UYÊN NGUYỄN is a historian of modern Vietnam, with a strong interest in modern Vietnamese literature. She holds a PhD in History from the University of California, Berkeley and is currently Lecturer in the College of Humanities and Sciences and Department of History, National University of Singapore. Uyên’s current research project examines the communist takeovers of previously French-controlled cities in North Vietnam and the political and socio-cultural transformations that took place during the first four years after Ho Chi Minh’s government gained total control of the North (1954–1958).