An American Brothel

An American Brothel is an indispensable study of transactional, consensual, and violent sexual relationships between South Vietnamese women and American men during the US War in Vietnam. Boczar’s arguments are so persuasiv[.]

In An American Brothel, Boczar forcefully argues that such conceptualizations fall far short of gaining a fuller appreciation of what “war” actually entailed in Vietnam.[A] powerful yet compact book.

An American Brothel is an important work, one that historians interested in any one of these fields should read. Boczar has provided an invaluable path for other historians to follow as we continue to examine these questions. In sum, An American Brothel is an outstanding book that bridges several fields of historical inquiry and demonstrates unequivocally that sex plays a vital role in wartime foreign relations and experiences.

Boczar convincingly argues that gender, sex, and intimate relationships were at the center of military life during the Vietnam War.

Boczar’s sobering analysis of the human toll of the Vietnam War on America’s key ally should serve as a warning to current and future policy makers[.].

A compelling history of the significance of sexual encounters in warfare[…] offers a fascinating foreign policy and military history of the Vietnam War from the bottom up, detailing points of tension and cooperation between the two allies over intimate relationships.

Amanda Boczar is Manager, Library Operations Manager for Special Collections at University of South Florida Libraries, Tampa Special Collections. She holds a PhD in Diplomatic History from the University of Kentucky. Follow her on X @amandaboczar.