A Story of Vietnam in Kindle form is almost one year old. The people who acquired it have been few and far between. The majority remained silent. Some lavished praises, but more numerous were those who found the book wanting in many areas. I will try to address these complaints, one by one.
For the many typographical and spelling errors, I have no excuses but sincere apologies. This time, I shall do my best to rectify that situation
In response to the readers who mention the lack of bibliographic references, I respectfully refer them to the Preface of the first edition where I explained clearly why I omitted all references. It was, therefore, a voluntary omission. That is how I could produce a "postmodernist witches’ brew" that narrates 4000 years of Viet-namese history in slightly over 400 pages and still had enough time and space to narrate legends and tell stories! I would invoke the same explanation for the lack of archaeological evidence and for the scant attention paid to the ethnic minorities.
Why did I not compare the Vietnamese loss to France with what was occurring in Japan, Korea and Siam? Because I wanted my readers to focus on what was happening in Vietnam, not in the neighborhood. In addition, I did not want to succumb to the vogue of "comparative history" which makes national histories into an embarrassing field of research.
As for the lack of bibliographic guidance, I must say that I have never be-lieved in spoon-feeding my students. I consider it an insult to their intelligence to provide them with suggested reading lists. Would it not be far better to let them have the initiative in establishing their own list and determine, perhaps via trials and errors, the relative value of the publications they would have found by their own means? If necessary, the teacher's guidance should come at the end of this process rather than the beginning.
The low price of this Kindle edition has been blamed for the lack of professionalism in copyediting, typesetting and proofreading. I humbly apologized for my limited capabilities in preparing my manuscript for printing while I firmly state that the low price of the book was not, in any way, the cause of the deficiency . As a matter of fact, I had set the price of this version at its lowest level possible in the Kindle pricing structure so as to make it more affordable than its paperback counterpart which costs, in my opinion, too much even though I also had set its price at the lowest level allowed by my publisher.

A STORY OF VIETNAM is the first comprehensive and inclusive history of Vietnam written in English. It relates Vietnam's past from its origins to the present. It gives as much emphasis to culture as to politics. I call it a story and not a history, because I do not want it to be the usual conventional textbook, overburdened with interminable references and superfluous footnotes.
While not a conventional textbook, my work can, nonetheless, provide a substantial reading material to the students who are interested in Asian affairs. To the hyphenated Vietnamese in particular, it represents a convenient reference tool to the historical allusions, cultural insinuations, mythical hints, literary suggestions, ethnic idiosyncrasies they encounter practically every day at home.
A STORY OF VIETNAM can be sought after by all those people who would like to know more about the country and the people of Vietnam. Finally, I dare add that this book can provide a thought-provoking introduction to Vietnam for the discriminating traveler.
I have narrated my story with the greatest impartiality I am capable of. I have no theory that needs to be proven nor any assumption to be verified. But I do come to history with emotion, even with passion. Sometimes, my sympathies surged to the surface or my distastes became apparent, though at no time, have II consciously distorted the facts or altered the documents in order to validate my feelings.