Even the Women Must Fight: Memories of War from North Vietnam [Paperback]

Karen Gottschang Turner (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0471327239 | ISBN-13: 978-0471327233 | Publication Date: July 1, 1999

Even the Women Must Fight

"Karen Turner and Phan Thanh Hao have brought scholarship and compassion to a long-neglected aspect of the Vietnam War--the contributions of Vietnamese women to the independence struggle of their nation and the terrible price they paid for their courage and patriotism."--Neil Sheehan, author of A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam.

A searing chronicle of wartime experiences, Even the Women Must Fight probes the cultural legacy of North Vietnam's American War. Unflinching in its portrayal of hardship, valor, and personal sacrifice, this wrenching account is nothing short of a revelation, banishing in one bold stroke the familiar image of Vietnamese women as passive onlookers, war brides, prostitutes, or helpless refugees.

"Karen Turner has given us a book that will change our understanding of the Vietnam War--and of Vietnam today. I found it enthralling." --Cynthia Enloe, author of The Morning After:
* Sexual Politics at the End of the Cold War.

"A first-rate book that will add substantially to our understanding of the human tragedy associated with one of the most bloody conflicts in recent history."--Robert Brigham, Professor of History, Vassar College.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Karen Turner and Phan Thanh Hao have brought scholarship and compassion to a long-neglected aspect of the Vietnam War--the contributions of Vietnamese women to the independence struggle of their nation and the terrible price they paid for their courage and patriotism."--Neil Sheehan, author of A Bright Shining Lie

"This book is a genuine eye-opener. Through graphic interviews and groundbreaking archival research, Karen Turner has given us a book that will change our understandings of the Vietnam War--and of Vietnam today. I found it enthralling."--Cynthia Enloe, author of The Morning After

"A first-rate book that will add substantially to our understanding of the human tragedy associated with one of the most bloody conflicts in recent history."--Robert Brigham, Vassar College

From the Publisher

A searing oral history probes the experiences and cultural legacies of Vietnamese women in the war. Through oral history, private letters and diaries, and poetry, Karen Turner explores the crucial role North Vietnamese women played as valiant soldiers, the personal sacrifice and loss they suffered, and the enduring political and social influences their war roles have come to exert on their own lives and the lives of their daughters. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Wiley (July 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471327239
• ISBN-13: 978-0471327233
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #75,023 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #49 in Books > History > Asia > Southeast Asia

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very useful, interesting, and important, September 17, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Even the Women Must Fight: Memories of War from North Vietnam (Paperback)

I am currently going to college and I took a course on the Vietnam crisis and war, and Even the Women Must Fight was one of the last books that we read. After reading books that focused mainly or even completely on the American experience in Vietnam, it was extrmely interesting to read about how the Vietnamese saw and dealt with the war. The thousands of civilians who added such strength to the North Vietnamese war effort were people who had been described in all of the sources we read as 'coolie' laborers--people conscripted by the govenment to do necessary work. To read the accounts of women who fought in the war, or risked their lives to maintain the Ho Chi Minh trail simply added a new dimension to my understanding of the Vietnamese side, and indeed of the entire war itself.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A gendered perspective of the Vietnam War, July 12, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Even the Women Must Fight: Memories of War from North Vietnam (Hardcover)

Finally, a book documenting women's experiences on the Vietnam War and women fighters at that! For years, we have been reading materials and watching movies on the Vietnam War from a pre-dominantly American point of view. Although written by an American, the book originated from the extraordinary women of Vietnam and is a channel for silent voices to finally speak out. This book presents a very real and perhaps disturbing account of the hardships that the women in Vietnam have gone through in order to save their homeland. The accounts are heart-breaking and serves as a stark reminder of the horrors of war but more importantly, highlights the bravery and courage of the Vietnamese women who have been stereotyped as Miss Saigons. The book provides detailed interviews with survivors of the Ho Chi Minh Trail and how sacrifices are not rewarded by the state. Appreciate the book for its honesty and the difficulties that the author went through to get the survivors to open their hearts to her, an American, a former enemy. A refreshing read.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Must needed information about an important historical event., June 24, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Even the Women Must Fight: Memories of War from North Vietnam (Hardcover)

As a college student studying the America's war with Vietnam, I was struck by the determination and nationalism that the Vietnamese displayed in their battles against foreign occupation. Seeking to further my study and learn more about the perspectives of the Vietnamese I turned to Turner's book Even the Women Must Fight. The information that I found in the book I could not have found anywhere else. Turner's extensive interviews and personal memoirs from women who fought in the Viet Cong opened up a previously unreported accounts of what Vietnamese women accomplished in their war with America. These women's successes are truly amazing and much deserving of a book documenting their vital contributions.