Vietnam: A New History

Christopher Goscha will discuss his latest book, Vietnam: A New History, which tells the full history of Vietnam from antiquity to the present day. Covering the generations of emperors, rebels, priests, and colonizers who left complicated legacies in the country, the book demonstrates that the bloody Cold War–era conflict between Ho Chi Minh's communist-backed Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the American-backed Republic of Vietnam was only the most recent instance when war divided and transformed Vietnam. The author will explain why appreciation of Vietnam’s history is crucial to understanding contemporary challenges in Southeast Asia, including Vietnam’s relations with China and controversies over democracy and human rights.

Christopher Goscha studied at the School of Foreign Service, University of Georgetown (BA), the Australian National University at Canberra (MA), the University Diderot Paris VIII (MA) and l’École des Hautes Études (PhD, La Sorbonne). He joined the history department at the Université du Québec à Montréal in 2005. He teaches international relations, world history, the history of colonial and postcolonial Indochina, decolonization and the Indochina Wars. He has published several books including the Historical Dictionary of the Indochina War (1945-1954): An International and Interdisciplinary Approach (University of Hawaii/Cophenhagen, Nordic Institute of Asian Studies, 2011), Vietnam, Un Etat né de la guerre (Paris, Armand Colin, 2011) and The Penguin History of Vietnam (London, Penguin/Random House, 2016) Vietnam, A New History (New York, Basic Books, 2016, slightly revised American version of the Penguin History of Vietnam).

George J. Veith will moderate the discussion.

Co-sponsored by The Center for Military and Diplomatic History.