Book Reviews : Le Viet-Minh: La République Démocratique du Viet-Nam, 1945-1960, 2nd ed., rev. By BERNARD FALL. (Paris: Librairie Armand Colin, 1960. Pp. 376.)

• DOI: 10.1177/106591296101400420
• Author: Brownlee Sands Corrin
• Date: 01 December 1961
• Published date: 01 December 1961
• Subject Matter: Articles

975

This

survey

represents

a

truly

remarkable

amount

of

work

in

selecting

the

relevant

portions

of

the

writing

of

over

60

authors

in

about

half-a-dozen

languages

and

spread

over

two

continents

and

several

centuries,

as

well

as

documentary

material

from

the

Panama

Conference

of

1826

to

that

of

Caracas

of

1954.

It

is

only

regrettable

that

the

principles

of

selection

of

authors

and

interna-

tional

bodies

are

nowhere

explicitly

stated.

With

barely

a

page

of

a

rather

gen-

eral

introduction

the

book

enters

directly

into

a

one-by-one

description

of

each

author

and

conference.

Thus

one

is

left

to

wonder

why

no

European

publicist

subsequent

to

the

1920’s

is

discussed;

or

why

Cordell

Hull

and

John

Foster

Dulles

are

discussed

among

North

American

authors

but

Clyde

Eagleton,

Charles

Fenwick,

Manley

Hudson,

Quincy

Wright

and

such

others

are

omitted;

or

why

the

Caracas

Conference

of

1954

is

the

last

inter-American

event

reviewed

in

1961;

or

why

no

non,Western

material

is

considered

at

all.

Some

of

these

selections

may

help

to

explain

the

thesis

of

the

book,

namely,

that

the

principles

of

non-intervention

has

been

contributed

first

and

foremost

by

Latin

Americans,

and

that

the

rest

of

the

world

is

slowly

and

reluctantly

follow-

ing

suit.

The

conclusion

ends

on

a

note

of

resignation

prompted

by

the

Guate-

malan

situation

of

1954,

and

poses

the

rhetorical

question

whether

international

law

still

exists.

The

result

is

therefore

a

curious

mixture.

The

number

and

quality

of

sources

are

beyond

reproach.

The

erudition

is

exemplary.

And

yet,

the

book

lacks

a

sense

of

complexity.

It

seems

one-dimensional

by

comparison,

for

instance,

with

even

a

brief

recent

article,

i.e.,

Neale

Ronning,

&dquo;Intervention,

International

Law

and

the

Inter-American

System,&dquo;

Journal

of

Inter-American

Studies,

April

1961,

pp. 249-71.

Claremont

Men’s

College

PETER

H.

ROHN

Le

Viet-Minh

:

La

République

Démocratique

du

Viet-Nam,

1945-1960,

2nd

ed.,

rev.

By

BERNARD

FALL.

(Paris:

Librairie

Armand

Colin,

1960.

Pp. 376.)

Viet-Minh

by

Bernard

Fall

is

a

carefully

prepared

study

of

the

Democratic

Republic

of

Viet

Nam.

The

present

edition

is

an

expanded

version

of

an

earlier

work

issued

in

mimeographed

form

in

English

by

the

Institute

of

Pacific

Relations

and

the

South

East

Asian

program

at

Cornell

University.

The

substance,

and

easy

but

concise

and

lucid

flowing

style,

as

well

as

current

interest

in

the

area

and

its

problems,

and

the

lack

of

informed

English

publications

on

the

subject,

more

than

justify

an

English

edition

of

the

new

volume.

Professor

Fall

has

truly

rendered

a

valuable

service

to

students

of

contemporary

international

relations.

The

French

edition,

or

a

possible

English

counterpart,

should

be

included

in

library

holdings

as

well

as

reading

lists

for

lay

and

professional

persons

alike.

The

text

describes

in

a

wealth

of

detail

the

organization

of

governmental,

economic,

political,

and

military

programs,

the

reforms

undertaken

since

1945,

and

the

guiding

figures

in

the

regime.

The

detail

adds

to

the

penetrating

and

broad-stroke

analyses

which

convey

the

author’s

sensitivity

and

depth

of

under-