Description
Book SynopsisThis sound interpretation of Vietnamese cultural attitudes contends that a major reason for American difficulties in Viet-Nam has been the failure to appreciate how wide the gulf is between Viet-Nam and the West. Professor Smith first describes Vietnamese political and social traditions and shows how they were challenged by the West after 1858. He examines Viet-Nam''s search for independence and modernization in the first half of this century, contrasts the two governments of the partitioned country during the years 1954-1963, and stresses the critical need to reassess attitudes toward Viet-Nam. His sophisticated, ambitious survey of Viet-Nam history will have a lasting value that sets it apart from the scores of ephemeral books on this country.
Trade ReviewVietnam and the West is a smart, ambitious... collection.... [that] manages to unearth nuanced historical nuggets complicating the internal/external binaries and domestic/foreign relationship perceptions of nearly all previous Vietnamese historical scholarship.
* South East Asian Research *
