Reddit reviews Vietnamese Peasants Under French Domination, 1861-1945, Monograph Series No. 24 (CPS Publications in Philosophy of Science)

I HAVE SEVERAL :DD going to try to link you to non-academic sources, though, since most of the academic articles I have are in journals and have restricted access.

Here's a 1947 American article on Vietnam under French rule. Do that that even though it's thoroughly biased, gets a ton of things wrong, and is evidently siding with France and against the communists, there's still this concession:

>Ever card has always been stacked against the Annamites and in favor of the French... [t]he simple fact is that the French in Viet Nam have become so used to treating the Annamites as an inferior race, to be exploited for their benefit, that this situation does not even seem perculiar to them.

Harsh words indeed, and it gives you a good look at a contemporary opinion from a person in a country that was siding with to France.

Here's the Encyclopaedia Britannica article on the effects of colonial rule, it's got the basics all covered and it does go into the massive disparity between the lives of the well off and the average person which existed. Note also this mention:

>Two other aspects of French colonial policy are significant when considering the attitude of the Vietnamese people, especially their educated minority, toward the colonial regime: one was the absence of any kind of civil liberties for the native population, and the other was the exclusion of the Vietnamese from the modern sector of the economy, especially industry and trade

This pretty basic rundown of events under colonial rule corroborates that account:

>Nationalism of the sort spread by the Free School Movement was squelched by the French as soon as it became a threat. After 1908, overt opposition in Vietnam was minimal. In 1927, a Nationalist Party was formed in Vietnam but this was repressed and many of its members moved to South China. Generally speaking, conditions were strictly controlled within Vietnam, and the radical and outspoken opponents to colonization were those who had left the country to be educated in France. They were able to travel and study, discussing the future of Vietnam and methods through which they could overthrow the colonial government.

If you can get hold of it somehow, I'd recommend Vietnamese Peasants Under French Domination, 1861-1945, it's an interesting look at the situation. I don't actually have a copy on hand now, though. Other stuff... well, the history of the Hanoi Hilton is always good- I know it's wikipedia but wiki does have sources at the bottom, it's useful for that. David G. Marr's book on Vietnamese Anticolonialism also covers the origins of that form of thinking- chapter 4 is particularly relevant. The Yen Bai mutiny is also very pertinent, and I'd suggest taking a read of Radicalism and the Origins of Vietnamese Revolution if you have the time as well.