Hanoi: City of the Rising DragonFor many Westerners, Hanoi evokes memories only of war and bitter loss. But Hanoi is much more than the capital of Vietnamese communism. Ancient seat of the royal house, then center of the French colonial empire in Indochina, and finally birthplace of Vietnamese independence, Hanoi is today a thriving urban center with a rich history all its own. Georges Boudarel and Nguyen Van Ky paint a vivid portrait of a city that is now awakening to the modern era. Together they reveal Hanoi in its myriad facets, from the aromas of its traditional cuisine to its destruction in wartime to the modern era of motorcycles and movie theaters. Part history, part paean, this book takes us into the heart of a city just emerging from the storms of the twentieth century. |
Contents
A City That Remembers | 11 |
The French Model | 47 |
History and Its Secrets | 75 |
1945 Under the Red Flag | 77 |
1946 In the Footsteps of the Colonial Surete | 95 |
Toward Liberation | 113 |
1954 A Troubled Independence | 115 |
196575 War or Peace | 133 |
Visions of the Future | 151 |
The Era of Renovation | 153 |
A Capital for All Vietnamese | 167 |
| 175 | |
| 179 | |
| 181 | |
About the Authors and Translator | |
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Common terms and phrases
Agrarian Reform Campaign Annamite arrested Bao Dai Bao Ninh became capital century China Chinese colonial Communist Party countryside cultural Dang Democratic Dien Bien Phu Dinh Huynh Dong Duc Tho Duong Thu Huong dynasty École française d'Extrême-Orient forces France French Georges Boudarel Hanoi Ho Chi Minh Ho's Indochina Indochinese intellectuals Lake Le Duan Le Duc Tho leaders liberation Linh literary Ly dynasty militants military Minh's minister Nationalist Nghe Ngo Dinh Diem Nguyen Giap Nguyen Tuong Nguyen Van Ky Nhan Ninh North novel official Paris Pham Phan political prison published quoc ngu regime Republic of Vietnam revolution revolutionary Saigon secret secretary social Socialist South Soviet Street struggle Sûreté Thang Long Thanh Thuy tion Tonkin took Tran Translator's note Truong Chinh Viet Vietminh Vietnamese village VNQDD Vo Nguyen Giap women writes Xuan young
Popular passages
Page viii - Giap (^TC¥), organized the League for the Independence of Vietnam, popularly known as the Vietminh (jjgSD which was aimed at the French and Japanese invaders.
Page 6 - But this renovation, if it is genuine and characterized by an openness to a market economy, still has a long way to go. The ideologues have not had their last word yet, and the countless survivors of Vietnam's many battles may well question the ambiguity of liberation, of national unification, of a socialist system that offers no prospects for the popular majority, and of economic development that only aggravates inequality. But it could not be otherwise in a system that encourages...
Page 1 - Vietnam's tumultuous contradictions: between rupture and continuity, revolt and submission, freedom of speech and operational secrets, human rights and totalitarian power, the intrusion of Western modernity and the preservation of tradition, and finally socialism and a market economy. Its ambivalence, as much as its topography, justifies the name Hanoi, which means "amid the rivers.
References to this book
Vietnam Today: A Guide to a Nation at a Crossroads Mark A. Ashwill,Ngoc Diep Thai No preview available - 2005 |