Table of Contents

Introduction: Sovereignty, Violence, and Institutional Collapse at the Edge of France's Empire; Part I. Fracture, 1945–1947: 1. A Plural Mekong Delta under Stress; 2. The Southern General Uprising; 3. Priming Upheavals in the Mekong Delta; 4. The Double Fracture of The Mekong Delta; Part II. Disassemblage/Reassemblage, 1947–1953: 5. Empire, Racial Survival, and Race Hatred; 6. Contesting State and Sovereignty; 7. Forced Migrations and Suffering; 8. French Pacification Meets the Vietnamese Resistance; 9. Alternative Trajectories: Seeing Like Parastates, Militias, And Strongmen; Part III. Endgame, 1953–1956: 10. The Twilight of Empire and the Strange Birth of South Vietnam.

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A provocative new history of southern Vietnam's transition from colonialism to independence against the backdrop of anticolonial and civil war.

About the Author

Shawn McHale is Associate Professor of History and International Affairs, George Washington University. His first book, Print and Power: Confucianism, Communism, and Buddhism in the Making of Modern Vietnam (University of Hawaii Press, 2004), was a finalist for the Benda Prize in Southeast Asian Studies.

Reviews

'Finally a book on the First Indochina War that goes beyond the standard account of a simple conflict between Ho Chi Minh's Vietnam and the French. The war against the colonizer is there, but so is the one that divided Vietnamese until the bitter end. McHale provides a wonderfully researched and impressively argued story of violence and statecraft in southern Vietnam. It is a major contribution to our understanding of Vietnam.' Christopher Goscha, Université du Québec à Montréal

'In this pathbreaking book, Shawn F. McHale overturns much of the conventional historical wisdom about the Indochina War of 1945–1954 in the Mekong Delta. He shows that the war in the delta differed in crucial ways from the better-studied campaigns and battles that took place in central and northern Indochina. Instead of a straightforward narrative of anticolonial struggle and national liberation, The First Vietnam War reveals a complex and fragmented conflict shaped by local rivalries, ethnic violence, and civil warfare.' Edward Miller, Dartmouth College

'McHale's innovative study is a welcome departure from the standard scholarship on the First Indochina War. Creatively combining 'bottom up' and 'top down' approaches, McHale demonstrates that local, ethnic, and religious conflicts shaped the war in the Mekong delta as much as larger imperial and nationalist forces.' Nu-Anh Tran, University of Connecticut

'This book is ultimately valuable for understanding conflicts other than through ideology and strategy, to enrich itself with its questions dealing with event history, historical anthropology and political philosophy.' Pascal Bourdeaux, Moussons

'… a unique examination of the First Indochina War … Recommended.' C. G. Frentzos, Choice