One glaring weakness in the narrative is the absence of a compelling protagonist. Truong’s five-year-old self is little more than a curious onlooker, and the grown-up Truong, who dryly narrates the memoir, appears only briefly at the end to reflect on the war with his elderly father (instead of his mother, the more interesting character).

Such a Lovely Little War is skilfully illustrated. However, the oppressive red colour scheme throughout the main narrative is incongruous in the more peaceful familial scenes in Washington or Saint-Malo, France. It is a welcome relief when fully coloured splash pages or artefacts such as stamps, children’s drawings, and propaganda posters appear, but these intriguing snapshots are few and far between. While Such a Lovely Little War makes little effort to elevate its genre, those unfamiliar with the history of Vietnam’s catastrophic war – told from the perspective of the Vietnamese – will find a valuable primer in Truong’s account.