Four Decades On: Vietnam, the United States, and the Legacies of the Second Indochina War (Hardback)

Scott Laderman (editor), Edwin A. Martini (editor)

£89.00

Hardback 344 Pages
Published: 06/06/2013

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Synopsis

In Four Decades On, historians, anthropologists, and literary critics examine the legacies of the Second Indochina War, or what most Americans call the Vietnam War, nearly forty years after the United States finally left Vietnam. They address matters such as the daunting tasks facing the Vietnamese at the war's end—including rebuilding a nation and consolidating a socialist revolution while fending off China and the Khmer Rouge—and "the Vietnam syndrome," the cynical, frustrated, and pessimistic sense that colored America's views of the rest of the world after its humiliating defeat in Vietnam. The contributors provide unexpected perspectives on Agent Orange, the POW/MIA controversies, the commercial trade relationship between the United States and Vietnam, and representations of the war and its aftermath produced by artists, particularly writers. They show how the war has continued to affect not only international relations but also the everyday lives of millions of people around the world. Most of the contributors take up matters in the United States, Vietnam, or both nations, while several utilize transnational analytic frameworks, recognizing that the war's legacies shape and are shaped by dynamics that transcend the two countries.

Contributors. Alex Bloom, Diane Niblack Fox, H. Bruce Franklin, Walter Hixson, Heonik Kwon, Scott Laderman, Mariam B. Lam, Ngo Vinh Long, Edwin A. Martini, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Christina Schwenkel, Charles Waugh

Publisher: Duke University Press
ISBN: 9780822354628
Number of pages: 344
Weight: 626 g
Dimensions: 235 x 156 mm

MEDIA REVIEWS

"Four Decades On meets the clear scholarly need for a volume that explores the aftermath of the Vietnam War in Vietnam and the United States. This strong collection of essays demonstrates that the war continued to shape critical dimensions of Vietnamese and American history after 1975 and that these postwar developments must be conceived in a transnational frame."—Mark Philip Bradley, author of Vietnam at War

"Four Decades On is a most valuable collection of essays analyzing the legacies of the Second Indochina War from inside Vietnam and the United States and, in some essays, from broader transnational perspectives. Addressing film, literature, politics, memory, Agent Orange, the environment, trade, and reconciliation and its absence, this collection would make an excellent concluding assignment to any course on the Vietnam War."—Marilyn B. Young, coeditor of Bombing Civilians: A Twentieth-Century History

“Libraries seeking materials involving the history of memory will not go wrong by adding this excellent book to their collections. Highly recommended.” - C. C. Lovett, Choice

“In summary, there are a lot of good bits in Four Decades On… [T]hose seriously interested in plumbing where Vietnam is headed or where the United States has been will want to have it on a handy shelf.” - David Brown, Contemporary Southeast Asia

“Four Decades On is a rich collection that provides insight into the complex legacies of the Viet Nam War, which manifest themselves in local, national, and global contexts. The anthology reminds us of the need for multi-lingual, multi-shore, and interdisciplinary methodologies to more fully grapple with the meaning of war.” - Judy Tzu-Chun Wu, Journal of Military History

“Given that this volume speaks to emerging trends in the historiography of the Vietnam War and Vietnamese studies, I would highly recommend Four Decades On to academics in these respective fields, graduate students, and advanced undergraduates. . . . .These scholars also remind us that past narratives of the Vietnam War have obscured or omitted the voices and actions of the Vietnamese. Future histories must place Vietnamese and American voices in meaningful conversation, and the international lens adopted in the essays outlined above can remedy that lacunae.” - Joshua Akers, H-War, H-Net Reviews

" . . . this collection deserves close attention from anyone seeking a better and more complete understanding of the Second Indochina War and its legacies." - Andrew L. Johns, Journal of American History

"This outstanding collection of eleven essays . . . merit study by every citizen." - Moss Roberts, Pacific Affairs