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Vietnam Today: A Guide To A Nation At A Crossroads
Average Customer Rating:  
List Price:
$24.95
Asia Trips Trips Price:
$16.47
Your Savings: $ 8.48 ( 34% )
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Availability: Usually ships in 2 to 4 weeks
Manufacturer: Intercultural Press
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 959.7044
EAN: 9781931930093
ISBN: 1931930090
Label: Intercultural Press
Manufacturer: Intercultural Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 208
Publication Date: 2004-11-30
Publisher: Intercultural Press
Studio: Intercultural Press
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Editorial Reviews:
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Vietnam stands at a crossroads. Located in the geographical center of Southeast Asia, Vietnam is a complex mixture of the ancient and the modern. A Soviet-style legacy contrasts with an emerging Western-style market economy. Vietnam is faced with pressing political, social and economic challenges, and yet it is full of hope and potential. Here is a first look at Vietnam in the twenty-first century, a nation undergoing rapid change and opening up to the world. Dr. Mark Ashwill paints a broad picture of Vietnam, past and present, and explores today's defining issues. Readers come to understand how a two-thousand-year history of foreign invasion, occupation and war has deeply influenced the Vietnamese character. The Chinese, French and U.S. Americans have all left their imprint. Yet the struggle against oppression has infused the Vietnamese with a fierce spirit of nationalism and caution in their dealings with foreigners. Building relationships and trust as a prelude to doing business are critical to the Vietnamese, whether at home or abroad. Vietnam Today reveals the most prominent characteristics of the Vietnamese: their energy and drive, the dominance of group over individual and the paramount importance of maintaining harmony. In doing so, Ashwill and his Vietnamese contributor shed light on many sources of misunderstanding between Vietnamese and Western professionals. But for those who are prepared to take the time to get to know the people, to move at their pace, and to learn about their culture and history, Vietnam can be a land of promise and opportunity.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: The best guide to Vietnam and her culture
Comment: For its compact size, this book is the most comprehensive and useful guide available to understanding and dealing with the nation and culture of Vietnam. It's only four years old, so it's quite up-to-date. It covers Vietnamese history, geography, government, economics, education, communication, cultural values, common problems, and the process of building personal and business relationships.
This is no tourist guide; rather, it offers assistance in dealing with the Vietnamese as a people and a nation. It's ideal for those planning to live and work in Vietnam, or for those who work with Vietnamese living overseas, both temporary visitors and permanent residents. Highly recommended.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Valuable insight into Vietnamese ways
Comment: Vietnam is a country that is changing extremely rapidly in both economic and social spheres, adding to the bewilderment that many Westerners feel when dealing with the country and its inhabitants. This book provides a historical, demographic, economic and political background which explains many of the present cultural stances of the Vietnamese and the effects that has on business dealings.
This is not a travel guide in the conventional sense -- it caters for people who want to make more in-depth inquiry into the nature of the country, the people and its systems. As such, it is written in an academic tone, backed up by numerous references from previous authors and illuminated by examples of interactions between people from communal high-context cultures like Vietnam and individualistic low-context cultures as seen in the West.
The scholarship is impressive and valuable, and only occasionally glosses over important points -- the explanation of the Asian notion of face as a simple desire to maintain harmony, is perhaps worth expanding into the concept of the deep-rooted fear among people with a communal and high-context mindset of being expelled from "the group".
There are many nuggets of wisdom in here -- businessmen in particular will find engrossing detail in the section dealing with endemic corruption, and the sly ways in which its true nature is often concealed. Trends in modern-day Vietnam are examined thoroughly, although the country continues to change at such a rate that what was true when this book was published in 2004 may be less so now, especially after the unforeseen economic problems which struck the country in 2008. The basic insights, however, remain as true as ever.
This is an extremely worthwhile book for people with a serious interest in Vietnam and the Vietnamese people.
Customer Rating:
Summary: business guide for yuppies
Comment: Spent the $16, what a let down. Read it in an afternoon, okay if you are applying for a job gig in Vietnam, otherwise, give it a pass.
I spent 3 weeks in Hanoi and 3 weeks in 3 HCM City and this guide was and is a wash. If you like milquetoast, then buy this book. Or stick to the Lonely Planet Series. If one spends several hours reading a book and doesn not glean anything new, then there's a problem.
Written from the format of a term paper, this politically-correct guide to Vietnam is great if you haven't a clue as to how to travel in SE Asia.
The author's tips were so generic, it could've applied to any city on the planet. Lacks sauce, verve, punch.
Sorry I fell for the other reviews.
Give this book a skip!
Customer Rating:
Summary: captures the culture, politics & complexity of today's VietNam
Comment: VietNam is land full of promise and potential -- yet is faced with pressing political and economic challenges. VIETNAM TODAY provides a valuable picture of VietNam, past and present, and defines the issues and trends of today. It is a very practical guide that captures the culture, politics and complexity of today's VietNam - a nation of 80+ million - the thirteenth most populous country - with the second fastest growing economy.
It is significant to note that more than two-thirds of Vietnamese were born after the last American GI left in 1975. This book describes the 21st Century VietNam where, for the first time in more than 100 years, a generation has grown into adulthood not experiencing war or foreign domination.
VIETNAM TODAY was written for those who will visit VietNam on business, as well as for travelers who come on holiday also who want to know something about the country they are visiting. Furthermore, it should be read by Americans who want to understand VietNam as a country - not the name of a war.
It provides chapters on geography, demographics, politics, economy and business, history, changes since the war, cultural differences and offers invaluable tips for dealing with Vietnamese. It describes how to work with the fact that VietNam is a relationship-based society in which everyone is tapped into a network. It makes the observation that mavericks and lone wolves are likely to fail in making inroads here.
Particularly helpful is Chapter 7, "How the Vietnamese See Westerners." It presents impressions and reflections - positive, negative and constructively critical - from Vietnamese who have worked with foreigners for many years.
Don't let the subtitle "a Guide . ." mislead you into thinking that this book is simply your basic travel book (for that, I recommend The Rough Guide to VietNam and National Geographic Traveler's new VietNam guidebook).
VIETNAM TODAY offers a vivid, compassionate view of a people and a land that captured my heart two-and-a-half decades before Ashwill set foot in the country. It helped provide a context for me to understand numerous things that I had observed but hadn't been able to fully comprehend. This book will not only change the way you think about VietNam, it may cause you to reflect upon how you view the world. That's a lot to get from a travel guide!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Excellent book
Comment: This book provided an excellent overview of the culture of Vietnam. I'd recommend it to anyone traveling to Vietnam on business or for pleasure.
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