'Vietnam': A Portrait of its People at War - Softcover

Chanoff, David; Van Toai, Doan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1860640761 ISBN 13: 9781860640766

Publisher: I.B.Tauris, 1996

Synopsis

The American experience during the Vietnam conflict is universally known: the brutalisation of the US fighting men, the drug abuse, and the trauma. Even today the very word 'Vietnam' is too often interpreted as referring to this conflict (and specifically the American perception of it) rather than to the country and its people.

The view from the other side-- the Vietcong and North Vietnamese-- has been virtually ignored. In this remarkable piece of twentieth-century oral history-- now available in paperback for the first time-- the story emerges of the ordinary people of both North and South Vietnam, of the Vietcong guerrilla fighters and terrorists, North Vietnamese soldiers and cadres, monks, opposition leaders, propaganda chiefs and village secretaries. Constructed as a series of interviews, this book provides an account of dedication and heroism at all levels, and also of the brutality and trauma faced by a people in the grip of revolution and a terrifying war.

Those featured in the book describe aspects of the war: the murderous trek down the Ho Chi Minh trail, the self-immolation of Buddhist monks, the methods of Vietcong assassination teams and life under attack from American bombs and napalm. Taken as a whole, the accounts provide a rare insight into the thinking of the 'other side.'

About this title

About the Author

David Chanoff is the author of many books and articles on international issues and is currently based at Brandeis University.

Doan Van Toai was formerly a student political leader and then an editor in Saigon, and is now writing a history of the Vietnam War. Together Chanoff and Toai have collaborated on two earlier books.

From Library Journal

"The psychological landscape of Vietnam, like the political landscape, was full of features unsuspected by Americans when they entered the war," write Brandeis professor Chanoff and journalist Van Toai. These features included the endless war, sentiment against the French and the Americans, patriotism, ideologies, family, Buddhist-Catholic conflict, and charismatic leadership. The authors allow the country its expression through refugee accounts: central testimonials by Xuan Vu, the propaganda chief and award-winning author; Nguyen Cong Hoan, assemblyman in both Hanoi and Saigon; and Trinh Duc, soldier and leader, are supplemented with other eye-witness reports. Readers of Al Santoli's Everything We Had (1985) or Wallace Terry's Bloods (1985) will appreciate the information on the creation of the Ho Chi Minh Trail and the terror it held for Vietnamese soldiers as well as on camouflage, propaganda, bombings, purges, and ethnicity. The work resonates with a special understanding of Vietnamese institutions. Highly recommended.?Margaret W. Norton, Morton West H.S., Berwyn, Ill.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: I.B.Tauris
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 1860640761
• ISBN 13: 9781860640766
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 240