Hue: Vietnam's Last Imperial Capital

For the past eighteen years, travel writer Carol Howland has returned to Hue again and again. In her fourth travel book on Vietnam (apart from a guidebook), she picks through the tangled history of this imperial city that served as Vietnam'scapital from 1802 until reunification in 1975 - a city that has enjoyed royal wealth and splendour, a city that has suffered wars and destruction, a city that has witnessed political intrigues and regicides, a city of scholars and aesthetes, a city that gave rise to Vietnam's most elaborate cuisine, stunningly beautiful architecture and enchanting gardens. Interwoven with stories of Hue's imperial past are stories of Hue's present-day residents, providing an intimate glimpse of life behind the gates and gardens of today's Hue.