A Google search for a book on Vietnamese history will result in an overwhelming number about the war which ended in 1975. This book offers an overview of Vietnamese history from prehistory to the present day and is written for people interested in history from a travellers’ perspective. It specifically focuses on the period from 700 to 111 BCE. It discusses briefly the origin of the Vietnamese, the three characters which shaped its early history: the Hùng kings – the founders of Vietnam An Dương Vương, Zhao Tuo and the battles involved during the transfer of power from one to the next. The final battle ended the country’s autonomy and placed the country under Chinese dynastic rule for one thousand years to the 10th century.