The Vietnam War in Historical Perspective

Richard W. Van Alstyne’s most recent book, The United States and East Asia (London and New York: W. W. Norton, 1973), should be read as background for the present article. Also germane to the subject is his The Rising American Empire (Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 1960), reissued in paperback (Chicago: Quadrangle Books, 1965) now in its sixth printing. In addition he is the author of the following books: American Diplomacy in Action (Gloucester, Mass.: Peter Smith, reissued, 1968), Empire and Independence: The International History of the American Revolution (New York: John W. Wiley, 1965), Genesis of American Nationalism (Waltham, Mass: Blaisdell-Ginn, 1970). He gave the Commonwelth Fund Lectures in American History at the University of London in 1965, and was Senior Fulbright Fellow at the same institution in 1960-1961.