Vietnam Past and Present

There can be few people in the world that do not know the name, location and recent history of Vietnam. Yet beyond the period of US involvement in what Americans call the 'Vietnam War' how much is really known?

Almost no Vietnamese bear a grudge against the USA, but this is less true for China, Vietnam's close neighbor, mentor and rival for more than two thousand years.

For example, Vietnamese like to name their streets after what they consider to have been ‘acts of foreign aggression’, and in Hanoi no fewer than 119 streets are named after ‘acts of Chinese and French aggression’. By contrast, just two are named for ‘acts of American aggression'.

Based on an intimate personal knowledge of Vietnam extending over two decades, this book explores Hanoi and the North. It leads the reader not just across contemporary Tonkin, but also through its long history, linking the present-day with the distant past.

62,000 words, 81 contemporary images, 38 historical images, 4 maps, Glossary, Bibliography