About: Keith Taylor (historian)

Keith Weller Taylor (born 1946) is an American sinologist, historian and writer noted for his expertise on Vietnamese history and Vietnamese literature. He currently is Professor of Sino-Vietnamese Cultural Studies in the Department of Asian Studies at Cornell University. Unlike most Western Vietnam historians, who write primarily about the 20th century and, in particular, about the US intervention, Taylor's research focuses mostly on pre-colonial Vietnamese history before the 20th century. He is now considered one of the pioneer experts in this field. He fought in Vietnam as a soldier in the United States Army, and subsequently has visited Vietnam for research and scholarly exchange many times and lived continuously in Vietnam for two years in the early 1990s while studying and teaching.