Saigon in the Sixties

The most exciting section of Vietnam War historiography right now is undoubtedly that which is expanding our understanding of South Vietnam and its people. If the Vietnam War era is a tapestry, then we have been missing, still, some of the most important threads. One of the most conspicuous has been an understanding of the experiences of the Vietnamese who lived in South Vietnam’s urban centers, and particularly Saigon. Existing in a context which has been declared (not entirely unfairly) ephemeral and artificial, their experiences have been treated the same way. This is unfortunate. Not only were the city-dwellers of South Vietnam important stakeholders in the struggle for the future of South Vietnam, but a study of their experiences also teaches us much about South Vietnam as a polity. Into the breach steps Heather Marie Stur, whose latest book focuses on the cacophonous urban society of Saigon, placing it in...

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