seen from the communist side. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. The united states and vietnam, 19501975 by george herring, 1978 this book is widely viewed as the best concise history of the vietnam war. When photojournalist doug niven first went to hanoi, he expected to see the war from the vietnamese perspective, but to his surprise, there was not even a north vietnamese book on the war. The memories, nightmares and flashbacks of a vietnam war survivor gnosis press 2019.
Vietnam war bill dyke r hugs retired north vietnamese army soldier mai thuan at a meeting between veterans in hanoi in 2000. The cover may have some limited signs of wear but the pages are clean, intact and the spine remains undamaged. Books there is no book in english, and probably none in any other language, that provides as comprehe. That morning, as communist troops swept into the south vietnamese capital of saigon. There were a few vietnamese publications with pictures from the war, but not a single comprehensive attempt to put all the war images together. American and vietnamese perspectives this book is in very good condition and will be shipped within 24 hours of ordering. This is a great piece of writing and the guy is obviously a talented writer. Aug 14, 20 accounts of the vietnam war from the perspective of vietnamese are often overlooked, and books by south vietnamese soldiers in particular are relatively rare. Very original and moving novel from north vietnamese perspective of vietnam war. James zumwalt about his new book on the vietnam war, as seen. Vietnam war 195475, conflict that pitted the communist government of north vietnam and its allies in south vietnam, the viet cong, against south vietnam and its principal ally, the united states.
This book, based on extensive original research, including vietnamese, chinese and former soviet sources, tells the story of the war from t. This paper is a collection of lessons that examine the many roles that women played in the vietnam war and the consequences of their experiences for individuals, governments, and military policies. And we were involved in supporting a government, the south vietnamese, and they. Here is a rare glimpse of the bloody war from the perspective of the other side. The best vietnam war stories by vietnamese authors culture trip. His most recent book is there are no flowers in a war zone. The thesis of turse, and of his vietnam war books, is that american acts of violence against vietnamese civilians werent accidental and they werent rarethey were a systematic part of the war and soldiers were trained for and ordered to take part in hatebased slaughter. Herring, a former university of kentucky history professor, covers virtually every important event in the conflict, presenting the war objectively and assessing its legacy. It is a densely written, carefully phrased, and meticulously researched and documented recitation about the wars fought by vietnam, as seen from the vietnamese side, albeit mostly from the perspective of the communists. There was a time when all i knew of vietnam war books was tim obriens, the things they carried, a book that prompted the laconic entry in my book journal, this book destroyed me. And unlike my ap history book, the vietnamese textbook i read contained little information about the cold war ideology that motivated the united states to enter the conflict. It sets the australian involvement in the war in vietnam in the.
New novel offers female perspective on the vietnam war. Veterans perspective on the mindset of the south vietnamese. What books are good to read about a complete history of. Though at times the book was extremely graphic, i enjoyed it thoroughly. The novel explores the war from the perspective of a former north vietnamese soldier, kien, and is a nonlinear telling of how the conflict transformed himself, his country and those around him.
Ranks alongside bao ninhs excellent book the sorrow of war. It was part of a larger regional conflict as well as a manifestation of the cold war. Nguyens book draws on 54 oral history interviews with veterans of the republic of vietnam armed forces rvnaf and their relatives. The series of images were collected by some of the hundreds of north vietnamese and viet cong photographers, and documents the gruesome details of the battle, as seen from the eyes of the enemy. Nathalie huynh chau nguyens new book, south vietnamese soldiers.
Nguyen will share with us her insights into the vietnam war from the vietnamese point of view, delving deeply into the goingson within the north vietnamese government. The battles that changed the vietnam war and the global cold war will provide a comprehensive history of the battle that changed the course of. Although the war ended almost 40 years ago, it confronted political leaders, military commanders, and soldiers in the field with dilemmas that are still relevant today. This book, based on extensive original research, including vietnamese, chinese and former soviet sources, tells the story of the war from the tet offensive in 1968 up to the.
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