Discussion Leader: RAS member Raymond Kolter
Vietnam: A History (first edition, 1983, Viking, second revised edition, 1987, Penguin), is a comprehensive, fair-minded and enthralling account of one of this century's most controversial wars. Panoramic in scope, profound in understanding, and compassionate in human portrayals, it is filled with fresh revelations drawn from secret documents and from exclusive interviews with hundreds of participants on both sides. The central theme of the book is that America's leaders, prompted as much by domestic politics as by global ambitions, carried the United States into Southeast Asia with little regard for the realities of the region. The chain of events that led to the deployment of thousands of American troops has been set into its deeper historical context - especially the growth of Vietnamese nationalism over two millennia. (Google Books)
Stanley Karnow was an American journalist and historian best known for his writings on the Vietnam War. After serving with the US Army Air Forces in the China Burma India Theater during World War II he earned an undergraduate degree at Harvard and continued his studies in Paris at the Sorbonne, and the Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris. He began his journalism career in 1950 as Paris correspondent for Time. After covering Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (where he was North Africa bureau chief, 1958-59). He covered Asia from 1959 until 1974 for Time, Life, the Saturday Evening Post, the London Observer, the Washington Post, and NBC News. He reported on the Vietnam War in its entirety and served as chief correspondent for the series "Vietnam: A Television History," for which he won six Emmys and shared in the duPont, Peabody and Polk Awards.
Raymond Kolter is Professor of International Relations at Shanghai International Studies University (SISU), and a scholar of Chinese history and politics at Fudan University.
ENTRANCE Complimentary for current members RMB50 Non-Members
Membership applications available at the event.