Peter Zinoman, "The Colonial Bastille: A History of Imprisonment in Vietnam, 1862-1940," (University of California Press, 2001)

Peter Zinoman's original and insightful study focuses on the colonial prison system in French Indochina and its role in fostering modern political consciousness among the Vietnamese. Using prison memoirs, newspaper articles, and extensive archival records, Zinoman presents a wealth of significant new information to document how colonial prisons, rather than quelling political dissent and maintaining order, instead became institutions that promoted nationalism and revolutionary education.

• Colonial Prisons in French Indochina
• Vietnamese Political Consciousness
• Peter Zinoman, colonial prison study
• Nationalism in Vietnamese Prisons
• Revolutionary Education in Prisons
• French Indochina Prison System
• Political Dissent in Colonial Vietnam
• Archival Records on Indochina Prisons
• Prison Memoirs and Vietnamese Nationalism
• Role of Prisons in Political Movements
• Colonial Order and Political Resistance
• French Colonial Impact on Vietnam