ABSTRACT
When noticed at all in the West, Vietnamese history is usually viewed through the lens of an imagined past of a single, united Vietnam offering continuous resistance to foreign invaders culminating in Hồ Chí Minh’s August Revolution in 1945. However, recent scholarship has indicated the presence of a much more complex Vietnamese past—one that involved disunity, struggle, and emerging cultural differences. Viewed from the vantage point of this more nuanced version of Vietnamese history, the American war in Vietnam carries a new meaning as part of a long history of South vs. North struggle in the region.
