The New Yorker, July 1, 1972 P. 36
ANNALS OF WAR about Vietnam, Vietnamese history & Vietnamese culture. Writer suggests that the reason for American failure in Vietnam was due to a lack of understanding of the country & its people. Traces the development of the society from the 10th-century Chinese conquest through the organizing efforts of Ho Chi Minh in the north, & the abdication of French figurehead Bao Dai, in the south. Writer discusses how the notion of Communism repels American intellectuals, but for Vietnam society, the notion is not so radical. For a Vietnamese, equal justice was secondary to social harmony. This concept is carried over to the institution of the village, which figures so important in traditional Vietnamese society. The village was modelled on the Vietnamese family, & the village served as a model for the state. Writer points out that the traditional Viet. view of China right up to Ho's time, was to reject Chinese political domination but adopt Chinese political culture. Contrasts the differences between the North & the South, & shows how Ho was more successful in the North rather than the South & why. Discusses the French conquest up to the Geneva Conference of 1954, which the U.S. had hoped would end in failure.