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Vietnam: Rising Dragon
A much-needed behind-the-scenes survey of an emerging Asian power The eyes of the West have recently been trained on China and India, but Vietnam is rising fast among its Asian peers. A breathtaking period of social change has seen foreign investment bringing capitalism flooding into its nominally communist society, booming cities swallowing up smaller villages, and the lure of modern living tugging at the traditional networks of family and community. Yet beneath these sweeping developments lurks an authoritarian political system that complicates the nation’s apparent renaissance. In this engaging work, experienced journalist Bill Hayton looks at the costs of change in Vietnam and questions whether this rising Asian power is really heading toward capitalism and democracy.
Based on vivid eyewitness accounts and pertinent case studies, Hayton’s book addresses a broad variety of issues in today’s Vietnam, including important shifts in international relations, the growth of civil society, economic developments and challenges, and the nation’s nascent democracy movement as well as its notorious internal security. His analysis of Vietnam’s “police state,” and its systematic mechanisms of social control, coercion, and surveillance, is fresh and particularly imperative when viewed alongside his portraits of urban and street life, cultural legacies, religion, the media, and the arts. With a firm sense of historical and cultural context, Hayton examines how these issues have emerged and where they will lead Vietnam in the next stage of its development.
Based on vivid eyewitness accounts and pertinent case studies, Hayton’s book addresses a broad variety of issues in today’s Vietnam, including important shifts in international relations, the growth of civil society, economic developments and challenges, and the nation’s nascent democracy movement as well as its notorious internal security. His analysis of Vietnam’s “police state,” and its systematic mechanisms of social control, coercion, and surveillance, is fresh and particularly imperative when viewed alongside his portraits of urban and street life, cultural legacies, religion, the media, and the arts. With a firm sense of historical and cultural context, Hayton examines how these issues have emerged and where they will lead Vietnam in the next stage of its development.
303 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 6, 2010
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About the author
Bill Hayton
6 books33 followersBill Hayton is a longtime reporter with BBC News, specializing in contemporary Asia. He has also written for The Economist, the South China Morning Post, and the National Interest.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 74 reviews
September 17, 2012
Very informative. I started the book before my two week journey to Vietnam, and read it during and on the return from the trip. What I read reflected what I saw and experienced in the country, rounding out my experience and filling in a lot of blanks. Examples that stand out are the environtmental destruction of Vietnam's forests, wildlife, eco-systems, landscapes (see Chapter 8, "See it before it's gone"), and the chapter on US-Vietnamese relations post-American war in Vietnam (Chapter 9, "Enemies into friends"). This second chapter was particularly interesting/illuminating given that our American veteran guide was constantly touting the Vietnamese veterans' seeming immunity from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and being "stuck in the past". Chapter 9 paints a somewhat different picture in the form of Communist propaganda: the regime wishes for positive relations with the US (business, industry), which necessitates the silencing of the Vietnamese war experience.
Hayton's writing is consistent with that of other British journalists I've read: a bit dry at times and devoid of any feeling or emotion (as my Saigonese friend says of her Brit boyfriend: "They don't do emotions"). His impressions, however, are recent and fresh, and paint with their objectivity a fuller portrait of Vietnam for the traveller, business person, student of culture, etc.
Hayton's writing is consistent with that of other British journalists I've read: a bit dry at times and devoid of any feeling or emotion (as my Saigonese friend says of her Brit boyfriend: "They don't do emotions"). His impressions, however, are recent and fresh, and paint with their objectivity a fuller portrait of Vietnam for the traveller, business person, student of culture, etc.
December 24, 2012
Amzing book. I am native Vietnamese and this book absolutely blows my mind!! The author goes into depth exploring topics that are censored in Vietnam.
Just how the author can gather so much knowledge about Vietnam during his short stay is beyond me. I feel ashamed that know less about my country that he does, to be honest.
Definitely a must-read if you want to have a clear idea of what Vietnam is like today.
Just how the author can gather so much knowledge about Vietnam during his short stay is beyond me. I feel ashamed that know less about my country that he does, to be honest.
Definitely a must-read if you want to have a clear idea of what Vietnam is like today.
March 8, 2011
Very readable, journalistic tone, well-cited, diverse sources. I wish it had more history and more helpful sub-sections, but then again it's not an academic text.
January 29, 2024
Informative political economic account of how Vietnam has “boomed, busted and found a way through crises, all the time finding a pragmatic way through” during the 00s. Sets up future problems, mostly to do with Party needs hampering further economic growth and environmental damage, but does not offer a satisfying look at the 10s-decade as a 2020 new edition should have done
March 19, 2018
Lịch sử chính trị Việt Nam từ 1975 tới 2008 trên đủ mọi khía cạnh. Từ 2008 tới 2018 đã 10 năm rồi đó.
November 3, 2025
Visaptverošs ieskats Vjetnamas vēsturē līdz mūsdienām, žēl, ka tās "mūsdienas" beidzas ap 2008. gadu, bet nu viens skaidrs, Vjetnama, protams, ir kas tūkstoškārt reižu vairāk par to nelaimīgo karu, ar kuru mums tā visiem saistās.
June 9, 2013
I read this before and during my trip to Vietnam. It seems like there is a ton of literature about Vietnam during the war, but a lack of information about modern Vietnam, so it was nice to find a really engaging book that covered so many aspects of life in Vietnam today, from its economy and political system to its culture. I noticed so many things I read about as I was traveling through the country, like the environmental destruction in Halong Bay, and distinctions between the North and the South. My conversations with Vietnamese reinforced a lot of what was discussed in the book. I would recommend it to anyone traveling there or trying to get a better understanding about modern Vietnam.
March 20, 2016
I probably started reading this book like most others -- because I was traveling to Vietnam for a month and wanted to better understand the country and its rapid pace of change. I read an excerpt of the first chapter in the Wall Street Journal, and knew it was the right book for me:
This book helped me understand our every day and every social interaction in Vietnam so much better. It made the invisible become screamingly obvious -- the rampant prostitution at the karaoke bars and massage parlors, the political infighting behind each corruption scandal, and the delicate balance of allowing youth culture to flourish without threatening the self-preservation of the Communist Party.
I wanted to travel to Vietnam to zoom in on the otherwise-abstract concept of "authoritarian development." Vietnam's GDP growth has been a steady 6.5% since 2000. The World Bank calls it "a development success story," but Hayton goes into detail to show how the Vietnamese government time after time ignored advice from the World Bank and IMF:
In many ways, Vietnam is the counter-factual to the 10 guiding principles of the Washington Consensus. The country is still run like a massive corporation, with the threat of revolt from managers and workers alike always on the horizon.
What I found most interesting is how the federal government is encouraging more transparency, participation and accountability at the local level in order to keep municipal and regional leaders in check so that they don't accumulate enough power to potentially threaten the party's monopoly of power. In that way, citizens are able to participate actively in the politics of their local communities without ever threatening the dominance of a one-party system. Similarly, it's never been easier to start a company, and free enterprise is everywhere so long as it doesn't threaten the dominance of a state-run firm.
Much of Vietnam's good fortune has come from multinationals hedging their bets by building factories outside of China. Even leaving that dependency aside, challenges still loom:
About a third of Vietnamese farmers are expected to lose their jobs. They will need to be retrained as waiters, drivers, hotel staff. But Vietnam has underinvested in education, and many of the hotels were we stayed imported staff from the Philippines that could speak English better and were generally better at customer service.
Every once in a while there are pro-democracy rumblings from the scooter-driving youth, but more often than not the impulse comes from Vietnamese-Americans living abroad. Hayton doesn't expect a social media-fueled, democratic revolution any time soon:
The Communist Party is trying to stay true to its roots and address the growing inequality, but "redistribution will mean taking wealth away from [the party's] biggest supporters. Does it have the ability to stand up to its own children and demand they hand over part of their wealth through taxation to benefit poorer people in faraway provinces?"
It seems doubtful. Meanwhile, the kind of one-party, authoritarian economic development taking place in China and Vietnam seems to have captured the attention of other, authoritarian governments in Rwanda, Egypt and Tanzania. It's hard to argue against what seems to work. Even more worrying is the dysfunctional, gridlocked circus that has become American politics. Benevolent authoritarianism might be making a comeback.
The image of Vietnam we foreigners seek is a close-cropped study in 'otherness'. Zoom out from the girl in the conical hat and the newly erected pylon intrudes on the view. Turn away from the buffalo boy and the scene is 'spoiled' by his parents' new concrete house. Vietnamese development planners don't share the western tourist aesthetic. Call it socialist, call it proletarian or just call it ugly; they'd rather see an electricity substation than a pre-industrial rural landscape. The people want progress and prosperity. The fantasy country we seek is the one they want to leave behind.
This book helped me understand our every day and every social interaction in Vietnam so much better. It made the invisible become screamingly obvious -- the rampant prostitution at the karaoke bars and massage parlors, the political infighting behind each corruption scandal, and the delicate balance of allowing youth culture to flourish without threatening the self-preservation of the Communist Party.
I wanted to travel to Vietnam to zoom in on the otherwise-abstract concept of "authoritarian development." Vietnam's GDP growth has been a steady 6.5% since 2000. The World Bank calls it "a development success story," but Hayton goes into detail to show how the Vietnamese government time after time ignored advice from the World Bank and IMF:
Vietnam has not developed in the way it has – balancing rocketing economic growth with one of the most impressive reductions in poverty anywhere, ever – by completely liberalising the economy. Yes, restrictions on private enterprise have been lifted, markets have been allowed to flourish and foreign investment has been encouraged – but Vietnam's success is far from being a triumph of World Bank orthodoxy. Some might snigger at the official description of a ‘socialist-oriented market economy’ but it's not an empty slogan.
In many ways, Vietnam is the counter-factual to the 10 guiding principles of the Washington Consensus. The country is still run like a massive corporation, with the threat of revolt from managers and workers alike always on the horizon.
More important to the Communist Party than economic dogma is self-preservation. Everything else: growth, poverty reduction, regional equality, media freedom, environmental protection – everything – is subordinate to that basic instinct. To survive, the Party knows it has to match a simple, but terrifying, figure: one million jobs a year. Every year Vietnam's schools produce a million new peasants and proletarians, the product of a huge postwar baby boom which is showing little sign of slowing down despite an intense ‘two-child’ policy. Growth is vital, but not at the expense of creating too much inequality. So is reducing poverty, but not at the expense of impeding growth too much.
What I found most interesting is how the federal government is encouraging more transparency, participation and accountability at the local level in order to keep municipal and regional leaders in check so that they don't accumulate enough power to potentially threaten the party's monopoly of power. In that way, citizens are able to participate actively in the politics of their local communities without ever threatening the dominance of a one-party system. Similarly, it's never been easier to start a company, and free enterprise is everywhere so long as it doesn't threaten the dominance of a state-run firm.
Much of Vietnam's good fortune has come from multinationals hedging their bets by building factories outside of China. Even leaving that dependency aside, challenges still loom:
As the economy has industrialised, the share of agriculture in GDP has halved – from 40 per cent in the mid-1980s to about 20 per cent now. But the number of people working as farmers has fallen much more slowly – from three-quarters of the population in the 1980s to about half now.
About a third of Vietnamese farmers are expected to lose their jobs. They will need to be retrained as waiters, drivers, hotel staff. But Vietnam has underinvested in education, and many of the hotels were we stayed imported staff from the Philippines that could speak English better and were generally better at customer service.
Every once in a while there are pro-democracy rumblings from the scooter-driving youth, but more often than not the impulse comes from Vietnamese-Americans living abroad. Hayton doesn't expect a social media-fueled, democratic revolution any time soon:
It's a common assumption among many observers of Vietnam that the coming of capitalism will create a new force in society, a new middle class with sources of income independent of the Communist Party and able to stand up and defend itself. This may come in time, but it seems a long way off. For the moment getting better off requires loyalty to the Party. The well connected are exploiting their connections to become rich, and the rich are exploiting their money to buy protection from the state. The result is widening inequality between rich and poor.
The Communist Party is trying to stay true to its roots and address the growing inequality, but "redistribution will mean taking wealth away from [the party's] biggest supporters. Does it have the ability to stand up to its own children and demand they hand over part of their wealth through taxation to benefit poorer people in faraway provinces?"
It seems doubtful. Meanwhile, the kind of one-party, authoritarian economic development taking place in China and Vietnam seems to have captured the attention of other, authoritarian governments in Rwanda, Egypt and Tanzania. It's hard to argue against what seems to work. Even more worrying is the dysfunctional, gridlocked circus that has become American politics. Benevolent authoritarianism might be making a comeback.
March 27, 2015
Read this while travelling through Viet Nam. Was a fantastic oversight of the current state of the country. It helped make sense of what I was witnessing first hand. Well written too. Definitely recommend if you are going to Viet Nam, or just interested in the country.
March 8, 2017
Really interesting overview of Vietnam by a BBC reporter/ex-pat. I particularly enjoyed the political commentary. Vietnam is something of an anomaly in the way it's capitalist market functions under Communism.
June 5, 2022
This is a detailed and comprehensive book about the last 30 years or so of Vietnam history. It is not for the casual reader - probably more for someone who wants a serious understanding of thus period, and indeed some (less detailed) history of the 'post-unification' years.
I recently moved to Vietnam from Malaysia, and regretted not doing enough historical reading about Malaysia so I wanted to make more of an effort for Vietnam. Luckily there are plenty more books on Vietnam than Malaysia it would seem!
Each chapter deals with a different aspect of Vietnam including business, press, The Party structures and the environment. It details how the country and Party (which can be considered as one) has tried to change its approach after recognising its past mistakes, which is in itself a fascinating thing to understand given its autocratic nature.
I moved to Saigon recently, and this book really focuses on Hanoi (which it probably should) so I think it will be more relevant and easier to connect to people living there, but as it talks through the differences between the north and the south (and the center) it was still interesting to look out my window to the high-rises of Saigon or drive past the billboards of Ho Chi Minh and become more acquainted with the North-South cultural divide.
I didn't find it an easy read - your attention is required and sometimes the writing became too dry, but it is worth trying to push through. Since the chapters each deal with a different aspect of Vietnam I would have preferred their titles to be more appropriate so that I can dip back into the chapter about a particular topic. As they are named, it is difficult to do this.
The book contains many opinions, many if them ambiguous, but with the facts presented by the author I am happy to trust them. My main interest was how a communist country has managed to generate such rapid social and economic development in the last couple of decades, and this book answered it for me very satisfactorily.
Overall, a worthy read for those with a genuine interest in the country or those choosing to live there and wishing to catch up on the social, cultural and political landscapes.
I recently moved to Vietnam from Malaysia, and regretted not doing enough historical reading about Malaysia so I wanted to make more of an effort for Vietnam. Luckily there are plenty more books on Vietnam than Malaysia it would seem!
Each chapter deals with a different aspect of Vietnam including business, press, The Party structures and the environment. It details how the country and Party (which can be considered as one) has tried to change its approach after recognising its past mistakes, which is in itself a fascinating thing to understand given its autocratic nature.
I moved to Saigon recently, and this book really focuses on Hanoi (which it probably should) so I think it will be more relevant and easier to connect to people living there, but as it talks through the differences between the north and the south (and the center) it was still interesting to look out my window to the high-rises of Saigon or drive past the billboards of Ho Chi Minh and become more acquainted with the North-South cultural divide.
I didn't find it an easy read - your attention is required and sometimes the writing became too dry, but it is worth trying to push through. Since the chapters each deal with a different aspect of Vietnam I would have preferred their titles to be more appropriate so that I can dip back into the chapter about a particular topic. As they are named, it is difficult to do this.
The book contains many opinions, many if them ambiguous, but with the facts presented by the author I am happy to trust them. My main interest was how a communist country has managed to generate such rapid social and economic development in the last couple of decades, and this book answered it for me very satisfactorily.
Overall, a worthy read for those with a genuine interest in the country or those choosing to live there and wishing to catch up on the social, cultural and political landscapes.
June 3, 2018
Vietnam issue 101.
The must-read for anyone really care about social development of Vietnam.
Chapter 8 "See it before it's gone" is really blow my mind.
[One of] best book of the year for me.
The must-read for anyone really care about social development of Vietnam.
Chapter 8 "See it before it's gone" is really blow my mind.
[One of] best book of the year for me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 4, 2023
A bit out of date and a bit out of touch. Hayton takes a very negative view of the political realities of Vietnam and doesn’t seem to want to positively conceptualize a lot of the progress that has been made in the past decades.
May 29, 2023
Perfect glimpse on fast changing vibrant country. Hayton goes through many hidden aspects of economical, political and cultural life in Vietnam. Strongly recommend, but soon it might be outdated.
March 9, 2015
There’s an excitement and energy to Vietnam that's palpable — you feel it the moment you step out of the airport. With 60 percent of Vietnam's population under 30 and 85 percent under 40, it’s a vibrant, pulsating society. It’s the kind of place where you can see big changes in just a few years and it's been fun to watch the development of an emerging economy. In the seven years between my first and second visits, the differences are unmistakable. One thing I've noticed — and the book touches on this somewhat — is the way society is moving "from outside to inside." In older neighborhoods, you still see many shops "on the street" (the sidewalk is constantly blocked by old ladies selling noodles and young men repairing motorbikes). But in more modern neighborhoods, such as Saigon's district 1, clear sidewalks line indoor shops and restaurants.
While preparing for my first trip to Vietnam back in 2007, I searched for books about the country. I’d say 95% were either travel guides or dealt with the Vietnam War (or The American War as it's known in Vietnam). But I wasn’t interested in that. I wanted to know about modern Vietnam, its culture, economy, and cuisine. I found nothing at the time. It wasn’t until recently, having visited Vietnam several times and spent months living in Saigon and Da Nang and traveling the countryside, that I came across Hayton’s book, published in 2010. Having had some firsthand experience, the book fit with what I had seen but more importantly, filled in a lot of gaps in my knowledge.
The style of the book is a bit dry and the author gets so bogged down in detail that I often felt as though I were slogging through a textbook. But like a textbook, there is an enormous amount of information here, information that I haven’t found anywhere else. For that alone, it's worth a read.
Vietnam's modern history is fascinating. What’s most interesting about Vietnam today is the fast growth occurring in a culture that combines communism and capitalism. There is a constant push and pull with the ruling party relaxing restrictions where it makes sense, even if it compromises their stated ideology. Seemingly, the ruling party would rather compromise on communist ideology than to cede power.
I was also surprised to learn of the complex interplay between party and government. While the government is responsible for implementing and enforcing laws, the directives come from the Communist Party itself. The author gives many examples of this fascinating back and forth. It was also curious to see that, while Vietnam is not a democracy, there is a deliberate effort to make government representative of the people (women, ethic minorities, geographical regions) and these voices are listened to — to an extent.
Many other topics are covered here, mostly the problems experienced by many emerging economies: exploitation of natural resources; government and police corruption; suppression of dissent; and censorship of the press and social media. And while the book was written in 2010, many of these problems persist today. For example, a recent check of Reporters Without Borders Freedom Index (a measure of freedom of information in a given society) still has Vietnam near the bottom of the list.
Vietnam is an exceptional country with kind people, beautiful landscapes and wonderful cuisine. Hayton's book has given me an even greater appreciation of the obstacles the Vietnamese people have overcome and what challenges still lie ahead. I wish them all the best and look forward to watching what changes the next few years bring.
While preparing for my first trip to Vietnam back in 2007, I searched for books about the country. I’d say 95% were either travel guides or dealt with the Vietnam War (or The American War as it's known in Vietnam). But I wasn’t interested in that. I wanted to know about modern Vietnam, its culture, economy, and cuisine. I found nothing at the time. It wasn’t until recently, having visited Vietnam several times and spent months living in Saigon and Da Nang and traveling the countryside, that I came across Hayton’s book, published in 2010. Having had some firsthand experience, the book fit with what I had seen but more importantly, filled in a lot of gaps in my knowledge.
The style of the book is a bit dry and the author gets so bogged down in detail that I often felt as though I were slogging through a textbook. But like a textbook, there is an enormous amount of information here, information that I haven’t found anywhere else. For that alone, it's worth a read.
Vietnam's modern history is fascinating. What’s most interesting about Vietnam today is the fast growth occurring in a culture that combines communism and capitalism. There is a constant push and pull with the ruling party relaxing restrictions where it makes sense, even if it compromises their stated ideology. Seemingly, the ruling party would rather compromise on communist ideology than to cede power.
I was also surprised to learn of the complex interplay between party and government. While the government is responsible for implementing and enforcing laws, the directives come from the Communist Party itself. The author gives many examples of this fascinating back and forth. It was also curious to see that, while Vietnam is not a democracy, there is a deliberate effort to make government representative of the people (women, ethic minorities, geographical regions) and these voices are listened to — to an extent.
Many other topics are covered here, mostly the problems experienced by many emerging economies: exploitation of natural resources; government and police corruption; suppression of dissent; and censorship of the press and social media. And while the book was written in 2010, many of these problems persist today. For example, a recent check of Reporters Without Borders Freedom Index (a measure of freedom of information in a given society) still has Vietnam near the bottom of the list.
Vietnam is an exceptional country with kind people, beautiful landscapes and wonderful cuisine. Hayton's book has given me an even greater appreciation of the obstacles the Vietnamese people have overcome and what challenges still lie ahead. I wish them all the best and look forward to watching what changes the next few years bring.
December 6, 2013
I'm an expat living and working in HCMC. I arrived here almost two years ago, but recently admitted to myself that I actually didn't know very much about this country.
Sure, there's plenty of received wisdom floating round the expat and westernised-local circles, but it's often hard to work out how much of this is just intuitive-sounding fluff that gets repeatedly parroted because it seems to make sense, or how much is just empty platitude.
This realisation inspired me to make a greater effort to learn more about Vietnam.
Here, Bill Hayton has written a fascinating, highly readable account of post-war Vietnam. The central thesis is that the Communist Party's top priority is to remain in power, but that they have astutely chosen to do so by making concessions and reforms at various points when significant difficulties threaten their hegemony.
Many of these reforms have been in the direction of greater freedom and massive economic development; and by delivering clear benefits to the people of Vietnam, the Party has so far retained the strong support of the populace.
Communist governments are often portrayed as monolithic organisations, profoundly undemocratic in nature. One thing I learned reading this book, though, is that the Party is full of internal debate over what direction to steer policy in on a wide range of matters.
Additionally, the pieces that make up the whole puzzle that is Vietnam's government are revealed in this book to be more diverse and fragmented than may be commonly assumed, both in terms of how decisions are made in principle and how power is distributed in practice.
Within the Party structures, various groups and factions are constantly competing for their vision on a given issue to be implemented. Some are in it for personal gain while others are honestly striving for the betterment of the average citizen. All of these voices feed into the debate until a decision is made, when the party presents a unified position to the outside world. Quite simply, the standard picture of a fossilized, unresponsive system doesn't seem to describe the reality.
That is not to say this this book attempts to gloss over the government's failings; but neither does the author set out to condemn as a default position.
Vietnam: Rising Dragon discusses a range of post-war and contemporary issues facing Vietnam, from environmental destruction to embryonic democracy movements to growing religious freedom to the increasing entrenchment of corruption as economic growth enriches those with the right connections.
I would strongly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in this country - and in particular to anyone living here: for the great majority of expats, it will bestow a sense of perspective and understanding that is near-impossible to attain simply by living here, looking around, and asking the odd question about how things work to a local.
Sure, there's plenty of received wisdom floating round the expat and westernised-local circles, but it's often hard to work out how much of this is just intuitive-sounding fluff that gets repeatedly parroted because it seems to make sense, or how much is just empty platitude.
This realisation inspired me to make a greater effort to learn more about Vietnam.
Here, Bill Hayton has written a fascinating, highly readable account of post-war Vietnam. The central thesis is that the Communist Party's top priority is to remain in power, but that they have astutely chosen to do so by making concessions and reforms at various points when significant difficulties threaten their hegemony.
Many of these reforms have been in the direction of greater freedom and massive economic development; and by delivering clear benefits to the people of Vietnam, the Party has so far retained the strong support of the populace.
Communist governments are often portrayed as monolithic organisations, profoundly undemocratic in nature. One thing I learned reading this book, though, is that the Party is full of internal debate over what direction to steer policy in on a wide range of matters.
Additionally, the pieces that make up the whole puzzle that is Vietnam's government are revealed in this book to be more diverse and fragmented than may be commonly assumed, both in terms of how decisions are made in principle and how power is distributed in practice.
Within the Party structures, various groups and factions are constantly competing for their vision on a given issue to be implemented. Some are in it for personal gain while others are honestly striving for the betterment of the average citizen. All of these voices feed into the debate until a decision is made, when the party presents a unified position to the outside world. Quite simply, the standard picture of a fossilized, unresponsive system doesn't seem to describe the reality.
That is not to say this this book attempts to gloss over the government's failings; but neither does the author set out to condemn as a default position.
Vietnam: Rising Dragon discusses a range of post-war and contemporary issues facing Vietnam, from environmental destruction to embryonic democracy movements to growing religious freedom to the increasing entrenchment of corruption as economic growth enriches those with the right connections.
I would strongly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in this country - and in particular to anyone living here: for the great majority of expats, it will bestow a sense of perspective and understanding that is near-impossible to attain simply by living here, looking around, and asking the odd question about how things work to a local.
February 7, 2017
Despite the promising title, the book is depressing as it covers all the negative aspects of the country without covering in details any single positive aspect. The negative aspects range from politics, freedom of speech, notorious internal security, bribery, pollution, illegal trade of exotic animals. The extremeness of the views may be attributed to the author's expulsion from the country. Some of the view is pure speculation such as John McCain's account of the friendly treatment in Hoa Lo prison was politically-motivated just because some other US prisoner at the same time same place said John McCain was being "Ungrateful".
The only good thing about the book was that the author's indepth knowledge of the matter. I wouldn't recommend the book though because the view is so extreme on the negative side.
The only good thing about the book was that the author's indepth knowledge of the matter. I wouldn't recommend the book though because the view is so extreme on the negative side.
October 1, 2017
Paint a more political picture of the country rather than the country as a whole. Chapters of economy were served as proxy to illustrate change in ideologies and approaches of the party rather than focusing on the economy itself. Slightly different from my initial intention to read more about Vietnam economy, but I blame Google for that. In overall, an interesting read nevertheless, covering facts and perspectives fresh even for a Vietnamese like myself.
December 17, 2017
One of 3 books I read during a trip to Vietnam. It read more like a text book at times and there were parts that I glazed over during reading like parts on the economy and certain specific political events. Overall it gave me a thorough overview of the modernization of Vietnam since the war and helped me understand why Vietnam and US became allies again and how they became one of the fastest growing economies and the world.
September 17, 2017
Informative book about Vietnam when you wanna know Vietnam from different perspective.
May 22, 2023
This book has a massive flaw: it is very much about a Vietnam circa 2006-2008. That's already 15+ years out of date. I don't want to pretend that it is totally useless -- no country changes that fast -- but Vietnam, like other developing countries, does change pretty quickly. Meaning that much of this book has a feeling of history rather than immediacy. Except, as history, it covers an extremely narrow slice of modern Vietnam's history.
There is a second edition (which is what I read) but it doesn't update anything. Instead you get a new chapter which covers the political turmoil of (approximately) 2016 and the rise of Vingroup. Which invalidates some of the previous chapters; it is a shame those chapters weren't updated to include the changes. It feels like a fairly lazy second edition, unfortunately.
And it is unfortunate because despite the many quibbles I would make this is still the single best English-language book on modern Vietnam out there. It is just very out of date. It doesn't invalidate all of the broad sweeping stuff but it does mean the details are often no longer correct. That makes it a bit tricky to use as a field guide because, for someone who isn't in Vietnam, it is hard to know what parts are still applicable and which parts aren't.
There is a second edition (which is what I read) but it doesn't update anything. Instead you get a new chapter which covers the political turmoil of (approximately) 2016 and the rise of Vingroup. Which invalidates some of the previous chapters; it is a shame those chapters weren't updated to include the changes. It feels like a fairly lazy second edition, unfortunately.
And it is unfortunate because despite the many quibbles I would make this is still the single best English-language book on modern Vietnam out there. It is just very out of date. It doesn't invalidate all of the broad sweeping stuff but it does mean the details are often no longer correct. That makes it a bit tricky to use as a field guide because, for someone who isn't in Vietnam, it is hard to know what parts are still applicable and which parts aren't.
March 3, 2020
Una visione lucida e dettagliata del Vietnam dei primi anni 2000, da parte di un osservatore occidentale, corrispondente da Hanoi. Vari aspetti del paese sono presi in considerazione: innanzitutto la politica, in cui il ruolo centrale del partito comunista è inquadrato nel più vasto contesto delle tradizioni locali, in cui gioca un ruolo fondamentale il rispetto degli anziani e delle gerarchie sociali, tendenze sfruttate del partito per infittire il controllo e domare il dissenso, che del resto è quasi assente. In secondo luogo l’economia, in vertiginosa ascesa da quando il partito ha deciso di aprire la strada all’iniziativa privata e ai finanziamenti stranieri. Infine la società e la religione, in cui, nonostante l’ateismo di stato, spicca il plurarismo (Buddismo, Cinfucianesimo, Islam, cattolicesimo, e alcune religioni sincretiche precipue del Vietnam, come il Cao Dai), mentre le etnie minoritarie sono tenute ai margini della vita attiva e non partecipano al generale innalzmento delle condizioni di vita. Non da ultimi si trattano il turismo e l’inquinamento atmosferico, che vanno di pari passo e sono da un lato la fortuna recente e dall’altro la possibile rovina della società vietnamita. Lettura imprescondibile per capire questo affascinante paese.
October 21, 2022
Read this during my recent trip to Vietnam, the land, indeed, of the rising dragon. A bit dated but this book starts off with the history of the Communist Party and Vietnam in general. Everything in Vietnam is either directly or indirectly under the control of the Party so the author makes it a point that the reader understands the working of the Party. Vietnam has been trying to establish a socialist-oriented market economy (doi-moi) and from what I saw, it seems like it's working really well. Change is hard but the society there is collectively working towards it. Everybody seems to be happy, enjoying their leisure time as a society, as you would expect in a Communist/Socialist state but perhaps that's about as much as you can see being a visitor. The author, in the second half of the book, talks about the more pressing concerns of the Party, primarily dissent in the internet age. It ends with a brief history and current (2008ish) history of the tussles between Hanoi and Saigon (HCM) and the future ahead for Vietnam. A really good book covering a myriad of different issues concerning Vietnam and its now slow yet steady rise to the global stage.
July 11, 2024
Very good overview of Vietnam today or perhaps Vietnam of 2010 or so. The writer is clearly a genuine expert in the Vietnam and presents a well-balanced overview not just coving politics or human and civil rights or economic development, etc., but rather deals with a broad raft of subjects thereby allowing the reader to fuse the information into an overall impression of the country. However, the book has a dated feeling, like it was mostly written in 2010-11 with only some chapters tacked on at the end to summarize recent developments. Even that by now feels out of date, which is inevitable for this kind of current affairs book that sacrifices timelessness for detail in many places (acutely felt when talking about the media in Vietnam). I would definitely recommend the book for a good grasp on the fundamental features of Vietnamese politics and public life more generally. Don't expect contemporary insight particularly regarding the moves among the country's leadership, despite this being the topic for most of the update sections that cover it in detail - but only from the mid-to-late 2010's.
June 24, 2021
Reaction: informative, engaging, and comprehensive on a different history of Vietnam
Writing Style: journalistic, filled with anecdotes paired with current events
Argumentation: the way most people view Vietnam is a beautiful country arising from the horrors inflicted by French, Chinese, and American actions. But what most of us, me included, do not realize is that all of these competing histories have led to a power struggle that perpetuates corruption, inequalities, social injustice, free speech suppression, environmental degradation, and the modernization of a majority, leaving smaller minority groups out of the picture
Commendation: takes a stance of the socially correct and acceptable way of running a country, since freedom of speech and job security are rights that must be upheld; interviews key figures
Critique: interview more officials who played a role in Vietnam’s politics/economy but never been there to visit, will add a new perspective
Writing Style: journalistic, filled with anecdotes paired with current events
Argumentation: the way most people view Vietnam is a beautiful country arising from the horrors inflicted by French, Chinese, and American actions. But what most of us, me included, do not realize is that all of these competing histories have led to a power struggle that perpetuates corruption, inequalities, social injustice, free speech suppression, environmental degradation, and the modernization of a majority, leaving smaller minority groups out of the picture
Commendation: takes a stance of the socially correct and acceptable way of running a country, since freedom of speech and job security are rights that must be upheld; interviews key figures
Critique: interview more officials who played a role in Vietnam’s politics/economy but never been there to visit, will add a new perspective
January 10, 2023
I read the book before starting my 2 week trip to Vietnam. I did not want to go with any pre conceived notions, yet I wanted to know a little bit about the rich history and culture of the country. I can't say I was impressed with Bill's writing. I found it extremely judgemental. Coming from India, I can identify with a lot of things Bill finds telling of the Vietnamese culture (kids hiding their real selves from the parents, dreaming of having a better and comfortable life, education or "coming first" being the be all and end all or simply things like wanting to move to cities, elders having the last say in your life or money being the biggest motivator).
Bill's voice comes across as not of understanding but that of judging from a high horse. I think my mistake was to pick up a book about a country written from the POV of a foreigner and not that of a local.
Bill's voice comes across as not of understanding but that of judging from a high horse. I think my mistake was to pick up a book about a country written from the POV of a foreigner and not that of a local.
March 6, 2018
Keeping in mind that the book was written in 2010, the book presents why and how things have changed in Vietnam since '90s (I think it would be great to have an updated version - I expect things have changed even faster in the past 7-8 years). The author touches upon several topics such as politics, economics, youth-culture, environmental and religious problems which aim to give a big picture overview of modern Vietnam.
I read the book while travelling through Vietnam and it managed to make me reflect more on what I was seeing around me and to a certain degree also understand better the Vietnamese society.
Overall, I enjoyed reading it. However, I found it "dry" here and there - I think it's a combination between the journalistic tone and the content.
I read the book while travelling through Vietnam and it managed to make me reflect more on what I was seeing around me and to a certain degree also understand better the Vietnamese society.
Overall, I enjoyed reading it. However, I found it "dry" here and there - I think it's a combination between the journalistic tone and the content.
April 10, 2019
Unbalanced?
It is undoubtedly a well written and well researched book. It does feel a bit too much like an “outing” of all things negative with Vietnam and the ruling communist party. I was looking for an overview of the country including its history. This will not give you that. It is interesting to read about the shortcomings of communist rule and issues related to mixing planned economy with an unofficial capitalist economy flowing underneath. It verges on the negative in my opinion and could be more nuanced. The effect of the somewhat criminal interventions of America and France up and until 1975 left a huge to do list for Hanoi. They have come a long way since.
It is undoubtedly a well written and well researched book. It does feel a bit too much like an “outing” of all things negative with Vietnam and the ruling communist party. I was looking for an overview of the country including its history. This will not give you that. It is interesting to read about the shortcomings of communist rule and issues related to mixing planned economy with an unofficial capitalist economy flowing underneath. It verges on the negative in my opinion and could be more nuanced. The effect of the somewhat criminal interventions of America and France up and until 1975 left a huge to do list for Hanoi. They have come a long way since.
September 13, 2019
This is a good book, that gives a general overview and introduction the the social, political and economical enthronement of modern Vietnam. It begin to be dated, as from 2018, shifting supply chain and power relations in Asia change gears. But it was greatly useful as I went to vietnam the first time.
Being a BBC journalist having spent many years, his writing is clear, straight to the point, documented, and although obviously critical, take the time to weight the strength and weaknesses, and present the rational thinking behind phenomenons in Vietnam. It does not present Vietnam with the same rigour as Arthur R. Kroeber on China, but it is solid.
Being a BBC journalist having spent many years, his writing is clear, straight to the point, documented, and although obviously critical, take the time to weight the strength and weaknesses, and present the rational thinking behind phenomenons in Vietnam. It does not present Vietnam with the same rigour as Arthur R. Kroeber on China, but it is solid.
July 19, 2022
A book that finely deconstructs Vietnam into multiple factors of Vietnamese history, society, politics, foreign policy, and economy. As a Vietnamese person born and raised, I was even surprised by such an in-depth analysis of the told and untold stories, of the people from the most powerful (Prime Minister) to the least, of the state runs with pragmatic socialism that allowed Vietnam to emerge as a brand new "tiger" in terms economy. Issues, taboos, and corruption underlying a middle-income communist nation are also explicitly described as backward of the Vietnamese "reform". Language used is formal and readable.
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