FAU Presents: Toward a New History of the Tet Offensive - Spies, Allies and Murder in Hanoi

The 2018 Florida Atlantic University John O’Sullivan Memorial Lecture presents “Toward a New History of the Tet Offensive: Spies, Allies and Murder in Hanoi,” with Lien-Hang T. Nguyen, Ph.D., from Columbia University. The lecture will take place on Wednesday, Oct. 24 at 4 p.m. in the University Theatre, 777 Glades Road, Boca Raton campus. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased at www.fauevents.com or by calling 561-297-6124.  FAU faculty, staff and alumni tickets are $10, and students are $5. A book signing will follow the lecture and there is free parking in Garage II.

The 1968 Tet Offensive is perhaps the most well-known event of the Vietnam War. Much of its origins, however, remain shrouded in mystery even a half-century later. Using new materials from Vietnam, this talk will explore the Tet strategy deliberation in Hanoi to reveal how North Vietnam’s foreign relations and domestic politics contributed to the planning for the communist offensive. In particular, it will reveal how spies, allies and even murder played a role in the 1968 Tet Offensive.

Nguyen specializes in the Vietnam War, U.S.-Southeast Asian relations and the global Cold War. She is currently working on a comprehensive history of the 1968 Tet Offensive for Random House and she is the general editor of the forthcoming “Cambridge History of the Vietnam War” (three volumes), as well as coeditor of the “Cambridge Studies in U.S. Foreign Relations.”

The mission of the John O’Sullivan Memorial Lectureship has been to provide students, secondary school teachers, faculty members and public guests with exposure to a distinguished historian whose lecture/presentation broadens and deepens understanding of the major thematic and conceptual aspects of 20th century American history relevant to O’Sullivan’s specialties. Over the years, FAU has hosted scholars of World War II, the Vietnam War, the Nuclear Age, the Holocaust, modern American culture, and 20^th century political and diplomatic affairs. For more information, visit www.fau.edu/osullivan.