Browsing in the stacks; Searchiing in the library catalog
Cornell Library's collection on the Vietnam War contains books, microfilms and videos covering all aspects of the war, including history both of the war in Vietnam and the on home front, campaigns and battles, yearbooks of individual regiments and fighting units, the sea, air and land war, chemical warfare, weapons, women in the war, personal stories, fiction and more (the Vietnamese literature section contains about 17,000 volumes, with a substantial number written by authors during the Vietnam War period which only Cornell owns). Primary sources include items such as reproductions of captured documents, daily reports of the war from the military commands, the Kennedy and Johnson administration papers on the war, various daily bulletins from Saigon and Paris in English, Vietnamese and French; and about 120 local and national Vietnamese newspapers from that time period.
The call number area for browsing books in the stacks is DS 557 - DS 559. There are books on both levels: level 1 is "oversize" or larger books; level B1 has regular size books and is the more extensive section.
To see all the specific categories on the subject of the Vietnam War, use the search box on the library catalog page. Choose the "subject browse A-Z" field in the drop-down menu, and type in "Vietnam War." The sub-topics under the Vietnam War heading are in alphabetical order, fortunately, as there are several dozen pages of detailed sub-topics in the catalog.
Reference and Introductory Works
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Virtual Vietnam Archive"The Virtual Vietnam Archive [at Texas Tech University] currently contains 7 million pages of scanned materials. Types of material include documents, photographs, slides, negatives, oral histories, artifacts, moving images, sound recordings, maps, and collection finding aids.
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The Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War (2nd. ed.) by A to Z information including many photographs and illustrations, more than 200 primary sources in a separate documents volume, and an extensive chronology of historic events and a glossary of terms. Cross-references and bibliographies facilitate further researchCall Number: REF DS 557.7 E53x 2011 4 vols. (in Kroch Asia reading room)Publication Date: 2011 Santa Barbara, Calif. : ABC-CLIO -
Vietnam War Day by Day by Beginning with a few significant dates from 1887 to the early 1950's, the book continues with increasingly detailed monthly/daily events, covering the air, ground,sea battles, guerrilla (Viet Cong) warfare, U.S. government and international politics, diplomatic efforts, and home front (& anti-war) happenings.Call Number: REF DS 557.7 V674 1989 + (in Kroch Asia reading room)Publication Date: 1989 [New York, N.Y.] : Mallard Press -
Historical Atlas of the Vietnam War by Call Number: REF DS557.7 .S93x 1995 + (in Kroch Asia reading room)Publication Date: 1995: Boston : Houghton Mifflin Co -
Historical Dictionary of the War in Vietnam by [This book] emphasizes the international nature of the war .. the military, diplomatic, political, social, and cultural events that made the war unique. All of this is done through a chronology, an introductory essay, an extensive bibliography, and over 600 cross-referenced dictionary entries.Call Number: REF DS 557.7 F735 2011Publication Date: 2011 (Lanham, Md. : Scarecrow Press) -
The Vietnam War: a Concise International History by Mark Lawrence offers readers a superb short account of this key moment in U.S. as well as world history, based on the latest European and American research and on newly opened archives in China, Russia, and Vietnam. While focusing on the American involvement from 1965 to 1975, Lawrence offers an unprecedentedly complete picture of all sides of the war, drawing on now available communist records to capture the complicated brew of motivations that drove the other side. Moreover, the book reaches back well before American forces set foot in Vietnam, describing for instance how French colonialism sparked the 1945 Vietnamese revolution, and revealing how the Cold War concerns of the 1950s warped Washington's perception of Vietnam, leading the United States to back the French and eventually become involved on the ground itself.Call Number: DS557.7 .L378 2008Publication Date: 2008 (Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press) -
The Vietnam War : the Definitive Illlustrated History by Fascinating book with "detailed descriptions of every episode, from Operation Passage to Freedom to the evacuation of the US embassy in Saigon, are enhanced by the stories of {eyewitnesses]. ... insightful maps, at-a-glance timelines, and incredible archive photography". Biographies of significant people. Special section on POW's., the aftermath of the war, vets' homecoming, and the war as covered in popular culture.Call Number: DS 557.72 v54 2017 ++Publication Date: 2017 (London : Dorling Kindersley Publishing) -
The Illustrated History of the Vietnam War by The text covers the history of the war from "Seeds of Discontent" to "The Bitter End." Accompanied by many black & white and color photos.Call Number: DS 557.72 B39 + (in Kroch Asia stacks, level 1)Publication Date: 1985 (New York : Gallery Books) -
Vietnam War: The Essential Reference Guide by "Vietnam War: The Essential Reference Guide" provides a compendium of the key people, places, organizations, treaties, and events that make up the history of the war, explaining its causes, how it was conducted, and its far-reaching consequences. Written by recognized authorities, this ready-reference volume provides essential information all in one place and includes a comprehensive list of additional sources for further study. The work presents a detailed chronology that outlines the numerous battles and campaigns throughout the war, such as the Tet Offensive, the Battle of Hamburger Hill, Operation Rolling Thunder, and the Battle of Hue. Biographies on Lyndon Johnson, William Westmoreland, Robert McNamara, Ngo Dinh Diem, and other major political figures and military leaders provide insight into the individuals who played key roles in the conflict, while primary source documents such as President Nixon's speech on Vietnamization provide invaluable historical context.Publication Date: 2014 (1 online resource (xliii, 341 pages) illustrations.) -
In Honor and Memory: Installations and Facilities of the Vietnam War by A very unusual and valuable reference source. "A comprehensive record of facilities named in honor of fallen servicemen -- camps, compounds, airfields, and helipads, firebases, landing zones, and bridges; BEQs and BOQs in Saigon and other locations. Allied ANZAC, and U.S. Forces & all services in Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand & Okinawa." Includes photos & bios of all servicemen & women. Book has appendices and bibliography.Call Number: REF DS 558 B688 2015 +Publication Date: 2015 (New Smyrna Beach, Florida : Bows and Co) -
Vietnam War: A Topical Exploration and Primary Source Collection by (2 vols.online) This detailed two-volume set considers the Vietnam War, one of America's longest and bloodiest wars, from a topical perspective, addressing the main characters and key events of the war and supplying many relevant primary source documents. *Publication Date: 2017 (Santa Barbara, California : ABC-CLIO, an imprint of ABC-CLIO, LLC)
Bibliographies and Dictionaries
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The United States and the Vietnam War, 1954-1975: a Selected Bibliography of English-Language Sources by Organized by topic: general reference; Southeast Asian countries; Vietnam; Vietnam and the U.S. Gov't.; the Vietnam War; the American Military Experience in the war; the Media War; Literature, Film, Music & Art; the Domestic Impact; the Consequences. Includes a chronology and "list of principle characters"Call Number: REF Z 3226 P43 2008Publication Date: 2008 ( New York : Routledge) -
The Vietnam Experience: a Concise Encyclopedia of American Literature, Songs, and Films by "This encyclopedia includes 44 essays, each providing detailed information on an important film, song, or literary work about Vietnam. This book also includes an appendix listing of more than 275 films, songs, and literary works dealing with the war."Call Number: REF DS 557.73 H55x 1998Publication Date: 1998 (Westport, Conn. : Greenwood Press) -
Vietnam War Slang by "Vietnam War Slang" outlines the context behind the slang used by members of the United States Armed Forces during the Vietnam War. Troops facing and inflicting death display a high degree of linguistic creativity. [The book]... presents around 2000 entries, each one divided into sections giving parts of speech, definitions, glosses, the countries of origin, dates of earliest known citations, and citations [examples of use].Call Number: PE 3727 S7 D37 2014 (located in Kroch Asia stacks, level B1)Publication Date: 2014 (Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge) -
Words of the Vietnam War by Cu Chi, (body bag), Shit-hook (Chinook helicopter), dink (Vietnamese slang for a G.I.), slope (G.I. slang for a Vietnamese), hose (kill), boom-boom (what's done in a tapioca mill, or whorehouse), Mike-Juliet (marijuana), pogey bait, DO-28, C-2A, L Zed (Aussie for landing zone), rat-turds (oak leaf clusters), thousand yard stare, Samozaryadnyi karabin (Soviet rifle), guerre a outrance (French war to the end--the viewpoint of the North): these and the 10,000 others in this dictionary are the words of the Vietnam era. They were spoken by ground pounders in the boonies and by peaceniks on U.S. campuses, by hawks, doves, Victor Charlies and hoi chanhs, Chinese advisors and the Muong people of the Central Highlands. The period covered is primarily 1963-1975, but there are terms included from as early as 1945 and as late as 1987.Call Number: REF PE 3727 S7 C59 (In Kroch Asia reading room)Publication Date: 1990 (Jefferson, N.C. : McFarland) -
VIETNAM - the War Zone Dictionary in Their Own Words by [This dictionary] is the first reference to combine the official terms formally adopted by the United States Department of Defense and its allies in NATO, SEATO, CENTO, and IADB with the unofficial slang, abbreviations, radio codes, pro-codes, hospital jargon, weapon abbreviations, acronyms, euphemisms, and commonly used foreign words and phrases used by the men and women who were there. With over 9,800 entries, this is the only source-defined reference to the linguistic complexity of the Vietnam War.Call Number: PE3727.S7 L54 2016 + (on level 1 stacks)Publication Date: 2016 ( [United States] : Albedo Press, Inc.)
Asia Information & Reference
Carole Atkinson
Contact:
Kroch Library 180
CornellUniversity
Ithaca, NY, 14853
Phone: 607-255-8199
asiaref@cornell.edu
CornellUniversity
Ithaca, NY, 14853
Phone: 607-255-8199
asiaref@cornell.edu
Periodicals
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Vietnamese Studies Published in Hanoi starting in 1964, this is a quarterly periodical including articles about the Vietnam War from North Vietnamese point of view. Library has issues from 1964 on. Indexed in Bibliography of Asian Studies database.Call Number: DS 531 V6282 (located in Kroch Asia stacks, North wall, range K086 section 1)Publication Date: Hanoi : The Gioi Publishers -
Nam Magazine Stories, articles, accounts, poetry written primarily by veterans of Vietnam War.Call Number: DS 557.72 N36 + (Nov. 2002 - Aug/Sept. 2004)Publication Date: Truman Publishing [printer]: Mount Morris, NY -
Journal of Vietnamese Studies (choose the U. of California Press link). Online 2006 to current. Indexed in Bibliography of Asian Studies database.Call Number: DS 556 J68 (2006 vol 1 to current. Latest issues in Kroch Asia reading room).Publication Date: Center for Southeast Asian Studies, University of California, Berkeley, by the University of California Press
Primary Source Documents
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Know Your Enemy - The Viet Cong1966 Department of the Defense pamphlet for the armed forces in Vietnam. (online; click on title)
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Vietnam War: Primary Sources by "Vietnam War: Primary Sources features excerpts from screenplays, literature, speeches and hearings representing pro and con viewpoints during and after the conflict." Includes eyewitness accounts.Call Number: DS 557.4 H55x 2001 (in Kroch Asia stacks level B)Publication Date: 2001 (Detroit : U.X.L) -
Vietnam Documents: American and Vietnamese Views of the War by Fifty documents, from Vietnam's declaration of independence in 1945 to the Paris Peace Agreement in 1973. Includes CIA reports, US presidential addresses, anti-war leaflets, and statements by the Vietnamese government and NLF (National Liberation Front).Call Number: DS557.4 .V55x 1992 (in Kroch Asia stacks level B)Publication Date: 1992 (Armonk, N.Y. : M.E. Sharpe) -
The Vietnam War : a History in Documents by "[This book] tells the story of one of the most divisive episodes in modern American history through primary sources, ranging from government documents, news reports, speeches, popular songs to memoirs, writings by Vietnam veterans (including coauthor John Fitzgerald), and poetry by Vietnamese and Americans on matching themes. (Black and white photos and reproductions.) The book begins in the 19th century when Vietnam became a French colony..."Call Number: DS 557.7 Y677x 2002 + (in Kroch Asia stacks, level 1)Publication Date: 2002 (Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press) -
The Vietnam War (The New York Times Twentieth Century in Review series) by "...Through a compilation of more than 600 articles [including wire service reports] and 150 photos taken from the New York Times, [these volumes] trace the origins, the strategies, the successes, the failures, and the bitter legacy of this war for the United States, Vietnam and the world [1945-2000]Call Number: DS557.4 .V57 2001 + 2 vols. (Kroch Asia library, level 1)Publication Date: 2002 (Chicago : Fitzroy Dearborn Publisher) -
The Air War in Indochina by (C.U. Program on Peace Studies.) This report analyzes the military and political impact of the U.S. air war and bombings.Call Number: DS 557 A65 C81 1972+ (Rev. ed.)Publication Date: 1972 (Boston: Beacon Press)
