The full history of Vietnam, from antiquity to the present day. Generations of emperors, rebels, priests, and colonizers left complicated legacies in this remarkable country. Periods of Chinese, French, and Japanese rule reshaped and modernized Vietnam, but so too did the colonial enterprises of the Vietnamese themselves as they extended their influence southward from the Red River Delta. Over the centuries, numerous kingdoms, dynasties, and states have ruled over--and fought for--what is now Vietnam. The bloody Cold War-era conflict between Ho Chi Minh's communist-backed Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the American-backed Republic of Vietnam was only the most recent instance when war divided and transformed Vietnam.
Introduction: The Many Different Vietnams
Chapter 1. Northern Configurations
Chapter 2. A Divided House and a French Imperial Meridian?
Chapter 5. The Failure of Colonial Republicanism
Chapter 6. Colonial Society and Economy
Chapter 7. Contesting Empires and Nation-states
Chapter 9. Internationalized States of War
Chapter 10. A Tale of Two Republics
Chapter 11. Toward One Vietnam
Chapter 12. Cultural Change in the Long Twentieth Century
Chapter 13. The Tragedy and the Rise of Modern Vietnam
Chapter 14. Vietnam from Beyond the Red River
Conclusion: Authoritarianism, Republicanism, and Political Change