About this item
Communist forces in the Vietnam War lost most battles and suffered disproportionally higher casualties than the United States and its allies throughout the conflict. The ground war in South Vietnam and the air war in the North were certainly important in shaping the fates of the victors and losers, but they alone fail to explain why Hanoi bested Washington in the end. To make sense of the Vietnam War, we must look beyond the war itself. In his new work, Pierre Asselin explains the formative experiences and worldview of the men who devised communist strategies and tactics during the conflict, and analyzes their rationale and impact. Drawing on two decades of research in Vietnam's own archives, including classified policy statements and reports, Asselin expertly and straightforwardly relates the Vietnamese communist experience - and the reasons the war turned out the way it did.
About the Author
Pierre Asselin was born in Quebec City, Canada. He is the Dwight E. Stanford Chair in the History of US Foreign Relations at San Diego State University, specializing in East/Southeast Asia and the larger Cold War context. He is a leading authority on the Vietnam War, speaks Vietnamese, and regularly travels to Vietnam for research.
Asselin is the author of _A Bitter Peace: Washington, Hanoi, and the Making of the Paris Agreement_ (University of North Carolina Press, 2002) , which won the 2003 Kenneth W. Baldridge Prize, and _Hanoi's Road to the Vietnam War, 1954-1965_ (University of California Press, 2013) , winner of the 2013 Arthur Goodzeit Book Award. His latest book, _Vietnam's American War: A History_ (Cambridge University Press, 2017) , is a comprehensive history of the war told from the "other side," that is, focusing on the Vietnamese communist experience. Other notable publications include "The Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the 1954 Geneva Conference: A Revisionist Critique" in _Cold War History_ (2011) ; "Revisionism Triumphant: Hanoi's Diplomatic Strategy in the Nixon Era" in _Journal of Cold War Studies_ (2011) ; and "'We Don't Want a Munich': Hanoi's Diplomatic Strategy, 1965-1968" in _Diplomatic History_ (2012) .
Before relocating to the mainland Asselin lived in Honolulu for 26 years and taught at Kapiolani Community College, Chaminade University, and Hawaii Pacific University. He is an avid hockey player/fan and stand-up paddler. He's enjoying his new life in San Diego in the company of his scintillating wife, Grace, and cat, Ursula.
