He earned his B.A. from Stanford University in 1988 and his Ph.D. from Yale University in 1999. His first book, Assuming the Burden: Europe and the American Commitment to War in Vietnam (University of California Press, 2005), explores the early years of U.S. involvement in Vietnam. He is also author of The Vietnam War: A Concise International History (Oxford University Press, 2008) and co-editor of The First Vietnam War: Colonial Conflict and Cold War Crisis (Harvard University Press, 2007). His articles have appeared in Diplomatic History and The India Review. He is now working on a study of U.S. policymaking toward the developing world during the 1960s and early 1970s. Lawrence teaches courses in U.S. foreign relations history, the Vietnam Wars, and the Cold War. In 2005, he was awarded the President's Associates' Award for Teaching Excellence by UT-Austin.