The Republic of Vietnam, 1955-1975 : Vietnamese Perspectives on Nation Building

Through the voices of senior officials, teachers, soldiers, journalists, and artists, this book presents us with an interpretation of “South Vietnam” as a passionately imagined nation in the minds of ordinary Vietnamese, rather than merely as an expeditious political construct of the United States government. The moving and honest memoirs collected, translated, and edited here describe the experiences of war, politics, and everyday life for people from many walks of life during the fraught years of Vietnam's Second Republic, leading up to and encompassing what Americans generally call the “Vietnam War.” The voices gift the reader a sense of the authors' experiences in the Republic and their ideas about the nation during that time. The book reveals that far from a Cold War proxy struggle, the conflict in Vietnam featured a true ideological divide between the communist North and the non-communist South. Through the voices of senior officials, teachers, soldiers, journalists, and artists, The Republic of Vietnam, 1955–1975 , presents us with an interpretation of "South Vietnam" as a passionately imagined nation in the minds of ordinary Vietnamese, rather than merely as an expeditious political construct of the United States government. The moving and honest memoirs collected, translated, and edited here by Tuong Vu and Sean Fear describe the experiences of war, politics, and everyday life for people from many walks of life during the fraught years of Vietnam's Second Republic, leading up to and encompassing what Americans generally call the "Vietnam War." The voices gift the reader a sense of the authors' experiences in the Republic and their ideas about the nation during that time. The light and careful editing hand of Vu and Fear reveals that far from a Cold War proxy struggle, the conflict in Vietnam featured a true ideological divide between the communist North and the non-communist South. Through the voices of senior officials, teachers, soldiers, journalists, & artists, this text presents us with an interpretation of 'South Vietnam' as a passionately imagined nation in the minds of ordinary Vietnamese, rather than merely as an expeditious political construct of the United States government. The moving & honest memoirs collected, translated, & edited here describe the experiences of war, politics, & everyday life for people from many walks of life during the fraught years of Vietnam's Second Republic, leading up to & encompassing what Americans generally call the 'Vietnam War.' The voices gift the reader a sense of the authors' experiences in the Republic & their ideas about the nation during that time. The work reveals that far from a Cold War proxy struggle, the conflict in Vietnam featured a true ideological divide between the communist North & the non-communist South "Presents a collection of translated first-hand accounts of South Vietnamese military and civilian officials and prominent civilians who helped build the Republic of Vietnam"-- Provided by publisher