English Author: The Churchill Factor: How One Man Made History

Original Title in English, #1 Best Sellerin Political History of Politicians
Author: Boris Johnson
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton (23 Oct. 2014)
ISBN-13: 978-1444783025

Note by ATA: I am "reading" the audiobook on Audible.fr. It is a very powerful book, so beautifully read, in such an excellent English, that I caught myself wishing I were young enough to start doing all over again my studies in English Literature, Politics, Rhetoric, and Drama. A MUST read book, an excellent training material for your writing skills.

'He writes with gusto... the result is a book that is never boring, genuinely clever ... this book sizzles.' The Times

'The must-read biography of the year.' Evening Standard

'The point of the Churchill Factor is that one man can make all the difference.'

Marking the fiftieth anniversary of Winston Churchill's death, Boris Johnson explores what makes up the 'Churchill Factor' - the singular brilliance of one of the most important leaders of the twentieth century. Taking on the myths and misconceptions along with the outsized reality, he portrays - with characteristic wit and passion-a man of multiple contradictions, contagious bravery, breath-taking eloquence, matchless strategizing, and deep humanity.

Fearless on the battlefield, Churchill had to be ordered by the King to stay out of action on D-Day; he embraced large-scale strategic bombing, yet hated the destruction of war and scorned politicians who had not experienced its horrors. He was a celebrated journalist, a great orator and won the Nobel Prize for Literature. He was famous for his ability to combine wining and dining with many late nights of crucial wartime decision-making. His open-mindedness made him a pioneer in health care, education, and social welfare, though he remained incorrigibly politically incorrect.

Most of all, as Boris Johnson says, 'Churchill is the resounding human rebuttal to all who think history is the story of vast and impersonal economic forces'. THE CHURCHILL FACTOR is a book to be enjoyed not only by anyone interested in history: it is essential reading for anyone who wants to know what makes a great leader.

See Book Reviews on this link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Churchill-Factor-Made-History/dp/1444783025

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YourVietBooks is a selection of books and articles on and about Vietnam. Categories include: Culture, History, Vietnam War, Politics, Biographies, Contemporary Vietnam, International Relations, Doing Business in Vietnam, Reference and Languages, Zen Buddhism, Philosophy, Art and Literature.
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French Authors: Réflexions sur la guerre, le mal et la fin de l'histoire , Précédé de Les damnés de la guerre

Original Title in French
Author: Bernard-Henri Lévy
Publisher: Grasset, 2001, 
ISBN: 9782246620211
My ref: ATA-330

About the Book: Est-ce la fin ou le retour de l'Histoire ? Qu'y a-t-il dans la tête d'un kamikaze ? Pourquoi Hegel et Kojève croyaient-ils que le Mal n'a plus d'avenir ? Qu'a confié le commandant Massoud à l'auteur de ce livre en 1981 puis en 1998 ? Que disent les ruines de Sarajevo et de Manhattan ? Comment un Normalien, disciple d'Althusser, se retrouve-t-il, à 20 ans, dans les maquis du Pakistan Oriental ? Michel Foucault était-il meilleur journaliste qu'Hemingway ? Pourquoi la guerre est-elle si " jolie " pour Proust, Apollinaire et Cocteau ? Quand le monde a-t-il basculé de la logique de Clausewitz à celle d'Oussama Ben Laden ? A quoi peut bien servir la philosophie dans les faubourgs de Bogota et de Bujumbura ? Suffirait-il, pour arrêter le massacre, de tendre la main aux damnés du tiers monde ? Que veulent les terroristes ?

About the Author: Bernard-Henri Lévy, souvent désigné par ses initiales BHL, né le 5 novembre 1948 à Béni Saf (Algérie), est un intellectuel français.

Initiateur du mouvement des nouveaux philosophes dans les années 1970, son action et son œuvre font l'objet de controverses.

Voir critique du livre et de l'auteur

http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/polit_0032-342x_2002_num_67_2_5195_t1_0522_0000_1



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YourVietBooks is a selection of books and articles on and about Vietnam. Categories include: Culture, History, Vietnam War, Politics, Biographies, Contemporary Vietnam, International Relations, Doing Business in Vietnam, Reference and Languages, Zen Buddhism, Philosophy, Art and Literature.
Some articles are available only in English, French, German or Vietnamese. Our qualified and experienced translators can provide translations of e-books or articles on demand. Read more...

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YourVietBooks: Benazir Bhutto: Autobiographie

YourVietBooks: Benazir Bhutto: Autobiographie: Original Title in English: Daughter of the East By Author: Benazir Bhutto, First Woman Prime Minister of Pakistan Publishers: Hamish Ham...

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French Books: Benazir Bhutto, Autobiographie

Original Title in English: Daughter of the East
By Author: Benazir Bhutto, First Woman Prime Minister of Pakistan
Publishers: Hamish Hamilton (1988); Simon & Schuster London (2007)
French Translation: Autobiographie (Stock,1989) - Fille de l'Orient: 1953-2007. Une vie pour la démocratie (Ed. Eloise D'Ormesson,  2008 Revue et augmentée).
Translators: Simone Lamblin - Isabelle Taudière
My ref: ATA-073


Backcover (in French): "Le Pakistan n'est pas un pays comme les autres, et ma vie n'a pas été une vie ordinaire: mon père et mes deux frères ont été assassinés. Ma mère, mon mari et moi-même avons tous été emprisonnés. J'ai passé de longues années en exil. Magré tant de revers et de souffrances, je suis une femme heureuse, parce que j'ai réussi à ouvrir une brèche dans le bastion de la tradition en devenant la première femme du monde musulman nommée au poste de Premier ministre." - Londres, avril 2007.


About the Author: Héritière de l'une des familles les plus puissantes du pays, Benazir Bhutto a grandi auprès de son père, Sulfiqar Ali Bhutto, devenu héros du peuple, démocratiquement élu au suffrage universel, premier chef du gouvernment issu d'un parti progressiste à avoir tenu tête aux militaires. Elle a repris, après l'exécution de celui-ci, le flambeau à la tête du parti du peuple pakistanais qu'elle portera au pouvoir à deux reprises, devenant ainsi la première femme Premier Ministre dans un pays musulman. Ayant dû quitter le Pakistan en 1999 pour échapper une nouvelle fois à la prison, Benazir y rentre en 2007 pour conduire la bataille électorale de l'opposition démocratique. Elle est assassinée le 27 décembre 2007. En dépit de sa fin tragique, ses mémoires nous transportent, tant son incroyable destin dépasse la fiction.

Text in English: Beautiful and charismatic, the daughter of one of Pakistan's most popular leaders -- Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, hanged by General Zia in 1979 -- Benazir Bhutto is not only the first woman to lead a post-colonial Muslim state, she achieved a status approaching that of a royal princess, only to be stripped of her power in another example of the bitter political in-fighting that has riven her country. From her upbringing in one of Pakistan's richest families, the shock of the contrast of her Harvard and Oxford education, and subsequent politicisation and arrest after her father's death, Bhutto's life has been full of drama. Her riveting autobiography, first published in 1988 and now updated to cover her own activities since then and how her country has changed since being thrust into the international limelight after 9/11, is an inspiring tale of strength, dedication and courage in the face of adversity. View e-notes: http://www.enotes.com/topics/daughter-destiny

Extraits du prologue
"Je n'ai pas choisi cette vie; c'est elle qui m'a choisie. Je suis née au Pakistan et ma vie est le reflet des turbulences, des tragédies et des triomphes de mon pays.


Une fois de plus, le Pakistan se retrouve sous les feux de l'actualité internationale. Des terroristes se réclamant de l'islam mettent en péril sa stabilité. Les forces démocratiques sont persuadées que l'on peut éradiquer le terrorisme en défendant les principes de liberté. Une dictature militaire joue un jeu dangereux, où la duperie le dispute aux intrigues. Craignant de perdre le pouvoir, elle esquive, laissant à l'écart les forces favorables à la modernisation tandis que la flambée de terrorisme s'intensifie.
...
Je suis une femme fière de mon héritage culturel et religieux. J'estime qu'il est de mon devoir de faire valoir l'islam véritable - une religion tolérante et pluraliste - contre la caricature qu'en ont fait les terroristes et qu'ils ont détournée....


Je suis une femme politique qui se bat pour apporter au Pakistan le modernisme, les communications, l'éducation et la technologie. Je suis persuadée qu'un Pakistan démocratique peut devenir un symbole d'espoirt pour plus d'un milliard de musulmans dans le monde qui doivent choisir entre les forces du passé et celles de l'avenir.


Les combats politiques que j'ai menés ont toujours eu une finalité. Il s'agissait en premier lieu de promouvoir la liberté et la justice sociale. Et ces valeurs méritent incontestablement que l'on se batte pour elles. Mais je sais aussi que ma carrière a été d'autant plus difficile que je suis une femme. Bien sûr, rien c'est facile pour nous, les femmes, dans la société moderne, où que nous vivions. Nous devons toujours redoubler d'effort pour prouver que nous valons autant que les hommes. Nous devons travailler davantage et faire plus de sacrifices. Et nous devons aussi nous immuniser, émotionnellement, contre les attaques injustes et souvent pernicieuses qui visent les homme de notre famille pour mieux nous toucher. Car, hélas, beaucoup pensent encore que la vie d'une femme est nécessairement contrôlée par l'homme et qu'en faisant pression sur celui-ci ils le pousseront à faire pression sur son épouse. 


Nous devons néanmoins être préparées à ne pas nous plaindre de ces discriminations, mais à les surmonter. Et nous devons être prêtes à le faire même si cela nous oblige à travailler deux fois plus dur et deux fois plus longtemps qu'un homme...


Je suis honorée et heureuse du destin qui es le mien. Si Dieu le veut, je reviendrai dans mon pays pour mener les forces démocratiques pakistanaise dans une bataille électorale contre le pouvoir absolu des dictateurs, des généraux et des fondamentalistes. Telle est ma destinée. Et, comme l'avait un jour dit John F. Kennedy, "je ne me dérobe pas à cette responsabilité, je l'accueille à bras ouvert" - Benazir Bhutto, Londres, avril 2007."


Note de l'Editeur:


Nous avions acheté en octobre 2007 les droits du prochain livre de Benazir Bhutto: 'Reconciliation : Islam, Democracy and the West'. Ce livre, comme son titre l'indique, est un essai, mais aussi une profession de foi, sur ce qui a toujours été le but ultime de Benazir Bhutto, parvenir à faire cohabiter dans son pays, le Pakistan, l'Islam, la modernité et la démocratie.


En début de mois de décembre, son agent, Andrew Wylie, nous a proposé de rééditer l'autobiographie de Benazir Bhutto, parue en 1988, augmentée à la lumière des 18 dernières années passées, tant au pouvoir qu'en exil. Bien entendu, il nous a paru cohérent d'être également l'éditeur de ce livre-ci. Nous avions pensé le publier à la fin du mois de janvier 2008, après les élections qui auraient, très probablement, vu Benazir Bhutto revenir au pouvoir au Pakistan.


Le destin, son destin, en a décidé autrement.
Nous somme aujourd'hui fiers et tristes.
Fiers de publier cette autobiographie d'une femme hors du commun à la force et à la volonté sans égal.
Tristes car nous aurions souhaité que cela arrive dans d'autres conditions.
Nous avions prévu de nous rendre au Pakistan au printemps pour la rencontrer.
Cette rencontre n'aura jamais lieu.


Benazir Bhutto a été assassinée le 27 décembre 2007. De notre point de vue, ce drame est aussi dangereux pour l'équilibre du monde que les attentats du 11 septembre 2001 contre le World Trade Center..." 

(Source: Benazir Bhutto, Autobiographie - éditions Héloise D'Ormesson, 2007).

About YourVietbooks.com
YourVietBooks is a collection of books on Vietnam for Readers who are interested in Vietnam's History, Culture, Language, Business & Management. Titles are available in English, French, German and Vietnamese. Find out more about our translation and consulting services under YourVietnamExpert.com

Selected Resources for the Study of Việt Nam

General Web Sites

Southeast Asia Section Page

http://www.lib.washington.edu/southeastasia/

Vietnam Studies Page

http://www.lib.washington.edu/southeastasia/vsg/

Go to Teaching and Reference.

Vietnam Virtual Library at Australian National University

http://coombs.anu.edu.au/WWWVL-Vietnam.html

General Social and Economic Conditions

UNDP:  http://www.undp.org.vn/undp/lib/index.htm

Includes a number of online reports, Human Development Report, reports on gender, poverty, health etc and Directory of State Organizations:  http://www.undp.org.vn/undp/docs/1999/dir99/index.htm  Dates from 1999.  Adresses are good

More up to date is The British Council’s Vietnam Cultural Profile: http://www.culturalprofiles.org.uk/Viet_Nam/Units/2356.html  Which includes updated links to government cultural departments.

Official Sites

Vietnamese Communist Party

http://www.cpv.org.vn/index_e.html

News Sources in English

Nhan Dan

http://www.nhandan.com.vn/english/

Vietnam News Agency

http://www.vnanet.vn/default.asp?LANGUAGE_ID=2

Vietnam Investment Review

http://www.vir.com.vn/Client/VIR/Default.asp

Thanh Nien Newspaper in English

http://www.thanhniennews.com/politics/?catid=1

Voice of Vietnam

http://www.vtc.com.vn/user/control/video?type=PT

For Vietnam television and news sites.

Photographic and Film Resources

Francoise Sully Collection

http://dl.umb.edu/sullyhome.html

Requiem :  Tim Page Photo Collection

http://www.digitaljournalist.org/issue9711/req1.htm

Texas Tech Vietnam Center

http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/vietnamcenter/

Vietnam Online  (Vietnam War)

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/vietnam/

University of Wisconsin South and Southeast Asia Video Archive

http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/SEAvideo/

  

Other Wars Related Resources

  

Cold War Files: Interpreting History Through Documents. Woodrow Wilson Center, Cold War International History Project.

http://www.coldwarfiles.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.flash

Vietnamese Perspectives on the War in Vietnam.  

Online Bibliography

http://www.yale.edu/seas/bibliography/

Refugee Experience

UC Irvine Online Exhibit

http://www.lib.uci.edu/libraries/collections/sea/seaexhibit/index.html

George Dutton’s Tay Son Rebellion Site

http://www.humnet.ucla.edu/humnet/ealc/faculty/dutton/TSBios.html

Fiction

Bibliography of Vietnamese Fiction

Full Listing

Works in Translation

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YourVietBooks is a selection of books and articles on and about Vietnam. Categories include: Culture, History, Vietnam War, Politics, Biographies, Contemporary Vietnam, International Relations, Doing Business in Vietnam, Reference and Languages, Zen Buddhism, Philosophy, Art and Literature.
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YourVietBooks: The Origins of Vietnam War

YourVietBooks: The Origins of Vietnam War: "Original Title in English: The Origins of Vietnam War Author: Fredrik Logevall Vietnamese Title: Nguồn gốc Chiến tranh Việt Nam Trans..."

Một ngày là mười năm! (Ten Years in One Day)

Original Title in Vietnamese: Một ngày là mười năm!
Author: Phạm Quang Đẩu
Publisher: Lao Dong Publishing, 2007
Proposed English Title: Ten Years in One Day

Vietnamese version online: Click here

Fifty Books about the Vietnam War

Below are listed fifty books which comprise a recommended reading list on the Vietnam Wars. These books where chosen by polling a select group of newsgroup readers representing academics, veterans and anti-war. An attempt has been made to give the listing both variety and depth. All entries where selected by multiple respondents.

1. Adams, Sam, introduction by Col. David Hackworth. War of Numbers: An Intelligence Memoir. South Royalton, VT: Steerforth Press, 1994. 
2. Anderegg, Michael, ed. Inventing Vietnam: The War in Film and Television. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1991.
3. Arnett, Peter. Live from the Battlefield: From Vietnam to Baghdad, 35 Years in the World's War Zones. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1994.
4. Bilton, Michael and Kevin Sim. Four Hours in My Lai. New York: Viking, 1992. 
5. Brennan, Matthew. Brennan's War: Vietnam 1965-1969. Novato, CA: Presidio, 1985. 
6. Broughton, Col. Jack. Thud Ridge. Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1969; New York: Bantam, 1985. 
7. Browne, Malcolm. The New Face of War. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1965.
8. Bui Tin. Following Ho Chi Minh: The Memoirs of a North Vietnamese Colonel. (Vietnamese original Hoa xuyen tuyet). Translated and adapted by Judy Stowe and Do Van; introduction by Carlyle Thayer. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1995.
9. Caputo, Philip. A Rumor of War. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1977; Ballantine, 1978. 
10. Chomsky, Noam. Rethinking Camelot: JFK, the Vietnam War, and U.S. Political Culture. Boston: South End Press, 1993.
11. Del Vecchio, John. The 13th Valley. New York: Bantam, 1982.
12. Downs, Frederick Jr. The Killing Zone. New York: Norton, 1978; Berkley, 1983.
13. Edelman, Bernard, ed. for the New York Vietnam Veterans Memorial Commission. Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam. New York: Norton, 1985. Paperback New York: Pocket Books, 1986.
14. Fall, Bernard. Hell in a Very Small Place: The Siege of Dien Bien Phu. Philadelphia: J.J. Lippincott Company, 1967.
15. Fall, Bernard. Street Without Joy. 4th ed. rev. Harrisburg, PA: Stackpole, 1964.
16. Flynn, Robert. A Personal War in Vietnam. Texas A&M University military history series, no.13. College Station, TX: Texas A&M University Press, 1989.
17. Gelb, Leslie H. with Richard K. Betts. The Irony of Vietnam: The System Worked. Washington: The Brookings Institution, 1979.
18. Gibson, James. The Perfect War: Technowar in Vietnam. Boston: Atlantic Monthly Press, 1986. Paperback titled The Perfect War: The War We Couldn't Lose and How We Did. New York: Vintage, 1988.
19. Grant, Zalin. Facing the Phoenix: The CIA and the Political Defeat of the United States in Vietnam. New York: Norton, 1991.
20. Hallin, Daniel C. The "Uncensored War": The Media and Vietnam. New York: Oxford University Press, 1986. 
21. Herr, Michael. Dispatches. New York: Knopf, 1977; Vintage International, 1991.
22. Herrington, Stuart. Silence was a Weapon: The Vietnam War in the Villages. Novato, CA: Presidio, 1982.
23. Hickey, Gerald C. Free in the Forest: Ethnohistory of the Vietnamese Central Highlands, 1954-1976. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1982.
24. Hickey, Gerald C. Shattered World: Adaptation and Survival among Vietnam's Highland Peoples During the Vietnam War. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1993.
25. Hickey, Gerald C. Sons of the Mountains: Ethnohistory of the Vietnamese Central Highlands to 1954. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1982.
26. Isaacs, Arnold. Without Honor: Defeat in Vietnam and Cambodia. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1983.
27. Karnow, Stanley. Vietnam: A History. New York: Viking, 1983. 
28. Krepinevich, Andrew F., Jr. The Army in Vietnam. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1986.
29. MacPherson, Myra. Long Time Passing: Vietnam and the Haunted Generation. Garden City, NY: Doubleday and Company, 1984.
30. Martin, Andrew. Receptions of War: Vietnam in American Culture. Oklahoma project for discourse and theory, v. 10. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1993.
31. Mason, Robert. Chickenhawk. New York: Viking, 1983. McMahon, Robert J. ed., Major Problems in the History of the Vietnam War, 2nd ed. (D.C. Heath, 1995).
32. Moore, Lt. Gen. Harold G. and Joseph L. Galloway. We Were Soldiers Once . . . and Young. New York: Random House, 1992. 
33. Oberdorfer, Don. Tet. New York: Doubleday, 1971; DaCapo: 1984. Palmer, Laura. Shrapnel in the Heart: Letters and Remembrances From the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. New York: Randon House, 1987. Pentagon Papers: 
34. U.S. Congress, House Committee on Armed Services. United States-Vietnam Relations, 1945-1967: A Study Prepared by The Department of Defense. Washington, DC: U.S.Government Printing Office, 1971. 12 volumes.
35. The Pentagon Papers: The Defense Department History of United States Decision making on Vietnam. Boston: Beacon Press, 1971, 1972. 5 vols.
36. The Pentagon Papers. New York: Bantam Books, 1971. Prados, John and Ray W. Stubbe. Valley of Decision: The Siege of Khe Sanh. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1991; New York: Dell,1993. 
37. Puller, Lewis B. Jr. Fortunate Son: The Autobiography of Lewis B. Puller, Jr. New York: Grove Weidenfeld, 1991; Bantam, 1993.
38. Race, Jeffrey. War Comes to Long An. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1972.
39. Sansom, Robert L. The Economics of Insurgency in the Mekong Delta. MIT Press, 1970.
40. Shafer, D. Michael, ed. The Legacy: The Vietnam War in the American Imagination. Boston: Beacon Press, 1990. 
41. Shawcross, William. Sideshow: Kissinger, Nixon, and the Destruction of Cambodia. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1979.
42. Shay, Jonathan. Achilles in Vietnam: Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character. New York: Atheneum, 1994.
43. Sheehan, Neil. A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam. New York: Randon House, 1988. 
44. Sheppard, Don. Riverine: A Brown-Water Sailor in the Delta, 1967. Novato, CA: Presidio, 1992.
45. Snepp, Frank. Decent Interval. New York: Random House, 1977. 
46. Thayer, Carlyle A. War by Other Means: National Liberation and Revolution in Vietnam, 1954-60. Cambridge, MA: Unwin Hyman, 1989.
47. Tollefson, James W. The Strength Not to Fight: An Oral History of Conscientious Objectors of the Vietnam War. Boston: Little, Brown, 1993.
48. Turley, Col. Gerald H. The Easter Offensive. Novato, CA: Presidio, 1985.
49. Turley, William S. The Second Indochina War: A Short Political and Military History,1954-1975. Boulder, CO: Westview, 1986.
50. Westmoreland, General William. A Soldier Reports. New York: Doubleday, 1976.

Note: This list is a part of the the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) from the usenet Newsgroup "soc.history.war.vietnam". Used with the permission of the list moderators.

Behind the Indochina War, Political Background

Original Title: Hậu trường chính trị, phía sau cuộc chié̂n Đông Dương: những điè̂u ít được bié̂t về cuộc chié̂n tranh Việt Nam.
Author: Tường Hữu.
Publisher: Nhà xuá̂t bản Công an nhân dân, 2003. Digitalisiert am 5. Sept. 2008
ebook, 384 pages.

Indochine-Vietnam, 1940-1975: Une guerre de trente-cinq ans

Original Title: Une guerre de trente-cinq ans. Indochine-Vietnam, 1940-1975
Author: Raymond Toinet.
Publisher: Lavauzelle, 1998, digitalisiert am 4. Sept. 2008,
ISBN 2702504299, 9782702504291, 543 pages.

History of Vietnam Study book

Original Title: Tiến trình lịch sử Việt Nam
Publisher: Giao Duc Publishers, Editor Nguyen Quang Ngoc, 2002, 400 pages. Available in hard copy, original in Vietnamese.


Education series on Vietnam History. Very valuable for those who wish to study Vietnam history seen from the Vietnamese viewpoint. 2 parts: Vietnam Pre-History and Modern History. Useful for teachers & researchers in Vietnamese Culture.

Vietnamese Authors: Last Night I Dreamed of Peace, The Diary of Dang Thuy Tram

Original Title in Vietnamese: Nhật ký Đặng Thùy Trâm
Available in Vietnamese e-book version. 
Diary by Author in Vietnamese. 225 pp. 
Translated by Andrew X. Pham; Introduction by Frances Fitzgerald. 

About the book:
Tram, a doctor sent south from Hanoi to work in a hospital in Quang Ngai, was killed by US troops 6/22/70. Her diary, captured by the US troops, covering 1968-70, ended up in the Vietnam Archive at Texas Tech University. A copy was eventually sent to Hanoi, where it was published as Nhat ky Dang Thuy Tram (Hanoi: Nha Xuat Ban Hoi Nha Van, 2005) and attracted a lot of attention. There was a forum on this book in the Journal of Vietnamese Studies, vol. 3 no. 2 (Summer 2008), pp. 172-221. The essay I found most interesting was Vuong Tri Nhan, "The Diary of Dang Thuy Tram and the Postwar Vietnamese Mentality" (pp. 180-195).

Random House's note to Teachers:

This book is unique among the thousands of personal accounts by US veterans of what Americans call the Vietnam War, the dozens of accounts written by former members of the South Vietnamese Army (ARVN), and the handful of accounts available in English from
what we once called North Vietnam (DRV). In contrast to most US and ARVN accounts, it offers a voice from “the other side”—yet a voice so universal that ARVN and US soldiers both felt it should be preserved. In contrast to most northern accounts, it gives voice to the immediate, day-to-day experiences of war, chronicled by a young woman working as a civilian doctor on the front lines.
The best-known accounts we have to date were written retrospectively, with post-war hindsight, using the tools of fiction and history to explore suffering, physical and psychic wounds, and disillusionment. Such works include: Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried, for example, or Michael Herr’s Dispatches, Bao Ninh’s Sorrow of War, Duong Thu Huong’s Novel Without a Name, Nguyen Qui Duc’s Where the Ashes Are or Quang X. Pham’s A Sense of Duty. These works were written to be read by others.
Dang Thuy Tram was writing for herself, and from the midst of war. Hers is a voice of youth, optimism and idealism recorded in diary entries that were never intended to be read by Americans. Students will be fascinated by these diaries on many levels: as an introduction to the day-to-day experiences of war written by a civilian young woman whom students can imagine as a peer; as an insight into the motivations of someone who looked at joining the communist party of Vietnam as an honor to be won; as an inspiration for reflecting on how to live.
At the start of Last Night I Dreamed of Peace, the war is present mainly in the wounds of the soldiers Dr. Tram cares for, and in her patriotic sentiments. As the diary progresses, war takes a larger and larger place as sorrow and matters of survival dampen but do not extinguish thoughts of love, affection, and a desire to lead an exemplary life. Note: It is helpful to encourage students to reflect on the differences between a diary and a work of fiction in order to prepare them for more repetition than a novel and less plot, less resolution.

About the Author:
The moving story of the life, work, and death of DANG THUY TRAM is well told in the
introduction to Last Night I Dreamed of Peace, as is the remarkable story of the diaries
themselves: their rescue from destruction, their preservation, their return after 35 years to
Dang Thuy Tram’s family, and the intense public interest they aroused in Vietnam.
Here I will add only a post-script on Thuy Tram’s death, gleaned from the introduction to
the Vietnamese publication of the diaries. People of the region buried her where she fell, and
lit incense in memory and respect. After the end of the war, her remains were taken to the
martyrs’ cemetery in nearby Pho Cuong. In 1990 her family brought her remains back to the
martyrs’ cemetery in Xuan Phuong village of Tu Liem district near Hanoi.

A clinic honoring Dr. Tram was opened in Pho Cuong in December of 2006, supported by local and foreign individuals and organizations.

Historical Background
The introduction to Last Night I Dreamed of Peace traces the historical, military, and geographic settings for the diaries. Here I will sketch some of the elements of the view of history that was likely to have motivated Dang Thuy Tram, basing my reconstruction on her writing and on conversations with her contemporaries from Hanoi. It is a view that may challenge, or perhaps reaffirm, the views of readers who think of the Vietnamese/American war in Cold War terms. At the end of this section you’ll find a short bibliography for further reading in history. A selection of other memoirs may be found at the end of this study guide, under “Other Titles of Interest”. Download pdf

(Source: Random House)

A Journey of Ten Thousand Days

Original Title in Vietnamese: CHẶNG ĐƯỜNG MƯỜI NGHÌN NGÀY (2001) by Lt Gen. Hoàng Cầm
Publisher: NXB QDND, Hanoi, 2001

Description: 
This is a Biography-Memoir by General Hoang Cam on his “Nam Tien”, Heading for South. 

In 1965, he headed the North Vietnamese 4^th Military Region Army to train Southern guerilla for more conventional warfare tactics in South Vietnam. He led first battle against American troops and biggest battefields in Bầu Bàng, Dầu Tiếng, Nhà Đỏ, Bông Trang, các chiến dịch lớn Phước Long, Đồng Xoài, Dầu Tiếng, Bù Bông, Kiến Đức, Nguyễn Huệ,v.v. Lieutenant General Hoàng Cầm (1982–1986) - General Inspector of the Vietnam People’s Army.

Vietnamese version online: Click here

The Decisive Years

Original Title: Nhung nam thang quyet dinh (1985) by Hoang Van Thai

Description: Statistics of Vietnam War: 57692 dead, 300000 wounded, 100000 total invalid Americans, more than 274.4 billion USD spent on Vietnam War, 41% POWs by the end of the conflict, and 40& veterans without job. Lots of them committed suicide, many end up in asylums, and 25000 still suffer from the effects of Orange toxin. Broken families, drug addiction, malformation of children, each US taxpayer’s contribution came up to 19.965 USD, for a total amount of USD 1.647 billion. The book analyses how did North Vietnam carry out the last two years of the war from 1973-1975.

Remarks: E-book available online in vnthuquan.net, original text in Vietnamese.