ABSTRACT

Written for undergradaute courses on postwar American foreign policy, Southeast Asian history, the Cold War, the Vietnam war, international relations, decolonization, and third world communism, this introduction uses the wealth of recent research to place the Vietnam war within the contexts of European colonization, American Cold War strategy and Vietnam's own political history

chapter |17 pages

Colonial reconquest or Cold War conflict?

The French war, 1946–54

chapter |16 pages

Nation building

North and South Vietnam, 1954–61

chapter |17 pages

Insurgency and counter-insurgency

The struggle for South Vietnam, 1961–5

chapter |17 pages

The American war, 1965–9

chapter |18 pages

A war of peace, 1969–75

chapter |15 pages

Conclusion