The First Vietnam War: Colonial Conflict and Cold War Crisis

by Mark Atwood Lawrence (Editor), Fredrik Logevall (Editor)

How did the conflict between Vietnamese nationalists and French colonial rulers erupt into a major Cold War struggle between communism and Western liberalism? To understand the course of the Vietnam wars, it is essential to explore the connections between events within Vietnam and global geopolitical currents in the decade after the Second World War. In this illuminating work, leading scholars examine various dimensions of the struggle between France and Vietnamese revolutionaries that began in 1945 and reached its climax at Dien Bien Phu. Several essays break new ground in the study of the Vietnamese revolution and the establishment of the political and military apparatus that successfully challenged both France and the United States. Other essays explore the roles of China, France, Great Britain, and the United States, all of which contributed to the transformation of the conflict from a colonial skirmish to a Cold War crisis. Taken together, the essays enable us to understand the origins of the later American war in Indochina by positioning Vietnam at the center of the grand clash between East and West and North and South in the middle years of the twentieth century.

Genres: History

384 pages, Hardcover

First published January 27, 2007

Reviews

[R. "Nuke_jr" · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book exploring the Indochina war in greater depths from multiple perspectives. It has an array of interesting points concerning this colonial war ranging from political to economic aspects. I was able to work well with it within an academic setting, I would recommend it.

Overall 9,5 or 10/10

[Max Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

One or two more papers focusing on the Viet Minh would have been appreciated, but all around this was a well-researched collection.

[Rowan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a collection of essays which mainly focus on the political and diplomatic aspects of the Vietnam War leading up to the American involvement after Dien Bien Phu. There are some interesting perspectives of the role of Britain and China, including the comparisons drawn by Britain between Vietnam and the Malayan Emergency, and the extent of Chinese independence from its chief Cold War ally - the Soviet Union.