The Colonial Bastille - by Peter Zinoman (Hardcover)

About the Book

"Zinoman makes original contributions on multiple fronts, including colonial systems; prisons as social institutions; political life in prison; public campaigns concerning prisons; and released prisoners in action. He also takes us beyond the colonial/anticolonial, nationalist/communist, and war/peace dichotomies that have long dominated Vietnam studies."--David Marr, author of "Vietnamese Tradition on Trial, 1920-1945"
"This is a wonderful, lucidly argued, and meticulously documented book."--Ann Stoler, author of "Race and the Education of Desire: Foucault's History of Sexuality and the Colonial Order of Things"

Book Synopsis

Peter Zinoman's original and insightful study focuses on the colonial prison system in French Indochina and its role in fostering modern political consciousness among the Vietnamese. Using prison memoirs, newspaper articles, and extensive archival records, Zinoman presents a wealth of significant new information to document how colonial prisons, rather than quelling political dissent and maintaining order, instead became institutions that promoted nationalism and revolutionary education.

From the Back Cover

"Zinoman makes original contributions on multiple fronts, including colonial systems; prisons as social institutions; political life in prison; public campaigns concerning prisons; and released prisoners in action. He also takes us beyond the colonial/anticolonial, nationalist/communist, and war/peace dichotomies that have long dominated Vietnam studies."--David Marr, author of Vietnamese Tradition on Trial, 1920-1945

"This is a wonderful, lucidly argued, and meticulously documented book."--Ann Stoler, author of Race and the Education of Desire: Foucault's History of Sexuality and the Colonial Order of Things

Review Quotes

"Zinoman, using a wide variety of sources, shows how the injustice and blatant cruelty of the French penal system in Vietnam was used to still dissent. Zinoman's research concludes that the very act of imprisonment, rather than stilling the dissent, helped to develop a revolutionary ardor that eventually led to Vietnam's independence."--The Journal

About the Author

Peter Zinoman is Associate Professor of Southeast Asian History at the University of California, Berkeley.