K. W. Taylor (Editor)
Voices from the Second Republic of South Vietnam (1967-1975).
South East Program Publications, Cornell University, 2014. First edition. 9780877277651 172 pages.
Softcover volume, measuring approximately 7.25" x 10.25", is in fine condition, with sound binding and clean, bright interior.
For the first time, Voices from the Second Republic of South Vietnam (1967-1975) is available fully translated into Vietnamese, providing critical documentation of the diverse careers of ten South Vietnamese officials, in their struggles to build and defend a constitutional democracy in the last years of the Vietnam War. The Republic of (South) Vietnam is commonly viewed as a unified entity throughout the two decades (1955–75) during which the United States was its main ally. However, domestic politics during that time followed a dynamic trajectory from authoritarianism to chaos to a relatively stable experiment in parliamentary democracy. The stereotype of South Vietnam that appears in most writings, both academic and popular, focuses on the first two periods to portray a caricature of a corrupt, unstable dictatorship and ignores what was achieved during the last eight years. The essays in Voices from the Second Republic of South Vietnam (1967–1975) come from those who strove to build a constitutional structure of representative government during a war for survival with a totalitarian state. Those committed to realizing a noncommunist Vietnamese future placed their hopes in the Second Republic, fought for it, and worked for its success. This book is a step in making their stories known. This new edition presents the original ten essays plus introduction by Keith W. Taylor fully translated into Vietnamese.