Hanoi's War: An International History of the War for Peace in Vietnam

Lien-Hang T. Nguyen, associate professor of history at the University of Kentucky examines the international context in which North Vietnamese leaders pursued the war and American intervention ended in her latest bookentitled, Hanoi's War: An International History of the War for Peace in Vietnam which was awarded the 2012 Edward M. Coffman Prize, Society for Military History. Hanoi's War takes the reader from the marshy swamps of the Mekong Delta to the bomb-saturated Red River Delta, from the corridors of power in Hanoi and Saigon to the Nixon White House, and from the peace negotiations in Paris to high-level meetings in Beijing and Moscow, all to reveal that peace never had a chance in Vietnam.

Hanoi's War renders transparent the internal workings of America's most elusive enemy during the Cold War and shows that the war fought during the peace negotiations was bloodier and much more wide ranging than it had been previously. Using never-before-seen archival materials from the Vietnam Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as materials from other archives around the world, Nguyen explores the politics of war-making and peace-making not only from the North Vietnamese perspective but also from that of South Vietnam, the Soviet Union, China, and the United States, presenting a uniquely international portrait.

Joining Nguyen on the panel is Merle L. Pribbenow, retired CIA officer and researcher specializing in the Vietnam War.

James F. Person, senior program associate of the Wilson Center's History and Public Policy Program will chair the event.