Imperial Heights - (From Indochina to Vietnam: Revolution and War in a Global Pe) by Eric T Jennings (Paperback)

About the Book

"By using both macro and micro lenses, Eric T. Jennings has written a book which is a model of global history under the guise of a monographic study. He convincingly demonstrates that throughout fifty years, Dalat as a climatic resort built by the French colonizers in the Central Highlands of Vietnam, was upgraded to far more than a mere R&R place for white people. Jennings has kneaded together a huge and rich amount of primary and secondary sources that he masters perfectly due to his sound and balanced method of critical analysis. As we say in French: de la belle ouvrage."
--Pierre Brocheux, author of "Indochina: An Ambiguous Colonization, 1858-1954"

"Written in a vivid and engaging style, "Imperial Heights" is an exceptional piece of scholarship. It is impeccably researched, drawing on private, institutional, and national archives in at least five countries. Making wonderful use of 'thick description, ' Jennings brilliantly recreates the story of one small town to capture the varied and complex history of French colonialism and its afterlives in Southeast Asia."
--J.P. Daughton, author of "An Empire Divided"

Book Synopsis

Intended as a reminder of Europe for soldiers and clerks of the empire, the city of Dalat, located in the hills of Southern Vietnam, was built by the French in an alpine locale that reminded them of home. This book uncovers the strange 100-year history of a colonial city that was conceived as a center of power and has now become a kitsch tourist destination famed for its colonial villas, flower beds, pristine lakes, and pastoral landscapes. Eric T. Jennings finds that from its very beginning, Dalat embodied the paradoxes of colonialism--it was a city of leisure built on the backs of thousands of coolies, a supposed paragon of hygiene that offered only questionable protection from disease, and a new venture into ethnic relations that ultimately backfired. Jennings' fascinating history opens a new window onto virtually all aspects of French Indochina, from architecture and urban planning to violence, labor, métissage, health and medicine, gender and ethic relations, schooling, religion, comportments, anxieties, and more.

From the Back Cover

"By using both macro and micro lenses, Eric T. Jennings has written a book which is a model of global history under the guise of a monographic study. He convincingly demonstrates that throughout fifty years, Dalat as a climatic resort built by the French colonizers in the Central Highlands of Vietnam, was upgraded to far more than a mere R&R place for white people. Jennings has kneaded together a huge and rich amount of primary and secondary sources that he masters perfectly due to his sound and balanced method of critical analysis. As we say in French: de la belle ouvrage."

--Pierre Brocheux, author of Indochina: An Ambiguous Colonization, 1858-1954



"Written in a vivid and engaging style, Imperial Heights is an exceptional piece of scholarship. It is impeccably researched, drawing on private, institutional, and national archives in at least five countries. Making wonderful use of 'thick description, ' Jennings brilliantly recreates the story of one small town to capture the varied and complex history of French colonialism and its afterlives in Southeast Asia."

--J.P. Daughton, author of An Empire Divided

Review Quotes

"[A] remarkable book, which is impeccably researched. . . . An eye-opening, eminently readable, highly impressive work."-- "H-Net Reviews" (5/2/2012 12:00:00 AM)

"An excellent work. . . . Jennings' book testifies to his prominent position in the field of French colonial history."--Michael Vann "Reviews In History" (10/19/2011 12:00:00 AM)

"An outstanding book. . . . In a riveting sequence of chapters, the author develops a multilayered analysis of life in Dalat."-- "American Historical Review" (2/1/2012 12:00:00 AM)

"In the masterly hands of Eric Jennings, the history of Dalat becomes, not just a case study of a colonial holiday site, but a window into the dreams, fears and tension of colonialism."-- "Canadian Journal Of History" (3/19/2012 12:00:00 AM)

"Professor Jennings of the University of Toronto is a specialist in French colonial history and this work reflects his expertise in the subject."--Michael Kyle "Asian Affairs" (3/1/2012 12:00:00 AM)

About the Author

Eric T. Jennings, Professor of History at the University of Toronto, is the author of Curing the Colonizers, and Vichy in the Tropics.