The first and comprehensive work of its class in English to be accessible to Vietnamese and Western readers, the volume elucidates the lengthy architectural history of Vietnam from the beginning to the contemporary period, focusing exclusively on the architecture of the Kinh, Viet, or ethnic Vietnamese. Unlike works by previous authors, this book has been updated with latest and exhaustive information on Vietnamese architecture and its coverage is inclusive not just the northern part of the country where it originated. The volume carefully fuses developmental and chronological perspectives with thorough research and thoughtful analyses to reconstruct an architectural heritage and shed light on a convoluted subject that has not been systematically explored in past publications. In the process, the author unequivocally challenges old misconceptions and embraces new insights as it has been firmly established that Vietnamese architecture is a unique tradition apart from Chinese architecture despite their superficial similarities.