Tours of Vietnam

War, Travel Guides, and Memory
An argument that tourist literature and U.S. military guides have shaped Americans understanding of Vietnam and projections of U.S. power since the mid-twentieth century.
In Tours of Vietnam, Scott Laderman demonstrates how tourist literature has shaped Americans understanding of Vietnam and projections of United States power since the mid-twentieth century. Laderman analyzes portrayals of Vietnams land, history, culture, economy, and people in travel narratives, U.S. military guides, and tourist guidebooks, pamphlets, and brochures. Whether implying that Vietnamese women were in need of saving by manly American military power or celebrating the neoliberal reforms Vietnam implemented in the 1980s, ostensibly neutral guides have repeatedly represented events, particularly those related to the Vietnam War, in ways that favor the global ambitions of the United States.

Tracing a history of ideological