I'm travelling to Vietnam. What is one book you would recommend to make the most of my trip? Nothing on the Vietnam War - my American education has made me familiar enough with that period. The book can be history, anthropology, sociology, or whatever. It can be region-wide or restricted to Vietnam. The only conditions is it not be on the Vietnam war, it be non-fiction, and that it make my trip more enjoyable. I prefer academic books.
I mean, the one that springs to my mind is Karnow's Vietnam: A History. It covers Vienamese history up to about 1990, though it does place a lot of emphasis on the wars with France and the US.