The Lotus Unleashed: The Buddhist Peace Movement in South Vietnam, 1964-1966 - Softcover

Topmiller, Robert J.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0813191661 ISBN 13: 9780813191669

Publisher: University Press of Kentucky, 2002

Synopsis

During the Vietnam War, Vietnamese Buddhist peace activists made extraordinary sacrifices―including self-immolation―to try to end the fighting. They hoped to establish a neutralist government that would broker peace with the Communists and expel the Americans. Robert J. Topmiller explores South Vietnamese attitudes toward the war, the insurgency, and U.S. intervention, and lays bare the dissension within the U.S. military. The Lotus Unleashed is one of the few studies to illuminate the impact of internal Vietnamese politics on U.S. decision-making and to examine the power of a nonviolent movement to confront a violent superpower.

About this title

About the Author:

Robert J. Topmiller is assistant professor of history at Eastern Kentucky University.

Review:

"Tells the story of how the Buddhist-inspired Struggle Movement sought to challenge the legitimacy of the Government of South Vietnam in the middle years of the 1960s."―Contemporary Buddhism

"A meticulously detailed and eminently readable account of the Buddhist Peace Movement in South Vietnam."―Register of the Kentucky Historical Society

"A major contribution to the study of the Vietnam War, The Lotus Unleashed explores the Buddhist Uprisings in the Republic of Vietnam and details their important political consequences."―Spencer C. Tucker

"Serves to remind us of the challenges and pitfalls of American involvement in far-flung conflicts."―Tacoma News-Tribune

"Argues that the United States failed to prevent a Socialist victory because it never concerned itself with Vietnamese public opinion. . . . Topmiller's compelling argument makes his book useful in many settings."―Transformations

"Presents more evidence of the force of Vietnamese nationalism . . . well-researched and clearly written."―VVA Veteran

About this edition

• Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0813191661
• ISBN 13: 9780813191669
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 232