Vietnam Since The Fall Of Saigon Summary

The author of Vietnam Since The Fall of Saigon is William J. Duiker. He was a professor at Penn State University where he spent his years teaching history with a concentration on East Asia. He also worked as a U.S. Foreign Services officer where he spent numerous years in Vietnam. He is fluent in foreign affairs and has written many books. A majority of his books are World History books used in several universities and colleges. He has also wrote a book on Ho Chi Minh which was the first complete biography of Vietnamese ruler. Not only does he have an impressive resume of being the author of many history books, he also spent many years in Vietnam. Spending time in the place in which one is writing about gives him primary sources to get his information. He also taught at a Penn State University for several years, all of these things make him a credible author for this book. …show more content…
His range of sources start with Press releases, broadcast information services, economic reviews, publications research archives, local Vietnamese news, world broadcasts, in person interviews and end with archived documents/research. One limitation that might be places on his sources is the fact that many are related to the news. Old news during wartimes normally has biased views based on where the information is coming from. News from the United States during the Vietnam War would be different from news coming from Vietnam. Large events and battles themselves would not be different but different views on the war and how/why events are happening would be different. He balances his sources to keep an unbiased view by using sources from all around the world such as Vietnam, Britain, France, United States and several other countries. The various sources give Duiker more benefits than limitations when it comes to accurately depicting history and