
The most comprehensive account of the country today, aimed at a general reader
Based on vivid eyewitness accounts and personal experience, this book tries to explain how Vietnam 'works'. It portrays a breathtaking period of social change that has seen capitalism flooding into its nominally communist society, booming cities swallowing up smaller villages, and the lure of modern living tugging at the traditional networks of family and community.
The book addresses a broad variety of issues in today's Vietnam, including important shifts in international relations, the growth of civil society, economic developments and challenges, and the nation's nascent democracy movement. With a firm sense of historical and cultural context, it examines how these issues have emerged and where they will lead Vietnam in the next stage of its development.