Freshly Printed - allow 7 days lead
Couldn't load pickup availability
Nationalist in the Viet Nam Wars
Memoirs of a Victim Turned Soldier
Nguyen Công Luan (Author)
9780253356871
Hardback, published 7 February 2012
616 pages, 1 map
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.5 cm, 0.93 kg
A dark and fascinating tale...illuminated by...honesty and integrity, which shine through on every page. This is a first-rate book with perhaps a single downside: It is not a book for someone who has never read anything about Vietnam. It is, however, an essential read for those who seek to understand the complex tragedy of the wars of Vietnam. Long overdue, this memoir will be a worthy addition to any academic library interested in the tragedy of Vietnam. . . . Essential. This book is of incredible value for anyone interested in Vietnam—its history, politics, and culture—and in the American involvement with Vietnam. It is also a meditation of a Vietnamese patriot on the substance of patriotism during a time of civil war in a context of international alliances. Amid the terrors and harsh imperatives of war, the author's is a rare voice of human decency. Nationalist in the Viet Nam Wars is a dark and fascinating tale. But it is illuminated by Nguyen's story of escape from Communist tyranny to the United States in 1990, and by his honesy and integrity, which shine through on every page.
This extraordinary memoir tells the story of one man's experience of the wars of Viet Nam from the time he was old enough to be aware of war in the 1940s until his departure for America 15 years after the collapse of South Viet Nam in 1975. Nguyen Cong Luan was born and raised in small villages near Ha Noi. He grew up knowing war at the hands of the Japanese, the French, and the Viet Minh. Living with wars of conquest, colonialism, and revolution led him finally to move south and take up the cause of the Republic of Viet Nam, exchanging a life of victimhood for one of a soldier. His stories of village life in the north are every bit as compelling as his stories of combat and the tragedies of war. This honest and impassioned account is filled with the everyday heroism of the common people of his generation.
Foreword by Major General David T. Zabecki Part 1. A Grain of Sand Notes
Preface
A Note on Vietnamese Names
1. A Morning of Horror
2. My Early Years and Education
3. 1945: The Year of Drastic Events
4. On the Way to War
Part 2. The War of Resistance
5. Take Up Arms!
6. My Dark Years in War Begin
7. Between Hammer and Anvil
8. The Shaky Peace
9. Bloodier Battles
10. The Geneva Accords
11. The Year of Changes
Part 3. The Cogwheel
12. To Be a Soldier
13. Progress and Signs of Instability
14. Mounting Pressure
15. The Limited War
16. The Year of the (Crippled) Dragon
17. On the Down Slope
18. Hearts and Minds
19. Sài Gòn Commando
Part 4. Victory or Defeat
20. The Tet Offensive
21. Defeat on the Home Front
22. The New Phase
23. The Fiery Summer
24. Hope Draining
25. America 1974-75
26. The End
Part 5. After the War
27. Prisoner
28. Release
Part 6. Epilogue
29. On the Viet Nam War
30. Ever in My Memory
Index