Andrew Hardy – författare

French anthropologist Jacques Dournes lived in Vietnam for 25 years, from 1946 to 1970, studying the culture of the Jarai and other highland ethnic groups. He became a renowned ethnographer and the Jarai people became his lifelong passion.In part 1 of this study, Andrew Hardy explores Dournes’s challenging monograph Potao, une théorie de pouvoir chez les Indochinois jorai and his views on the role of the highlanders in ancient Champa. In part 2, Dournes speaks animatedly with the author about the Jarai, his feelings about culture and economics, his understanding of Vietnam’s history, and his personal experience of living in the Central Highlands. The French transcript of the interview is presented in the appendix.

Several million rural inhabitants of Vietnam's northern deltas made the decision to move home during the 20th century, seeking to make new homes in the country's highlands. Their decisions and the settlements they created had wide-ranging effects on their home communities and on the people and environment of their destinations. Many migrations were made in response to policy decisions made in Hanoi.The book offers a historical analysis of the political economy of migration, stimulated by the French colonial and independent socialist states. It shows how socialist policies especially changed the face of the highlands, as settlers from the plains turned the hills 'red'.Placing people's experiences in the context of government policy and national history, this book explores their anticipations, difficulties, achievements and disappointments, highlighting the geopolitical importance of the highlands. It can be read as a contribution to migration studies in Southeast Asia, but also as a grassroots history of 20th-century Vietnam. Written in a lively reading style and illustrated by numerous maps and photographs, this study promises to become a classic in Vietnamese historical studies.

As Vietnam entered the 21st century it began to prepare for the 1000th anniversary of the founding of its capital Thăng Long, now Hanoi. In the heart of the city, a rescue excavation was launched on land earmarked for the construction of a new National Assembly building. Archaeologists unearthed thirteen centuries of vestiges of the ancient city of Thăng Long, yielding a richer record than anyone had dared to hope for. Construction plans were shelved, excavations widened, and at the city's millennial celebrations in 2010, UNESCO announced its inscription of the Imperial Citadel of Thăng Long on its World Heritage List.This archaeological discovery has two histories. The first, told here by the archaeologists involved, is the story of the dig, as their trowels brought to light the bricks, tiles, pillars, sculptures and ceramics of countless ancient temples and palaces. The second is the history of the citadel itself, in its early years as an outpost of the Chinese empire, in its heyday as the Forbidden City of Vietnam's emperors, and in its downgrading and eventual destruction at the hands of the Nguyen dynasty and French colonial rulers. The book relates the questions, findings and emotions of research team members as the imperial citadel took shape before their eyes. Drawing on the results of their work, it presents a historical narrative of the continuous development of a regional political centre on this site. Bringing together history, urban history and a fascinating story of the interplay of influences from China and Southeast Asia, this is also a fascinating case of an Asian capital city coming to understand its history, and deciding how to preserve its archaeological remains.