Fitzgerald got so close to the vietnamese in this book, became so magnificently acquainted with the culture, that you cant quite believe she wasnt drafted as a bridge between the feckless american command and the people they were supposed to be trying to help. Its a shame, because although there are many excellent books written by american authors about the conflict, they dont give you an idea of how a vietnamese person saw the war. Another revolutionary telling of the vietnam war, bao ninhs the sorrow of war is reported to have been written against the communist partys wishes. Americas enemy 1954 1967 the vietnam war as seen from different perspectives by vietcong guerrillas and sympathizers, by north vietnamese. The book is highly recommended not only for historians and students but for anyone who wants to understand the vietnam war and its aftermath. Memories of the vietnam war and after, is a contribution to this process. This book is brought to you for free and open access by the humboldt state university press.
Before the sympathizer won the 2016 pulitzer prize for fiction, many readers didnt know any authors or books written from the vietnamese perspective. A vietnamese perspective on the wars war is boring medium. I was glad to read a book on the vietnam war from the north vietnamese perspective it is an anti war book, by the way. Through the voices of senior officials, teachers, soldiers, journalists, and artists. Discover delightful childrens books with prime book box, a subscription that delivers.
Ten vietnam war novels to read council on foreign relations. A vietnam war reader university of north carolina press. How the north vietnamese remember the conflict 40 years after the fall of saigon. After we posted this article, times readers weighed in with their favorite books on the vietnam war. They believed that the united states, which in their view had failed in korea and taiwan in the 1950s, was now expanding the war against china into vietnam. Opinion how vietnam changed journalism the new york times.
Ready to read the most celebrated and best vietnam war books. The vietnam war also known as the second indochina war, and in vietnam as the resistance. The work is one of the very few books on the vietnam war written from the perspective of an australian army officer serving in a 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. The top 30 vietnam war books to read this winter historynet. My journalistic perspective in the beginning was normal. Among the most positive is an abundance of topnotch books, many written by veterans of the conflict. Special collections research center, wade hall collection of american letters 2009ms2 jim gibson, a solider stationed in germany, kentucky, and at cam rahn bay, vietnam, writes to his wife, linda. The vietnamese revolution and politicalmilitary strategy.
Michael hunt brings together the views of the conflicts disparate playersfrom communist leaders, vietnamese peasants, saigon loyalists, and north vietnamese soldiers to u. I recently watched the excellent ken burns pbs documentary on vietnam and wanted to learn more about the war. Find below a collection of the best books on the vietnam war. Readers weighed in on the best books about the vietnam war. I have two family members who were pows during the war, but due to ptsd are unable to share their stories.
Vietnamese perspectives on the war in vietnam digital commons. Smith identified three broad phases in the evolution of western scholarship on the communist side of. Whilst some of these books are a bit older, they are still brilliant to read and give you great insight into the war. This is a selection of letters from the larger collection. The vietnamese communist party banned the book because of its unflattering recitation of the war s brutality. At the seminar, leading western diplomatic and military historians and vietnam scholars met with prominent vietnamese communists to reflect on the vietnam war. 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. 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.
But north vietnams war generation experienced those events. This book, based on extensive original research, including vietnamese, chinese and former soviet sources, tells the story of the war from t. Ive read scads of vietnam war books, but the sympathizer has an exciting. Nguyens darkly comic novel offers a point of view about american culture. The latest project from documentary filmmakers ken burns and lynn novick looks at the u. On a recent visit to vietnam, i followed the path of the war from hanoi to danang to ho chi minh city. And unlike my ap history book, the vietnamese textbook i read contained little information about the cold war. The great achievement of the sympathizer is that it gives the vietnamese a voice.
A documentary history from american and vietnamese perspectives by hunt, michael h. The diplomatic historians who study the vietnam war often gravitate toward niche topics, such as the role of american universities in vietnam, vietnamese and american ideas of nation building, or the operations of the national security council. Ive read several books by american authors about the vietnam war, and now. While the list of books about this conflict includes hundreds of enlightening works, we pick ten of the best texts offering illuminating perspectives on the war, its context and the effects it had on vietnam. 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. 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. When the vietnam war was over, the pentagon decided that there had been too much negative reporting from the war. Existing studies of the vietnam war have been written mostly from an american perspective, using western sources, and viewing the conflict through western eyes. While we might have made it our war, the vietnam war was about one group of people, the vietnamese. Thais surreal novel looks at how the years of war in vietnam affected the vietnamese people, women in particular. They argue that the medias tendency toward negative reporting helped to undermine support for the war in the united states while its uncensored coverage provided valuable information to the. Overall, it provides an important corrective to the predominantly uscentric narratives of the war by placing the vietnamese communists centrestage in the story. 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. An ugly war, seen through the lens of the vietnamese.
The vietnam war has scarred, transformed and inspired countless writers and art practitioners. This volume derives from an unprecedented seminar held at columbia universitys school of international and public affairs in november 1990. Told entirely from suzys perspective, it deals with confusion, anxiety, fear. The vva veteran this book, better than any book i know, shows the multiple sides 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. A vietnamese perspective on the wars war is boring. This book that complements the tv series is just epic and deserves its place along with stanley karnow vietnam and neil sheehan a bright shining lie. These include winners of national book awards and pulitzer prizes, both fiction and nonfiction. Due to his honest, thorough reporting of the vietnam war, he gained a place. What is the best book about vietnam war written from. Sorrow of war offers the north vietnamese perspective by tracing the warhaunted life of kien, a former infantryman turned writer, as he struggles. This book is widely viewed as the best concise history of the vietnam war.
A documentary history from american and vietnamese perspectives. It is a sequel to the authors routledgecurzon book the vietnam war from the other side, which covers the period 196268. The role of the media in the vietnam war is a subject of continuing controversy. Accounts of the vietnam war from the perspective of vietnamese are often overlooked, and books by south vietnamese soldiers in particular are relatively rare.
A vietnam war reader, edited by michael hunt, is a unique collection of shocking lived experiences, directly from the mouths and the pens of those soldiers, politicians and citizens who lived through the days of the vietnam war and its bloody aftermath. William hammonds book reporting vietnam is a description of official efforts to manage the. Historians at war national association of scholars. It is one of those places that just crept into my life, like a stranger come to call, and i had no aim of ever making it. As the medias coverage of the war and that of the pentagon diverged. Journal of americas military past an excellent selection of primary sources. Accounts of the vietnam war from the perspective of vietnamese are often overlooked, and books by south vietnamese soldiers in particular. Look at the sources bellow and create an interpretation of the vietnamese perspective of the vietnam war. The photographs bellow are often excluded from our textbooks. Some of these are fiction books about vietnam war based on factual information, whilst others include some of the best books on vietnam history of the war. It also covers wolff s life before he joined the army, his year of vietnamese.
Recently, i was invited by professor susan schnall to address her class at new york university studying what is referred to as the vietnam war by americans and the american war by the vietnamese i guess nomenclature is a matter of perspective. Looking for vietnam war pow book told from vietnamese. From enemy to friend a north vietnamese perspective on the war by bui tin. Nguyens book draws on 54 oral history interviews with veterans of the republic of vietnam armed forces rvnaf and their relatives. So he saw a side of vietnam that most american journalists and. 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. Looking for vietnam war pow book told from vietnamese perspective. American and vietnamese perspectives by hunt, michael ed. Centered on cat ba island off the coast of vietnam, the story examines how, after having struggled for years to achieve vietnam s victory in the war, a group of women find that their country at peace has no place for them. This book was written by a journalist who covered asia from 1959 thru 1974. A vietnam war reader american and vietnamese perspectives. From the awardwinning historian and filmmakers of the civil war, baseball, the war, the roosevelts, and others. In rural towns in the north, the vietnamese flag a red banner with a single gold star.
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. It is written from both perspectives, south vietnamese and american, and is based on my experience growing up in vietnam during the war as well as on my interviews of american veterans who served over there. Allow me to introduce my book once upon a mulberry field, an awardwinning novel set in the 1960s at the height of the vietnam war. Some believe that the media played a large role in the u. Offering a unique and impressively informed and informative perspective, vietnam s american war. His coverage of the war in dispatches was groundbreaking for its presented a type of. The vietnam war an australian perspective compiled from records and historical articles by r freshfield introduction what is referred to as the vietnam war began for the us in the early 1950s when it deployed military advisors to support south vietnam forces. So, here is my curated list of 25 books on vietnam and vietnamese culture, 20 of. A history is an extraordinary study of exceptional scholarship and unreservedly recommended for both community and academic library vietnam war collections and supplemental studies lists.
Academy professor, department of history, us military academy, west point. Since then i have gathered up quite a collection of books and dvds on the vietnam war or as the vietnamese say the american war. How young vietnamese view the vietnam war the atlantic. Nathalie huynh chau nguyens new book, south vietnamese soldiers. How the north vietnamese remember the vietnam war, 40 years. Every book on vietnam in the section claimed to be the best ever written on the subject.
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