The Vietnam War: A Concise International History

New
Paperback
2010
$18.44

Hailed as a pithy and compelling account of an intensely relevant topic (Kirkus Reviews), this wide-ranging volume offers a superb account of a key moment in modern U.S. and world history. Drawing upon the latest research in archives in China, Russia, and Vietnam, Mark Lawrence creates an extraordinary, panoramic view of all sides of the war. His narrative begins well before American forces set foot in Vietnam, delving into French colonialism's contribution to the 1945 Vietnamese revolution, and revealing how the Cold War concerns of the 1950s led the United States to back the French. The heart of the book covers the American war, ranging from the overthrow of Ngo Dinh Diem and the impact of the Tet Offensive to Nixon's expansion of the war into Cambodia and Laos, and the final peace agreement of 1973. Finally, Lawrence examines the aftermath of the war, from the momentous liberalization- Doi Moi -in Vietnam to the enduring legacy of this infamous war in American books, films, and political debate.

Synopsis

Hailed as a pithy and compelling account of an intensely relevant topic (Kirkus Reviews), this wide-ranging volume offers a superb account of a key moment in modern U.S. and world history. Drawing upon the latest research in archives in China, Russia, and Vietnam, Mark Lawrence creates an extraordinary, panoramic view of all sides of the war. His narrative begins well before American forces set foot in Vietnam, delving into French colonialism's contribution to the 1945 Vietnamese revolution, and revealing how the Cold War concerns of the 1950s led the United States to back the French. The heart of the book covers the American war, ranging from the overthrow of Ngo Dinh Diem and the impact of the Tet Offensive to Nixon's expansion of the war into Cambodia and Laos, and the final peace agreement of 1973. Finally, Lawrence examines the aftermath of the war, from the momentous liberalization- Doi Moi -in Vietnam to the enduring legacy of this infamous war in American books, films, and political debate.

$18.44

Quantity

10 in stock

More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 224
Publisher: OUP USA
Published: 23 Sep 2010
ISBN 10: 0199753938
ISBN 13: 9780199753932

Media Reviews

Crisply concise.... Delves into the 'whys' of the war: why the Vietnamese fought against the United States, why the great powers were involved, why the war turned out as it did and why legacies of the war linger. -Philip Seib,Dallas Morning News
[A] succinct history of a frustrating war that raised several painful issues America's leaders are now encountering for a second time.... A pithy and compelling account of an intensely relevant topic. -Kirkus Reviews
Distills the US's longest war into a short, readable narrative.... This brief summary of the tangled negotiations that prolonged the suffering caused by the war is perhaps Lawrence's most valuable contribution, since it covers an area that more extensive histories overlook.... A valuable addition to any academic library.... Essential. -C.C. Lovett, CHOICE
The book lives up to its brief and accessible billing.... -Publishers Weekly
In an elegant, almost elegiac prose style, Mark Lawrence takes us through the history of the Vietnam War in a narrative that transcends the usual focus on Vietnam and the United States. There is no other one volume history of the war that so thoroughly captures the war as an event in world history. -Marilyn B. Young, author of The Vietnam Wars, 1945-1990
A succinct and persuasive account of the Second Indochina War in its global context. At a time when the current U.S. involvement in Iraq evokes uneasy memories of America's controversial 'war of choice' in Vietnam, Mark Lawrence's thoughtful analysis of that previous conflict is highly welcome. -William J. Duiker, author of Ho Chi Minh: A Life
It takes skill to condense a massive subject into a concise, entertaining, and accessible book. This is what Mark Atwood Lawrence accomplishes in his 224 page book The Vietnam War: A Concise International History.... This book might be even more attractive than the larger volumes on the subject because it is succint and focuses on the primary issues of the war. -Shelton Woods, Resources

Author Bio

Mark Atwood Lawrence is a former correspondent for the Associated Press and Associate Professor of History at the University of Texas at Austin. His book Assuming the Burden (2007) won the George Louis Beer Prize and Paul Birdsall Prize of the American Historical Association.