Christopher E. Goscha

Overall a good survey of Vietnamese History. However, it does lack pre-Nguyen Dynasty events; it seems that Goscha doesn't prioritize Vietnamese History before the 1700s, as little attention is given there. Besides this, it is important to note the academic nature of this text, as it seems to present arguments and discussions of the material; it is not just a presentation of Vietnamese history. With that in mind, it is a good history of Vietnam (actually great given that most North American show more histories are warped by recent memories of the Second Indochinese War), but I recommend it as supplemental to either a survey course on Vietnamese History, or a more generic [dare I say] textbook. show less

This is a good overall history of Vietnam. It learned a lot from it and gained a wider perspective. It focused a lot on wars, and I was hoping it would go more into cultural aspects. But it covers thousands of years of history in one book, so it can't cover everything.