Vietnam: the war & its history

Catalog description

Focus on the American War in Vietnam. Begins by examining Vietnamese cultural and national identity and the impact of French colonialism and then examines: the war of 1946-54 between the French and the Viet Minh; the early American OSS links with Ho Chi Minh and the Truman administration's deepening commitments to the French; the policies of the Eisenhower administration, from Dien Bien Phu and the Geneva Conference in 1954 to the decision to back Ngo Dien Diem; the deepening commitment of the Kennedy administration; the escalating war of the Johnson years; and the end of the war under Nixon and Ford. Concludes with legacies and interpretations of the war.