Duiker, William J. (2001). 호찌민의 생애 -요약 및 평론

 Duiker, William J. (2001). Ho Chi Minh: A Life --- 1,000 단어 요약 평론

Table of Contents

Preface

INTRODUCTION

I IN A LOST LAND

II THE FIERY STALLION

III APPRENTICE REVOLUTIONARY

IV SONS OF THE DRAGON

V THE MAGIC SWORD

VI RED NGHE TINH

VII INTO THE WILDERNESS

VIII A CAVE AT PAC BO

IX THE RISING TIDE

X THE DAYS OF AUGUST

XI RECONSTRUCTION AND RESISTANCE

XII THE TIGER AND THE ELEPHANT

XIII A PLACE CALLED DIEN BIEN PHU

XIV BETWEEN TWO WARS

XV ALL FOR THE FRONT LINES

EPILOGUE: FROM MAN ΤΟ MYTH

==

베트남 독립의 상징이자 현대사의 거인 호찌민. Source: Hulton Archive / Getty Images

==

<호찌민의 생애> 요약 및 평론: 민족주의와 공산주의의 교차로에서 선 거인

<호찌민의 생애>는 전직 외교관이자 역사학자인 윌리엄 J. 뒤커가 30년 넘게 수집한 방대한 1차 사료와 베트남, 중국, 러시아, 프랑스, 미국의 비밀 해제 문서를 바탕으로 집대성한 호찌민 전기의 마스터피스다. 이 책은 호찌민이라는 인물을 신화화하거나 격하하지 않고, 20세기 반식민지 해방 투쟁과 냉전의 소용돌이 속에서 고뇌했던 한 인간이자 정치가의 면모를 입체적으로 재구성한다.

1. 서사적 요약: 응우옌 신 쿵에서 호찌민까지

방랑과 사상의 형성기

호찌민은 1890년 베트남 중부 응에안성의 가난한 유학자 집안에서 '응우옌 신 쿵'이라는 이름으로 태어났다. 식민지 지배하의 암울한 현실에서 성장한 그는 프랑스식 교육을 받으면서도 마음속 깊이 반식민지 민족주의 정서를 키워나갔다. 1911년, 그는 서구 세계를 직접 경험하고 조국을 구원할 방법을 찾기 위해 프랑스 여객선의 요리사 보조로 취직하여 30년에 걸친 해외 방랑 길에 오른다.

런던과 뉴욕을 거쳐 파리에 정착한 그는 '응우옌 아이 꿕'(Nguyễn Ái Quốc, 응우옌 애국)이라는 가명으로 활동하기 시작했다. 1919년 베르사유 강화회의에서 베트남의 자결권을 요구하는 청원서를 제출했으나 서구 열강에 철저히 외면당하는 좌절을 겪었다. 이 시기 그에게 결정적 전환점이 된 것은 레닌의 <민족 및 식민지 문제에 관한 테제>였다. 서구 자본주의 열강의 위선을 깨달은 그는 식민지 해방의 유일한 해법이 사회주의 혁명에 있음을 확신하고, 1920년 프랑스 공산당 창당에 참여했다.

코민테른 활동과 혁명의 조직화

이후 호찌민은 모스크바로 이동하여 국제공산당(코민테른)의 요원으로 선발되었고, 중국 광저우, 태국 등을 무대로 동남아시아 혁명가들을 조직하기 시작했다. 1930년 홍콩에서 파편화되어 있던 베트남의 사회주의 세력을 통합하여 '베트남 공산당(이후 인도차이나 공산당으로 개칭)'을 창당하는 수완을 발휘했다. 뒤커는 이 시기 호찌민이 모스크바의 정통 마르크스-레닌주의 교조에 맹종하기보다, 베트남의 특수한 상황, 즉 노동자 계급이 취약하고 농민이 절대다수를 차지하는 식민지 현실에 맞는 실용적 노선을 끊임없이 모색했음을 입증한다.

귀국과 건국, 그리고 전쟁

제2차 세계대전의 발발과 일본군의 인도차이나 점령은 그에게 결정적 기회를 제공했다. 1941년, 30년 만에 조국 땅을 밟은 그는 민족해방전선인 '베트남 독립동맹(베트민)'을 결성하고 드디어 '호찌민(Ho Chi Minh, 깨우침을 주는 자)'이라는 이름을 사용하기 시작했다. 1945년 일본이 패망하자 그는 8월 혁명을 주도하여 하노이에서 베트남 민주공화국의 독립을 선포했다.

그러나 독립의 기쁨은 짧았다. 재식민지화를 시도하는 프랑스와의 제1차 인도차이나 전쟁(1946~1954)이 발발했고, 디엔비엔푸 전투의 승리로 프랑스를 축출했으나 제네바 협정으로 인해 베트남은 남북으로 분단되었다. 뒤커는 북베트남의 지도자가 된 호찌민이 토지 개혁 과정에서 발생한 과격성과 숙청 등 공산주의 체제 구축의 어두운 이면을 피하지 않고 서술한다. 이어지는 미국과의 제2차 인도차이나 전쟁(베트남 전쟁) 속에서 호찌민은 남북 통일이라는 숙원을 이루지 못한 채 1969년 9월 3일 세상을 떠났다.

2. 학술적 평론: 민족주의자인가, 공산주의자인가

윌리엄 J. 뒤커가 이 평전을 통해 던지는 가장 핵심적인 질문은 "호찌민은 본질적으로 민족주의자였는가, 아니면 공산주의자였는가?"라는 해묵은 논쟁이다. 냉전 시기 서구 사회는 그를 모스크바와 베이징의 지령을 받는 골수 공산주의자로 보았고, 반대로 그를 옹호하는 진영에서는 공산주의를 단지 민족 해방을 위한 수단으로 삼은 순수한 민족주의자로 평가하곤 했다.

뒤커의 결론은 명쾌하면서도 깊이 있다. 호찌민에게 민족주의와 공산주의는 분리할 수 없는 하나의 동전의 양면이었다는 점이다. 그는 조국의 독립과 해방이라는 민족주의적 목표를 달성하기 위해 공산주의라는 가장 강력한 조직적·이념적 무기를 선택했다. 동시에 그는 사회주의 계급 해방 없이는 진정한 민족 해방이 완성될 수 없다고 믿은 확고한 공산주의자였다. 그는 평생 코민테른의 충성스러운 요원이었지만, 소련이나 중국의 이익을 위해 베트남 민족의 이익을 희생시키지 않는 고도의 자주적 외교 능력을 보여주었다.

인간적 매력과 정치적 현실주의의 조화

뒤커는 호찌민이 지닌 독특한 권력의 원천을 '인간적 면모'에서 찾는다. 호찌민은 화려한 관저 대신 허름한 오두막에 살며 폐타이어로 만든 샌들을 신고 다녔다. 이러한 자발적 청빈과 소박함은 베트남 대중에게 그를 정치가가 아닌 친근한 '호 아저씨(Bác Hồ)'로 각인시켰다. 이 도덕적 권위는 수많은 정파와 부족, 이념으로 갈라진 베트남 민족을 하나로 묶는 강력한 접착제 역할을 했다.

그러나 뒤커는 그가 결코 유약한 이상주의자가 아니었음을 분명히 한다. 호찌민은 목적을 위해서라면 정적을 제거하고 외교적 타협을 감행하는 철저한 현실주의자(Realpolitiker)였다. 프랑스와의 전면전을 피하기 위해 1946년 프랑스 연방 내의 자치를 수용하는 타협안에 서명하기도 했고, 체제 안정을 위해 당내 과격파를 제어하거나 반대파를 숙청하는 결단력도 보여주었다.

3. 총평

윌리엄 J. 뒤커의 <호찌민의 생애>는 한 혁명가의 삶을 20세기 세계사의 거대한 캔버스 위에 펼쳐놓은 기념비적 저작이다. 저자는 냉전적 이분법의 덫에 걸리지 않고, 거대한 열강의 틈바구니에서 조국의 독립을 위해 분투했던 호찌민의 전략적 유연성과 이념적 확신을 탁월하게 묘사해 냈다.

이 책은 호찌민이라는 인물이 현대 베트남의 영웅을 넘어, 어떻게 제국주의의 붕괴와 아시아·아프리카 민족해방운동의 상징이 되었는지를 설득력 있게 보여준다. 그의 공과 과를 모두 담아낸 이 평전은 현대 동남아시아사뿐만 아니라 20세기 국제정치와 냉전의 본질을 이해하기 위해 반드시 거쳐야 할 최고의 텍스트다.

==

이 평전과 관련하여 더 깊이 살펴보고 싶으신 부분이 있으신가요?

==

William J. Duiker, <Ho Chi Minh: A Life>

<윌리엄 J. 듀이커, 『호찌민: 한 생애』> — 1,000단어 요약+평론

윌리엄 J. 듀이커의 <Ho Chi Minh: A Life>는 호찌민 전기 가운데 가장 방대하고 균형 잡힌 연구서로 평가받는 책이다. 700쪽이 넘는 이 전기는 저자가 약 30년에 걸쳐 베트남과 유럽의 자료를 조사하고 생존 동료들을 인터뷰한 결과물이며, 베트남 자료를 본격적으로 활용한 최초의 포괄적 영어권 호찌민 전기로도 소개된다.

이 책의 중심 질문은 단순하다.

<호찌민은 민족주의자였는가, 공산주의자였는가?>

듀이커의 대답은 <둘 다였다>이다. 더 정확히 말하면 호찌민 자신에게 이 두 정체성은 서로 모순되지 않았다. 민족독립은 목적이었고 마르크스-레닌주의는 그 목적을 실현하는 방법인 동시에, 점차 그가 진심으로 받아들인 세계관이 되었다. 그래서 호찌민을 <공산주의를 이용한 민족주의자> 또는 <민족주의를 이용한 공산주의자> 가운데 하나로 분류하는 것은 잘못된 질문이라는 것이 이 책의 기본 관점이다. 당시 주요 서평 역시 듀이커의 핵심 해석을 바로 이 <민족주의자이자 공산주의자인 호찌민>에서 찾았다.

유교 학자의 아들에서 세계를 떠도는 청년으로

호찌민은 1890년 응에안 지방에서 응우옌신꿍이라는 이름으로 태어났다. 그의 아버지는 유교적 학문을 익힌 지식인이었으며 프랑스 식민통치에 비판적이었다. 듀이커는 어린 호찌민을 태어날 때부터 예정된 혁명가로 그리지 않는다. 오히려 그는 식민지 사회에서 성장하며 베트남의 굴욕과 전통적 유교 질서의 붕괴를 체험한 청년이었다.

1911년 그는 베트남을 떠난다. 이 출국은 호찌민 신화에서 매우 중요한 장면이다. 그러나 듀이커가 보여주는 호찌민은 완성된 정치사상을 가지고 세계혁명을 향해 출발한 사람이 아니다. 배의 주방 보조원으로 일하면서 프랑스, 영국, 미국 등 여러 지역을 경험한 <떠돌이 식민지 청년>이었다. 그의 초기 생애를 추적하면 호찌민의 가장 중요한 특징 하나가 나타난다.

<그는 먼저 세계를 보았고, 나중에 이론을 선택했다.>

이 점에서 호찌민은 마오쩌둥과도 다르다. 마오는 중국 내부에서 중국 혁명의 길을 발견했지만, 호찌민은 베트남 밖에서 베트남을 발견했다.

파리에서 발견한 ‘응우옌 아이 꾸옥’

제1차 세계대전 이후 파리에 정착한 그는 프랑스 사회주의자들과 교류한다. 1919년 베르사유 평화회의 때 <응우옌 아이 꾸옥―애국자 응우옌>이라는 이름으로 베트남인의 권리를 요구하는 청원서를 제출한다.

이 시기의 호찌민은 아직 완성된 공산주의자가 아니다. 그는 윌슨의 민족자결주의와 프랑스 공화주의가 식민지에도 적용될 수 있다고 기대했다. 그러나 서구 민주주의 국가들은 식민지 민족의 자결 요구에 거의 관심을 보이지 않았다.

여기서 레닌이 등장한다.

호찌민이 레닌에게 매혹된 이유는 복잡한 철학적 마르크스주의 때문이 아니었다. 레닌의 <민족 및 식민지 문제에 관한 테제>가 식민지 민족의 해방을 세계혁명의 핵심 문제로 인정했기 때문이다.

호찌민은 훗날 레닌의 글을 읽고 감격했다고 회고한다. 듀이커가 강조하는 것은 바로 이 지점이다.

<호찌민은 계급문제를 통해 식민지 문제를 발견한 것이 아니라, 식민지 문제를 해결하려다가 공산주의를 발견했다.>

1920년 그는 프랑스 공산당 창립에 참여한다. 그러나 그의 머릿속에서 베트남은 한 번도 사라지지 않는다.

모스크바와 코민테른

1923년 호찌민은 모스크바로 간다. 여기서 그는 코민테른의 활동가가 된다. 이 부분은 호찌민을 순수한 민족주의자로 묘사하는 베트남 공식 전기와 듀이커의 서술이 갈라지는 지점이다.

듀이커는 호찌민이 분명한 국제 공산주의 운동의 일원이었다는 사실을 숨기지 않는다. 그는 코민테른의 훈련을 받았고 국제회의에 참석했으며 공산주의 조직의 지시를 수행했다.

그러나 동시에 그는 모스크바의 유럽 중심주의에 불만을 느꼈다. 유럽 공산주의자들은 산업 노동자를 혁명의 주체로 보았지만 베트남에는 대규모 산업 프롤레타리아가 거의 존재하지 않았다.

호찌민은 농민과 식민지 민중을 보았다.

여기서 그의 정치적 현실주의가 나타난다. 그는 교리에서 현실로 내려오는 사람이 아니라 <현실에서 교리를 수정하는 사람>이었다.

중국에서 혁명가를 만드는 사람

광저우에서 호찌민은 베트남 청년 혁명가들을 교육하고 조직한다. 그는 뛰어난 이론가라기보다 뛰어난 <조직가이자 교육자>였다.

듀이커가 묘사하는 호찌민의 정치 스타일은 흥미롭다. 그는 장황한 마르크스주의 용어를 싫어했다. 농민에게 잉여가치론을 설명하기보다 이렇게 묻는 사람이었다.

<왜 당신은 가난한가?>

<왜 외국인이 당신의 나라를 지배하는가?>

<어떻게 하면 독립할 수 있는가?>

1930년 베트남 공산당 창립 과정에서도 그는 분열된 공산주의 조직을 통합하려 했다. 급진적 계급투쟁보다 광범위한 민족연합을 중시했다. 이 때문에 때때로 코민테른 내부에서 <민족주의적>이라는 비판도 받았다.

듀이커가 발견한 호찌민의 정치적 천재성은 바로 여기에 있다.

<그는 공산주의를 베트남어로 번역했다.>

단순한 언어 번역이 아니라 문화적·정치적 번역이었다.

‘호찌민’의 탄생과 베트남 독립

1941년 그는 오랜 해외생활을 마치고 베트남으로 돌아온다. 이때부터 <호찌민―빛을 비추는 사람>이라는 이름이 역사 전면에 등장한다.

그가 조직한 베트민은 공산당 조직이었지만 표면적으로는 광범위한 민족해방전선이었다. 일본 점령과 프랑스 식민지배라는 상황에서 호찌민은 공산주의보다 <독립>을 전면에 내세웠다.

1945년 일본 패망 후 호찌민은 베트남 민주공화국의 독립을 선언한다. 놀랍게도 독립선언문은 미국 독립선언의 문구를 인용한다.

듀이커는 이 장면을 단순한 선전술로 보지 않는다. 호찌민은 실제로 미국과의 관계 가능성을 탐색했다. 제2차 세계대전 동안 미국 OSS와 협력했고 미국이 프랑스의 식민지 복귀를 막아주기를 기대했다.

그러나 미국은 냉전 질서 속에서 프랑스를 선택한다.

여기서 듀이커의 전기는 미국 독자에게 상당히 불편한 질문을 던진다.

<미국은 호찌민을 처음부터 적으로 만난 것인가, 아니면 스스로 적으로 만들어갔는가?>

듀이커는 단순히 “미국이 기회를 놓쳤다”고 결론짓지는 않는다. 호찌민은 이미 헌신적인 공산주의자였고 소련 및 중국과 연결되어 있었다. 그러나 미국이 베트남 민족주의의 힘을 지나치게 공산주의라는 렌즈로만 해석했다는 점은 분명하게 비판한다.

프랑스와의 전쟁, 디엔비엔푸

호찌민은 처음에는 프랑스와 협상을 시도한다. 그러나 협상은 실패하고 1946년 제1차 인도차이나 전쟁이 시작된다.

이 시점부터 호찌민과 보응우옌잡의 역할이 구분된다. 잡이 군사전략가라면 호찌민은 정치적 상징이자 외교가였다.

1954년 디엔비엔푸 승리는 프랑스 식민제국에 결정적인 타격을 준다. 그러나 제네바 협정으로 베트남은 북위 17도선을 기준으로 잠정 분단된다.

호찌민에게 이것은 불완전한 승리였다.

그가 평생 원한 것은 <통일된 독립 베트남>이었다.

권력자 호찌민의 어두운 부분

듀이커의 책이 베트남 공식 전기와 가장 크게 다른 것은 호찌민의 어두운 면을 회피하지 않는다는 점이다.

북베트남의 토지개혁 과정에서 수많은 사람이 지주와 반혁명분자로 몰려 처형되거나 박해받았다. 당 내부의 권력투쟁과 정치적 탄압도 존재했다.

호찌민이 모든 정책을 직접 명령했는가 하는 문제는 복잡하다. 특히 말년에는 레주언 등 강경파가 실질적인 권력을 확대했다.

그러나 듀이커는 호찌민에게 완전한 면죄부를 주지 않는다.

<그가 모든 것을 통제하지 않았다는 사실은 그가 체제의 책임에서 자유롭다는 뜻이 아니다.>

이것은 듀이커 전기의 중요한 균형감이다.

‘호 아저씨’라는 정치적 인격

호찌민은 권력자의 외양을 의도적으로 거부했다. 소박한 옷을 입고 간단한 음식을 먹으며 작은 집에서 생활했다. 국민에게 그는 <박 호―호 아저씨>였다.

듀이커는 이것을 단순한 연극으로 보지 않는다. 호찌민은 실제로 금욕적이고 소박한 사람이었다.

그러나 동시에 그것은 대단히 효과적인 정치적 이미지였다.

<개인의 소박함이 국가의 정당성이 되었다.>

나는 이 부분에서 간디를 생각하게 된다. 두 사람은 사상적으로 전혀 달랐지만 정치적 외양에서는 놀라운 공통점이 있다. 자신의 몸과 생활방식을 하나의 정치적 언어로 만들었다.

다만 간디가 국가권력을 의심했다면 호찌민은 혁명국가를 건설했다. 바로 이 차이가 결정적이다.

평론: 이 책이 보여주는 호찌민의 진짜 수수께끼

듀이커의 가장 큰 업적은 호찌민을 <성인>과 <독재자>라는 두 개의 상자에서 꺼낸 것이다.

서방의 냉전 서사에서 호찌민은 모스크바와 베이징의 꼭두각시였다. 베트남 공식 서사에서는 조국을 위해 모든 것을 희생한 완전한 민족 영웅이다.

듀이커는 둘 다 받아들이지 않는다.

내가 이 책에서 가장 인상적으로 느끼는 것은 호찌민의 <극단적인 목적의 지속성과 방법의 유연성>이다.

목적은 거의 50년 동안 변하지 않았다.

<베트남의 독립과 통일.>

그러나 방법은 끊임없이 변했다.

프랑스 공화주의에 호소했다. 사회주의자가 되었다. 코민테른에서 활동했다. 중국 국민당과 접촉했다. 미국 OSS와 협력했다. 프랑스와 협상했다. 중국의 지원을 받았다. 소련과 관계를 유지했다.

보통 정치인은 노선을 지키고 목적을 바꾼다.

호찌민은 <목적을 지키기 위해 노선을 바꿨다.>

그러나 여기에는 무서운 문제가 있다. 목적이 절대화되면 인간의 희생도 수단이 될 수 있다는 것이다. 토지개혁의 폭력, 정치적 탄압, 장기간의 전쟁에서 발생한 엄청난 희생은 <민족해방>이라는 목표 아래 정당화되었다.

그래서 듀이커의 호찌민은 존경스럽지만 편안하게 존경할 수 없는 인물이다.

세진님이 지금까지 읽어오신 간디, 무함마드 아사드, 알리 샤리아티, 호찌민을 한 줄 위에 놓으면 흥미로운 차이가 보인다. 모두 서구 제국주의와 근대의 문제를 고민했다. 그러나 <간디는 수단 자체가 목적을 오염시킬 수 있다고 보았고, 호찌민은 역사적 목적이 수단을 정당화할 수 있다고 보았다.>

퀘이커의 평화주의적 시각에서 호찌민을 읽을 때 가장 어려운 지점도 바로 이것이라고 생각한다.

<억압받는 민족에게 비폭력을 요구하는 것은 정의로운가?>

그러나 동시에,

<해방을 위해 무제한의 폭력을 허용하면 그 해방은 어떤 사회를 만드는가?>

듀이커의 <Ho Chi Minh: A Life>가 좋은 전기인 이유는 이 질문에 간단한 답을 주지 않기 때문이다. 그는 호찌민을 변호하지도 처형하지도 않는다. 한 인간이 식민지 청년에서 국제 공산주의자가 되고, 혁명 조직가가 되고, 국가 창건자가 되고, 마침내 민족의 상징으로 변하는 과정을 끝까지 따라간다.

<한 줄 평: 호찌민은 공산주의를 위해 베트남을 선택한 사람이 아니라 베트남을 해방하기 위해 공산주의를 선택했고, 마침내 두 가지를 분리할 수 없게 만든 20세기의 가장 성공적이면서도 가장 비극적인 혁명가 가운데 한 사람이었다.>

==

Ho Chi Minh: A Life




William J. Duiker

4.16

994 ratings135 reviews

The magisterial and authoritative biography of one of the towering and mysterious figures of the twentieth century.

Ho Chi Minh's epic life helped shape the twentieth century. But never before has he been the subject of a major biography. Now William Duiker has compiled an astonishing work of history that fills this immense void. A New York Times Notable Book and one of the Los Angeles Times Best Books of 2000 - now in paperback!

695 pages, Paperback

First published December 4, 2000

3243 people want to read

About the author

Profile Image for William J. Duiker.

William J. Duiker

William J. Duiker is a former United States Foreign Service officer and Professor of History at Penn State University. His area of expertise is East Asia; while in the Foreign Service he spent several years in Vietnam, where an injury left him with partial hearing in one ear. Duiker is the author of Ho Chi Minh: A Life, published in 2000, which was the first comprehensive biography of Ho Chi Minh using sources from Vietnam. He recently retired from teaching.

==============

Community Reviews

4.16

Profile Image for Kay.

Kay

650 reviews

68 followers




Follow

April 14, 2015

If you're going to pick a communist leader to read a 600-page history about, Ho Chi Minh is your man. I became interested in the Vietnamese patron after we traveled in Southeast Asia on our honeymoon. It's nearly impossible to avoid tributes to him as you travel the country, and I even saw his preserved dead body at the Hanoi mausoleum. This all piqued my interest to learn more about this figure. Especially because the museum devoted to his life assumed a lot of knowledge (and who can blame them -- museums in the states assume you know a lot about our Founding Fathers and national folklore).




This is an extremely well-constructed biography. William Duiker, who served in the U.S. embassy during the Vietnam war, was curious about Ho Chi Minh during his time there and returned to his subject years later. The result is a compelling narrative of his life. Before he became the leader of Vietnam, he was a Confucian scholar, bummed about in France for a time, and eventually became part of the Communist movement in Russia. Through it all, Duiker argues, Minh was more preoccupied with the liberation of Vietnam from French -- and later American -- rule. He believed in communism, but he also saw it as a way to unite his country.




Perhaps the most challenging part about reading this book is that Ho Chi Minh had many aliases throughout his life. Part of this is cultural -- the Vietnamese give their children one name when they are born, and as the child gets older and the parents' hopes for their children's futures have formed, they change the child's name to one more suitable to one's future profession. Of course, this was only the beginning for Minh, who maintained many different names throughout his life, often because he was attempting to travel incognito. It was only later in his life that he rested on the name of Ho Chi Minh.




What's also fascinating is about the degree to which many in the Vietnamese liberation movement hoped to avoid war with the United States. They understood that the popularity of communism in their impoverished country stood to risk war with America, but despite Ho Chi Minh writing a letter to Truman appealing to the United States on the grounds that they, too, once sought liberation from a colonist, the appeals were ignored. Duiker points out that the State Department never forwarded the letter to Truman at all. (Whether that letter was genuine or merely a desperate bid is unknown.) It all begs for an alternate history in which the United States offers assistance to the Vietnamese liberation movement against the French.




What is perhaps most disappointing about this book is that Minh dies in the middle of the war with the United States, so much of my curiosity about how the country developed over the decades to what it is now will have to be fulfilled by another source.




57 likes




1 comment




Like




Comment







Profile Image for Tam.

Tam

445 reviews

234 followers




Follow

May 18, 2013

Lần này tôi từ bỏ thói quen đọc sách bằng tiếng gì thì viết bình bằng tiếng ấy, vì tôi hướng tới đối tượng khác chứ không phải chỉ cho tôi.




Đây là một cuốn sách tiểu sử về Hồ Chí Minh rất công phu và chi tiết. Duiker sử dụng rất nhiều nguồn tài liệu và ông dùng tới 4 thứ tiếng để nghiên cứu (Anh, Pháp, Việt, Trung), trong đó có rất nhiều tài liệu có giá trị từ tình báo Pháp, nhưng đặc biệt hơn so với các sách khác, theo tôi thấy, là Duiker sử dụng rất nhiều các văn kiện từ Việt Nam.




Có cái hay mà cũng có cái dở trong cách sử dụng nguồn như vậy. Ví dụ như về thời niên thiếu của HCM, thỉnh thoảng tôi không khỏi bật cười vì một số chi tiết nghe rất "thần thoại," viết ra để hình tượng hóa nhân vật. Dĩ nhiên, Duiker viết có chọn lọc và ông cũng đưa ra nhiều hoài nghi về các tài liệu này, dù chúng được viết bởi các thế hệ sau hay bởi chính HCM.




Tuy nhiên quan trọng hơn, Duiker để tâm nghiên cứu các văn kiện Đảng, các ghi chép chính thức của chính phủ VN. Có lẽ trong khoảng thời gian từ 193x trở đi thì các tài liệu này đặc biệt quan trọng vì lượng thông tin từ tình báo Pháp cũng như từ các thư từ giấy tờ liên lạc với quốc tế giảm hẳn. Đây cũng là lý do khiến cho càng về cuối cuộc đời HCM, những năm 50-60, HCM hiện lên không còn được trực tiếp, như là một cá nhân nữa (không phải lỗi tác giả, tài liệu không tồn tại nhiều, vậy thôi). Vấn đề là tôi thán phục tại sao Duiker có thể nhìn thấu thứ văn chương mà tôi thường không bao giờ hiểu được, do chúng được viết quá hoa lá cành với nội dung ẩn dấu, hoặc cố tình chả có nội dung gì cả. Thế nhưng tác giả đọc hết và phân tích rất rõ ràng các vấn đề chính trị, xung đột nội bộ, các phe phái và tranh chấp, các đường lối. Nhìn chung tôi sợ chính trị và ngoại giao, chúng quá... khó hiểu, và quá là tinh xảo. Phải vô cùng khéo léo và tinh ý.




Đọc về tiểu sử của HCM đúng như đọc về lịch sử chiến tranh Đông Dương và chiến tranh Việt Nam, đặc biệt là chiến tranh Đông Dương. Thú thật đây là lần đầu tiên tôi đọc sách sử về giai đoạn nửa đầu thế kỷ 20 ở VN nên hoàn toàn choáng ngợp sửng sốt trước các vấn đề chính trị trong nước. Duiker tóm tắt và cho cái nhìn toàn cảnh rất rõ ràng, rất dễ hiểu nên tôi rất thích. Tuy nhiên đôi khi tôi cũng hơi kiệt sức vì tác giả liệt kê ra nhiều quá, và có giai đoạn tôi lê lết chờ cho tới lúc sự kiện xảy ra. Nhưng dù sao viết chi tiết như vậy là rất có giá trị.




Có một số mảng nhạy cảm về cuộc đời tư của HCM, tôi cũng không thích đề cập tới vì tôi quan tâm tới vai trò của HCM là một nhà chính trị - ngoại giao hơn. Nhưng vấn đề này lại quan trọng với các nhà cầm quyền, khi mà hình ảnh HCM đóng vai trò tạo nên sự hợp pháp của nhà nước, khiến cho tác phẩm không được dịch và xuất bản ở VN vì Duiker kiên quyết không chịu cắt bỏ phần nào của sách. Thật đáng tiếc, tôi rất muốn nhiều người đọc cuốn sách này hơn, vì thái độ viết của tác giả rất dễ chịu, không cực đoan chút nào, chỉ trích có mà hâm mộ cũng có. (Thực ra có một phiên bản dịch tóm gọn do bác Nguyễn Thành Nam - FPT, làm thì phải nhưng khá lược, tôi có đọc thử, nhưng có lẽ mọi người cũng nên tìm đọc). Dĩ nhiên Duiker viết có chính kiến của riêng mình, đó là một sự ngưỡng mộ. Nhưng đó là sự ngưỡng mộ có chừng mực và được chứng minh khá thuyết phục trong toàn bộ tác phẩm. Và tôi cũng bị thuyết phục.

history



non-fic




39 likes




5 comments




Like




Comment




Profile Image for Stefania Dzhanamova.

Stefania Dzhanamova

537 reviews

604 followers




Follow

December 21, 2021

Nguyen Ai Quoc, better known as Ho Chi Minh, played the most important role in the introduction of Communism to Vietnam. A patriot and a revolutionary, he devoted his whole life to two causes: Vietnamese independence and a new Vietnamese society. He led the struggle against the French colonial oppression under the name Nguyen Ai Quoc (Nguyen Who Loves His Country) and then, as President Ho Chi Minh (Ho the Most Enlightened), he labored to construct a new social order in his country. He embraced Marxism-Leninism, but always sought to work out how to soften the Communist ideology and make it the most useful for the Vietnamese nationalistic movement, which was his priority.




Nguyen Tat Thanh, or "he who will succeed," (he would assume the name Nguyen Ai Quoc later in life) was born on May 19 1890 to an eminent colonial family. His father, Nguyen Sinh Huy, was a pho bang (a doctoral laureate) who had rejected a mandarin post in the court of Hue and was considered to be a troublemaker by French colonial authorities. Ai Quoc's older brother and sister also had trouble with the law because of their anti-colonial activities. The Nghe Tinh region, where the family lived, was known for the patriotism of its population and for its many heroes and talented scholars. In the history of Vietnamese anti-colonial resistance, Nghe Tinh had always featured prominently as the source of most anti-colonial movements, the literati and the Can Vuong among them. In the early 1930s, the region would become a hotbed of Communist activities.




Nguyen Ai Quoc was a patriot from an early age. As he told the Soviet poet Mandelstam in 1923, he learned the French phrases "liberty, equality, and fraternity" when he was thirteen and felt the need to see for himself "what was hidden behind those phrases." By the age of fifteen, he was already working as a liaison agent for anti-colonial scholars. In 1911, he finally managed to leave for France by landing a job as a cabin boy on the S.S Latouche-Treville. Before he departed, he allegedly told a close friend that he wanted to go abroad and see France and other countries, so that he could help Vietnam when he came back. While his aspirations were not uncommon among the Vietnamese youth of that time, who travelled to Japan, France, and China extensively to find out how to help their country, Ai Quoc's journey was exceptional, for it was during this journey that he discovered Marxism-Leninism and became determined to use this ideology to liberate Vietnam.

In Paris, he became disillusioned with reformism. Having found out that while the French at home were cruel, the French in France were good people, he believed the French wartime promises of post-WWI political liberation of Indochina. However, when he failed to obtain a hearing at the 1919 Paris Peace Conference, he realized that independence had to be achieved through stubborn struggle, not entreaties. Before the conference, he had envisioned political freedom within the colonial system; afterwards, he came to the conclusion that no promises of the colonialists were to be trusted, no compromises could be made between the oppressors and the oppressed, de-colonization would be just as violent as colonization had been, and the Vietnamese could positively rely only on their own forces.

At that time, Nguyen Ai Quoc also became adherent of the Third International, or Comintern, which had been recently founded by Lenin. The Comintern had emerged after the failure of social democracy in the international working-class movement, but Ai Quoc joined the Third International not because he understood much about the difference between social democracy and communism, but because he knew that the Comintern was paying special attention to the colonial problem. From that moment on, Ai Quoc's notion of revolution turned into a mix of different political ideas. He embraced both ardent nationalism and internationalism, which to him meant a collaboration between the proletariat of Europe and the nationalists of the colonies. (According to an anecdote whose authenticity cannot be confirmed, during a meeting Stalin showed Ho Chi Minh two chairs, telling him that one of them represented nationalism and the other internationalism, and asked on which one Ho preferred to sit. Ho Chi Minh replied that he'd like to sit on both.) First and foremost, though, Ai Quoc strived to adapt the communist ideology to local conditions. He understood that to succeed the movement would have to avoid terms like Bolshevism and Communism entirely because in old, colonized Indochina no one understood what a class struggle, a workers' organization, and a proletarian movement were, and such complex terms would only drive the people away from the communists. On the other hand, calling the attention of the villagers to the crimes the French authorities committed against them on a daily basis and to concrete ways in which the overthrow of the colonial government would alleviate the wretched conditions in the countryside would effectively motivate them to embrace the revolutionary cause.




In 1925, Nguyen Ai Quoc single-handedly created the Vietnamese Communist movement, and five years later, when it was torn apart by internal conflicts, he helped restore unity and founded the first unified Communist party. For almost ten years, from the time of his arrest on June 5 1931 by the Hong Kong police until May 1941, his name wasn't mentioned in connection with the revolutionary movement in Vietnam, and only a handful of Party insiders knew his whereabouts, but in 1941, when the ICP (Indochinese Communist Party) was almost effaced by severe colonial repression, it was again Nguyen Ai Quoc with his remarkable talent for leadership who created a new movement out of the remains of the old and successfully seized power in the August 1945 Revolution. From then on he worked diligently to combine Marxism-Leninism with nationalism, making efforts to soften the hard side of communism as to adapt it to the needs of the ordinary Vietnamese. William J. Duiker refutes the theory that Ho's humanity was a mere pose, and instead supposes that the President had felt confident "he could avoid the pitfalls of Stalinism and synthesize the positive aspects of classical Marxism and humanist values in a future socialist Vietnam." However, when it became clear that Vietnamese socialism shared many flaws with its Soviet counterpart, Ho Chi Minh lacked the vision and the courage to criticize it. In 1969 death deprived him of the happiness to see his country free from foreign domination. His ideals of social and economic equality lived on, though, and spoke to oppressed peoples all over the world.




William J. Duiker has written an outstanding book, which I won't call exactly a biography. Because Ho Chi Minh had been exceptionally private about all details of his revolutionary career, even with his closest colleagues and friends, it is difficult to trace his life and to distinguish myth from reality. Therefore, Duiker has chosen a different approach: instead of documenting Ho's actions throughout the years, he focuses on analysing the man's ideology and on the way this ideology shaped his approach to the anti-colonial struggle of Vietnam. The book is most definitely worth a read. Duiker writes compellingly and draws upon a truly impressive number of sources.

biographies



vietnam-and-the-vietnam-war




28 likes




7 comments




Like




Comment




Profile Image for Quân Khuê.

Quân Khuê

385 reviews

924 followers




Follow

May 3, 2013

Nghiên cứu toàn diện về cuộc đời của Hồ Chí Minh trong mối liên hệ chặt chẽ với lịch sử Viêt Nam thế kỷ 20. Trên cơ sở nghiên cứu tư liệu về Hồ Chí Minh lưu trữ ở Việt Nam, Liên Xô, Pháp, Anh, Trung Quốc .v.v. và phỏng vấn hàng trăm nhân vật đã từng tiếp xúc hoặc làm việc với Hồ Chí Minh, tác giả cố gắng đưa ra những đánh giá khách quan về Hồ Chí Minh (cho dù ông không thể che giấu được sự ngưỡng mộ dành cho đối tượng nghiên cứu của ông). Lịch sử và sự thật vốn luôn có khoảng cách. Một sự kiện diễn ra mới hôm qua chưa chắc gì đã được tường thuật chính xác như nó đã thật sự diễn ra trên báo ngày hôm nay, huống hồ cuộc đời 79 năm của Hồ Chí Minh với biết bao nhiêu sự kiện. Thế cho nên tôi nghĩ đọc sách sử hoặc sách nghiên cứu lịch sử bao giờ cũng phải có phần nghi ngờ. Cái phần nghi ngờ đó tăng lên hay giảm xuống ở mức độ nào tùy thuộc vào tác giả làm cho người đọc tin rằng tác giả đã nghiêm túc đến đâu trong nghiên cứu. Về việc này ông Duiker làm cho tôi tin hơn rất nhiều so với các sử gia ở cả hai phía bởi vì ông không có sẵn thành kiến trong đầu. Cho dù có nhiều tranh cãi về nhân vật lịch sử Hồ Chí Minh, điều không thể tranh cãi là Hồ Chí Minh là một nhà yêu nước lớn, có một uy tín cá nhân lớn mà không nhân vật chính trị nào của Việt Nam trong thế kỷ 20 có được.

favorites



non-fiction




21 likes




1 comment




Like




Comment




Profile Image for Jerome Otte.

Jerome Otte

1,939 reviews




Follow

October 23, 2013

A superb biography of a mythic and often misunderstood figure. Ho has always been a difficult figure to understand; he habitually disguised himself and often reinvented his personal history. The book is thoroughly researched and strips away the aura of myth around Ho Chi Minh.




Duiker shows how Ho the long-time Comintern agent and often willing tool of Mao and Stalin often behaved in ways that cast doubt on his belief in communism, versus his ardent nationalism. Ho was pretty much a pragmatist whose aims were always a unified, independent Vietnam; even his communist beliefs were adopted merely because Ho thought they could make such a goal possible.




Toward this end, Ho built up a following from scratch under the loose and often less than interested supervision of the Comintern. The Comintern frequently intervened in the affairs of national parties. Sometimes it was only the latest telegram from Moscow that changed Party policies. In Vietnam, isolated and rather marginal to the interests of the superpowers (at first), Ho was resistant to to Soviet policies, to the extent that the Soviets even gave a crap about Vietnam in the first place. The Chinese had somewhat more influence, although Ho Chi Minh did not look to them as much as he did to the Soviets. This often proved unproductive as the Soviets saw Vietnam as marginal to their interests.




Sometimes the book gets unnecessarily detailed; for example there’s more pages devoted to Ho’s choice of clothing than on the climactic battle of Dien Bien Phu. The Vietcong’s severe defeat during the Tet offensive is also somewhat minimized. But, in all, quite an interesting book.




10 likes




Like




Comment







Nam Tran

3 reviews

1 follower




Follow

June 22, 2021

This was an eye opener for me, a balanced view of the life of a Vietnamese - putting the halo of a saint aside. The book paints a vivid picture from the day Nguyen Tat Thanh was born until the last days of Uncle Ho, with all the events that made him who he was in between. For me, this was an epic story of a revolutionary man relentlessly pursuing his Vision for independence of Vietnam.




While school's history textbooks presented a black and white picture, this book offers a much more nuanced and realistic lens. The book was full of successes as well as mistakes and regrets. It did a great job on putting HCM's decisions and thoughts in the context of world events, especially on the geopolitics among world's great powers at the time: US, China, Russia and France. And you could even see the evolution in his thoughts and beliefs about the world unfolding through the book.




You might be interested in this book if you want to understand more about the most influential figure in Vietnam modern history - as a real person with both ingenuity and flaws. Personally I admire HCM even much more after reading this book, appreciating all the decisions he took in the face of impossible challenges, while still keeping his humanity, poise and humour. And his leadership was visionary, diplomatic, pragmatism and inclusivity - the exact opposite of blinded idealism or tyranny.




I'd like to end with my favorite quote from the book: "The issue is not whether he was a nationalist or a Communist - in his own way, he was both...Ho Chi Minh was a beliver in the art of the possible, of adjusting his ideals to the conditions of the moment."




10 likes




Like




Comment




Profile Image for Hoang Trang.

Hoang Trang

50 reviews

11 followers




Follow

October 17, 2018

Needless to say, at school we learn plenty about Ho Chi Minh, and yet I learned nothing. The official history text simplistically portraits him as a patriotic man who sacrificed his life to bring about national independence and pave to way for Vietnam to a become a socialist utopia. I always have deep respect for him, but dislike the fact that every year his image is overused in government campaigns to educate the mass about Ho Chi Minh thought and justify the tight power grip of the Communist Party.




But Ho Chi Minh is much more than that. To quote one of my favorite sentences in the book, "Ho Chi Minh's image was part Lenin and part Gandhi, with perhaps a dash of Confucius." His ideology is a mix of nationalism and socialism. An advocate of peaceful resolution, and yet he opted for militant tactics when needed. A man of simple and earthly manner, but he so artfully balanced against different superpowers' interests in Vietnam and the held together fractious elements within his party.




This book also touches on many of my what-if scenarios. While it's hard to know the counterfactual, I believe that the decisions he made during his lifetime were the optimal given the circumstances. I can always wish that certain things could have been different, but perhaps instead of wishful thinking, it's better to learn from the past and focus on the future.

favorites



history



non-fictions




9 likes




Like




Comment




Profile Image for Mike.

Mike

54 reviews




Follow

August 7, 2011

If you want to understand the roots of the Vietnam War and see it through the eyes of the other side -- Read this!




7 likes




Like




Comment




Profile Image for két con.

két con

100 reviews

127 followers




Follow

February 13, 2018

vừa đọc vừa xem lại 10 tập The Vietnam War lần 2




6 likes




1 comment




Like




Comment







Profile Image for Brett C.

Brett C

961 reviews

240 followers




Follow

May 3, 2021

A good book about the very intelligent Ho Chi Minh and his revolution against the French and how he came to be. This book opens the door into his world and removes the mystery so many of us have of him. A must read for anyone interested in Pre-Colonial Indochina and the Vietnamese uprising against the French regime.

vietnam




6 likes




Like




Comment







========================




From other countries




PrivatBen

5.0 out of 5 stars Bravo

Reviewed in Germany on 2 September 2009

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

...die bereits bekannten geschichtlichen Geschehnisse wurden in einer fast durchgehenden Geschichte niedergeschrieben, von der Geburt bis zum Tod Ho Chi Minh's. Man lernt vieles zu verstehen und erkennt die politischen und persönlichen Hintergründe aus wissenschaftlicher Sicht.

Report

Translate review to English




werewolf

5.0 out of 5 stars Most that I wanted

Reviewed in Mexico on 29 April 2021

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

I love it, i think that is a obligated lecture to anyone who wanted to be a real revolutionary not only a gutless communist who think all revolutions are like Cuba

Report




John L. Davies

5.0 out of 5 stars GREAT INSIGHT IN TO A COMPLEX PROBLEM

Reviewed in Canada on 15 March 2021

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

A brilliant bio that improved my understanding of the other side's viewpoint. A war that didn't need to happen!

Report




Amazon Customer

5.0 out of 5 stars Detail, Detail & Detail.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 27 December 2001

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

The size of this book may appear daunting at first, but the easy style of writing and the exacting detail of the research made it one of the best books I have had occasion to read. Mr. Duiker provides us with meticulous detail on the life of this enigimatic figure, I am amazed that so much information on a life can be gleaned at such a distance in time and from so many countries. Never did I feel lost or ever loose track of the salient character in the twists and turns of the history of Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh's persistence in his ulimate goal, the independence of Vietnam always at the forefront of his actions, his dealings with the major players on the international scene, his unique travels, so well documented, and the authors interpretations of Ho Chi Minh's actions kept to a minimum, because of the detail in which his work was described. One very small critisim I would have liked a few more dates especially the years of events in the last part of the book when events moved very quickly. I came away from Ho Chi Minh with great admiration of his patience, tolerance and vigilance, qualities of which I suspect his biographer also pocesses.

Report




Kostal

5.0 out of 5 stars Très instructif

Reviewed in France on 14 January 2023

Verified Purchase

Compte tenu du parcours d'Ho Chi Minh durant de nombreuses années dans la clandestinité, et ce dans plusieurs pays, ainsi que de son statut de héros national d'un pays communiste, écrire une telle biographie était un objectif redoutable. L'auteur est parvenu à faire un portrait honnête et nuancé, où il pointe les zones d'ombres au lieu de les dissimuler. Au bout d'une recherche considérable les zones d'ombres sont réduites autant qu'il semble possible. Est-il davantage nationaliste que communiste ? C'est une question récurrente, induite par son pragmatisme qui l'oppose naturellement au dogmatisme. La vie de cet homme est une épopée, et le personnage est beaucoup plus modéré que je ne l'imaginais. Un homme doté d'une énergie et d'une force de conviction hors du commun. Que d'occasions manquées pour la France, et quel dommage que notre pratique de la colonisation en Indochine ait fait de lui notre ennemi. Ce livre est aussi l'histoire du Vietnam et j'ai trouvé l'ensemble passionnant.

Report

Translate review to English




N. Price

5.0 out of 5 stars A Teacher who changed the world

Reviewed in the United States on 15 June 2020

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

After a 35 year journey of discovery I am thrilled to have the opportunity to read and study several works of William J Duiker, including this excellent compilation and exhaustive study of Ho Chi Minh, perhaps one of the stellar figures of the 20th Century. Ho Chi Minh was a Political Warrior and a master clandestine agent among many things however perhaps his most characteristic role was that of teacher. Duiker takes the detailed path in understanding the man and the history that many Americans, due to our typical xenophobic outlook on the world, often disregard. When Stalin responded to Sun Yatsen's request for help in casting off Colonialism in China, he sent two teachers, Mikhail Borodin and his Deputy, Ho Chi Minh. Druiker weaves the web of the fabric of the 20th Century in the world as he follows the footsteps left by this enigmatic figure. Born in Central Vietnam, Annam to a minor level Confucian. Ho was educated and literate with the fire of youth in a time when colonialism was ravaging Indochina. In response he chose a path of learning and teaching to build and develop political warfare into the most devastating form of political action the world has yet seen or will likely ever see. To accomplish this in a single lifetime Ho's exploits stand alone as an exceptional man contributing significantly to the causes, he most pursued. However, it is not nearly as simple as declaring Ho a superman. Druiker digs through the incredibly dense propaganda, cover stories, conflicting accounts of events, and the context of Ho's actions to reveal the intellectual depth that far exceeded those of his contemporaries and rivals alike. Consider that for well over 30 years Ho, as Nguyen Ai Quoc, eluded capture and almost certain execution by not just the French, but quite literally every secret police force in the entire world. He travelled the world meeting with the most significant leaders of the 20th century developing and perfecting his approach to bring about results from a situation considered hopeless. His presence in these key world forums did much to alter the course of history though in small steps. the Successful conclusion was built over a lifetime ending in a result he was not present to witness but which his devoted followers and students carried through to the final victory. Often overlooked was Ho's participation in the early Soviet Revolution's system of education wrought by Lenin to solidify and unite the Revolutionary factions that had come together to create the Soviet Union. Ho took the lessons from that intellectual pursuit to China where he helped lay the seeds of the success of the Kuomintang, the Communist Chinese Party, the Korean Communist Party, and a number of other growing revolutionary organizations in the factionalized colonial empires. Frequently, researchers disregard Ho's ability to move within the top levels of the circles of the Comintern. Such conclusions do not bear out when a study of Druiker's work is taken into the context. Druiker's work is a must for any serious scholar's bookshelf and as a source of reference for any serious discussion on the times and events of the 20th Century in Asia.

Report




F1Hertz

5.0 out of 5 stars A mind-blowing insight into one of the 20th century's great leaders.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 18 February 2013

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

This book provides a detailed look at one of the most interesting leaders of the modern era. Before picking it up I had no idea just how significant Vietnam has been in modern history and the huge part Ho Chi Minh had to play in it. Compared with other leaders of the same period, Ho Chi Minh is not what you expect him to be. His insight and understanding of human politics and ability to forsee events as they would eventually unfold is remarkable. The warmth and respect of those who met him was also a great surprise and his personal charisma is a re-occurring theme throughout. As far as wise men are concerned, this biography left the same impression on me as Nelson Mandela's 'Long Walk to Freedom' and has many interesting parallels. Under different circumstances Ho Chi Minh may have become a more widely celebrated figure in World History.

Report




Jacques ARNOL-STEPHAN

5.0 out of 5 stars Un excellent ouvrage

Reviewed in France on 27 August 2019

Verified Purchase

Complet, équilibré, solidement argumenté et informé, cet ouvrage est plus qu’une biographie d’Ho Chi Minh. Il nous guide dans l’histoire contemporaine du Vietnam et les occasions perdues tant à Paris qu’à Washington. Il nous éclaire sur la personnalité complexe du père (ou de l’oncle ?) de la libération du Vietnam. L’auteur est américain, mais reste équilibré dans son analyse de la guerre. Pour les non anglophones, une traduction serait la bienvenue. Cet ouvrage est à mes yeux nettement au-dessus de ce qu’on peut trouver aujourd’hui en Français. Seul petit point noir : il y a parfois une profusion de détails qui peut être un peu fastidieuse.

Report

Translate review to English




skeptic

5.0 out of 5 stars Descrives the life of Ho Chi Minh and the associated history of Vietnam

Reviewed in France on 24 May 2013

Verified Purchase

Very well documented and interesting book. The biography describes well how HCM was a really exceptionnal man with only one goal : liberation and well-being for the Vietnamese people. Everything else were means for this end.

Report




Sonshi

5.0 out of 5 stars Most reliable and balanced biography of Ho Chi Minh

Reviewed in the United States on 8 March 2004

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

Dr. William Duiker's book is exceptional. A five-star book with an asterisk for special consideration. It is arguably the most reliable and balanced biography of Ho Chi Minh ever published. First of all, please note the book was dedicated "To the Vietnamese people," similar in many ways as to how Ho Chi Minh himself, amid critics, dedicated his life's work to the Vietnamese people. Regardless of how you feel about this important 20th century political leader, Duiker correctly places him from the most significant point of view -- that is to say, from the Vietnamese people's perspective first, and only then the world.

The biography beautifully melds historical gaps with hard facts. Anyone who was ever presented with such a dilemma would truly appreciate the genius with which the author was able to craft Ho Chi Minh's character and personality. Simply outstanding. Duiker does not deceive the reader into believing that his biography will answer all questions, but it does indeed illuminate one's understanding of how Ho Chi Minh operated and perhaps how he would have acted under different circumstances. A mysterious person becomes less mysterious, albeit not completely understood. As readers, we can't help but be grateful for the opportunity to learn and benefit from 30 years of research.

So impressive was Dr. Duiker's biography that we at Sonshi.com asked the author for an interview. He was open to any and all questions about Vietnam and Ho Chi Minh. From our experience, this is a mark of a true expert, someone who is on top of his or her field of study. Anyone who would like to learn more about Vietnam or Ho Chi Minh will certainly benefit from Duiker. In fact, anyone who is interested in how the 20th century was shaped should read this book, for Ho Chi Minh's influence was not relegated to only Indochina, but it was felt in the top industrialized nations as well.

We highly recommend William Duiker's Ho Chi Minh: A Life.

Report




Joe

4.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating and detailed

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 19 July 2024

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

A forensic and fascinating account of one of history's most mercurial leaders.

Report




EDWARD WIENER

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent

Reviewed in the United States on 26 April 2026

Verified Purchase

This book was really well done. It’s remarkable that it puts together his life seeing how often he traveled under fake names while hiding from authorities. It seems to be pretty balanced in covering the different countries.




I do suspect the book looks at Ho through rose-colored glasses, especially with regard to the atrocities of North Vietnam, which the book largely disassociates from Ho. For most of the book, he seems to be treated almost like an innocent bystander for the killings and repression. While he may not have wanted innocent people to be killed, out’s hard for me to believe that a someone with an almost cult-like following like Ho had no power over it.




Getting that off my chest, this is still an excellent book that is worth reading if you are interested in Ho or Vietnam history.

Report




Laura79

5.0 out of 5 stars The history of Ho Chi Minh is just so well documented and written in this book which I find so beautiful. The way Duiker writes

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 15 May 2016

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

This book it's a masterpiece. The history of Ho Chi Minh is just so well documented and written in this book which I find so beautiful. The way Duiker writes is just the way I like it. Straight to the point and really easy to read, not fuss around. Furthermore whenever some of the facts are unclear, these are specified in the notes and he doesn't try to give any point of view or personal opinion. Absolutely love this book

Report




R. M. Peterson

4.0 out of 5 stars One of the most charismatic, and influential, political figures of the twentieth century

Reviewed in the United States on 7 May 2015

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

Ho Chi Minh is one of those figures who lend support to the "great man" theory of history. "Not only was Ho the founder of his party and later the president of the country, but he was its chief strategist and its most inspiring symbol. * * * Ho Chi Minh was half Lenin and half Gandhi." He is a man of myth and legend, and therefore a good subject for a responsible biography that demystifies him.




Only in part, however, is HO CHI MINH: A LIFE a biography of Ho Chi Minh -- a/k/a, among others, Nguyen Sinh Cong, Nguyen Tat Thanh, and Nguyen Ai Quoc. The book also is a history of Vietnam over HCM's lifetime (1890-1969). Furthermore, it includes extensive accounts of the internal politics and machinations of various Communist parties (Vietnamese, Indochinese, French, Chinese, and Comintern) -- the necessity of which I question, at least in such mind-numbing detail. As glad as I am that I read this full-blown biography-plus, I would have preferred a shorter biography of Ho Chi Minh aimed simply at providing the generalist reader with a responsible picture of the man. And while it goes quite a ways towards demystifying HCM, I'm not sure it succeeds altogether. Perhaps that's not possible.




The overriding question concerning HCM is whether he was a Vietnamese patriot and nationalist or, instead, a communist/socialist revolutionary. Duiker's HCM is not exclusively either. According to Duiker, HCM certainly was a patriot and nationalist. Beyond that, he was implacably opposed to imperialism and colonialism, not just in Indochina but around the world. That mindset predisposed him against capitalism, as practiced worldwide, and, derivatively, against democracy and republican government. The alternative was socialism/communism, and he provided much evidence of subscribing to the teachings of Lenin. It does not appear, however, that HCM was a "true believer" (or, a fellow traveler).




Even Stalin and Mao at times were skeptical of HCM's bona fides as a Communist. There is an anecdote -- "probably, but not certainly, apocryphal" -- that when HCM went to Moscow to meet with Stalin in 1952, the latter pointed to two chairs in the meeting room and said, "Comrade Ho Chi Minh, there are two chairs here, one for nationalists and one for internationalists. On which do you wish to sit?", and HCM replied, "Comrade Stalin, I would like to sit on both chairs".




That points to what probably was HCM's principal trait as a man of politics: he was a pragmatist. The book contains many tales exemplifying that "Ho Chi Minh was a believer in the art of the possible, of adjusting his ideals to the conditions of the moment."




One point (of many) that was forcefully brought home to me concerns the almost one-hundred-year-long French rule of Vietnam. My high-school world history course emphasized the French "mission to civilize", and since then I have encountered numerous instances in which Frenchmen subscribed to that rationale for the French colonial empire. This book contains much that exposes that grandiose illusion. For example, by the early twentieth century the French had established monopolies on the sale of salt, opium, and alcohol in Vietnam. The salt sold to the peasants brought a 1,000 per cent profit. Around 1915, the Governor-General of Indochina, Albert Sarraut (who later became Prime Minister of France) complained that some Vietnamese villages were free of spirits and opium, and urged French provincial residents to arrange for the construction of alcohol and opium houses throughout Vietnam, so "that we shall obtain the best results, in the best interests of the Treasury".




As for a different sort of perfidy, there is the tale of what the Vietnamese did concerning HCM's wish to be cremated, as expressed in his last testament. Instead, Party leaders embalmed him and then built an elaborate mausoleum (reminiscent of the Lenin mausoleum in Red Square), and when they published HCM's last testament, they deleted those sections that dealt with the disposal of his body.




In a sense William J. Duiker spent nearly his entire career on this book. As he relates in the Preface, he first became fascinated with HCM in the mid-60s while serving as a young foreign service officer at the U.S. Embassy in Saigon. He ended up pursuing an academic career, over the course of which he wrote around a dozen books on Vietnam and China. He finally was persuaded that enough information concerning HCM had been released to make a biography possible, and he spent the 1990s researching and writing this book. There are ninety pages of detailed and extensive endnotes, as well as what seems to be a very good index. There also are two sections of photographs. Duiker's HO CHI MINH is reputed to be the best biography of its subject, and after reading it I have no reason to doubt that. Still, the book reflects that it is the work of an historian venturing into the realm of biography.




By the way, I had bought a paperback edition of the book shortly after it was published. When I recently unshelved it to read, it quickly fell apart. I then ordered a new copy of the book in hardcover, but after three hours or so the cover of it detached from the rest of the binding. Thankfully, the 700-plus pages stayed together in one piece. Still, at a price north of $40.00, one should get a sturdier product.

Report




David Edgar

3.0 out of 5 stars Highly detailed academic biography

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 1 June 2020

Verified Purchase

I was hoping for something that gave me an insight into the man, his life and times. An enjoyable read I guess but it's actually very detailed and perfect for researchers who want to know every committee HCM sat on.

Report




deacon blue

5.0 out of 5 stars What drove Ho Chi Minh and what it tells us about America's involvement in the Vietnam War.

Reviewed in the United States on 16 June 2022

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

I have a basic gripe that applies to most biographies and certainly applies here -- the author spent far too much time on the minute details of Ho Chi Minh's early life. The basic story line is important, but I don't need to know how often Ho had rice for breakfast.

Gripe aside, this was otherwise an excellent biography. My focus here wasn't to become better acquainted with the modern history of French Indo-China. My focus was to understand something of what motivated Ho and his colleagues in their efforts leading up to and through America's involvement in the Vietnam War. If this topic is of interest, then this book is a must read.

The one inescapable conclusion from this book is that, one way or another, eventually, the north would prevail in reuniting north and south Vietnam. It didn't matter how long it took. It didn't matter whether China sent in its own troops or not. The north was well-motivated and politically united, and the north had time. No matter what success the U.S. enjoyed military, the north would adapt, would wait if necessary, attack if possible, and eventually the U.S. would quit. Ho and his colleagues always understood it was only a matter of time.

Report




Christopher J. Collier

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent. Scholarly and balanced

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 12 February 2021

Verified Purchase

I would strongly recommend this book to anyone who wishes to get beneath the surface of the figure of Ho Chi Minh and discover the character beneath.

Read the book, if you can having left your ideology and attitude at the door.

Report




Hugo Vaes

5.0 out of 5 stars best biography about the grounding father of Vietnam

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 4 March 2019

Verified Purchase

I read this book before. It was for me a real eye opener of this amazing beautiful country.

Report




Joseph R. Calamia

5.0 out of 5 stars "UNCLE HO"

Reviewed in the United States on 5 May 2009

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

"HO CHI MINH" by William J. Duiker is without a doubt, an abysmal and fathomless study of Vietnam the country, Vietnam the people, Vietnam the times, and... "Uncle Ho", who was...Vietnam.




Admittedly, the sheer magnitude of this work was intimidating to me, and there were parts that I simply... found myself skipping over due to various time constraints within my own life. However, Duiker apparently left "no stone unturned" in his relentless biographical study and post-mortem of this very interesting and controversial individual.




There seems to be some question as to whether "HO" was really a Communist, or more of a Patriot with socialistic leanings. From reading this book, I would say; "Uncle Ho" was "anything" and "everything" he needed to be in order to follow his visions and ...his insatiable ego.




"Ho Chi Minh" (not his true name), was/is to Vietnam what Ernesto "Che" Guevara was/is to Latin America. They have each become "political saints" and cultish icons to those who worship their life style and ideologies.




The author indicated that the name "Ho Chi Minh"was a pseudonym adopted from the Chinese language. I believe the word "Ho" in Vietnamese (depending upon its accent) can also mean "Tiger." No matter what "Ho Chi Minh" was, or stood for, no one can deny that he was ..."The Tiger!"




My only regret from reading this historical biography was: "where was all of this superb information when I shipped out to Vietnam in 1967?" That's the problem with history, it's always too late!




Mr. Duiker has accomplished a classic piece of work that will remain unrivaled in the realm of biographical research and writing. Duiker has fashioned a "Rosetta Stone" for those interested in the history of Vietnam and its people.

Report




Joe 90

4.0 out of 5 stars and probably the best on the subject that I have read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 7 May 2015

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

A big, big book, and probably the best on the subject that I have read. It could have done with perhaps a postscript, or at least a little more on Minh's death and the immediate and later aftermath.

Report




Vincent Gardner

4.0 out of 5 stars Part biography, part history lesson

Reviewed in the United States on 3 April 2013

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Your reaction To William J. Duiker's biography of Hồ Chí Minh will likely depend on the depth of your knowledge about Vietnam's history over the last one hundred years. If you're already deeply familiar with the history, and simply want the book to concentrate on Hồ Chí Minh's life, you'll likely be somewhat disappointed. Because this isn't a typical biography. Or rather, it is for the first half, but then it turns into an entirely different book, and recounts the story of Vietnam's independence from 1930 on, starring Hồ Chí Minh, Lê Duẩn, Võ Nguyên Giáp, Phạm Văn Đồng, Jean Sainteny and a host of others. Hồ Chí Minh is just one of the central figures in the second half of the book. It really is no longer about Hồ Chí Minh.




Duiker and his editors were obviously well aware of the dual nature of the book and were comfortable with it. The vast majority of people (myself included) are not sufficiently knowledgeable about Vietnam's fight for independence and very much appreciate the history lesson. Most of us need the lesson before we need the biography, and this book provides some of both.




I give the book four stars, but I can understand how someone looking purely for biography would be unhappy. Whole sections in the second half go by without a mention of Hồ Chí Minh, and the reader often has to wonder exactly how and to what extent Hồ Chí Minh participated in various events. Partially, Duiker explains, it's because of a simple lack of verifiable information. He notes several times in the book that he stuck to information that was relatively verifiable and believable. There are plenty of doubtful sources, there is plenty of speculation, there are glowing, sanitized Viet accounts, and Hồ Chí Minh himself led a chameleon-like existence, changing names and look and writing under assumed identities. For long periods, various security forces (especially the French) weren't even sure exactly who or where he was. Duiker sifted through it all, in American, French, Viet, Russian and Chinese archives (to the limited extent he was allowed), not to mention hundreds of other sources, and pulled together as much as he was willing to believe.




It's a staggering feat of research, and it's doubtful anyone will ever do better, but it still leaves one wanting. There is so very little about his personal life after he leaves France for Russia, and so little about the very small day-to-day decisions that a man like Hồ Chí Minh must have made. The big decisions, the decisive moves -- those are all there, but anything smaller is mostly lost. Presumably Duiker gave us everything he could, and extra detail is available in the excellent 90 pages of end notes, but it still seems as though essential aspects of the man were left uncovered.




The only other red flag, for me, was the fact that Duiker seemed genuinely smitten with his subject. At times, he's practically cheerleading for Hồ Chí Minh. You can almost hear him wishing that American authorities would have taken Hồ more seriously as WWII was winding down. You obviously have to be wary of a biographer who seems overly taken with his subject, and it bothers me that Hồ Chí Minh comes off too clean in this work. In the post-1954 North Vietnam, Hồ Chí Minh is always presented by Duiker as the voice of reason, moderation and compassion. The others carry out the purges, while kindly Uncle Ho tries to redress wrongs and temper the vengeful spirits and the rabid communist revolutionaries. It wasn't that simple. This is why the lack of day-to-day info makes this book a sometimes frustrating read.




One other thing: no diacritics used in Vietnamese names. This is disappointing. Duiker covers this with a quick note, stating that the casual reader would be put off by them, and any reader already familiar with the Vietnamese language doesn't really need them. This is a standard cop-out used by most publishers, and I wish they'd cut it out. It's a bit like saying you don't need to write the letter 'e' in English names, because every English speaker already knows all those words and can fill in the blanks easily enough.




Overall, however, I was very impressed, and came away far more knowledegable about both Hồ Chí Minh and Vietnam. Again, four stars.

Report




Dana Garrett

4.0 out of 5 stars It's a book that will break your heart

Reviewed in the United States on 28 July 2007

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Although the author, William Duiker, a former foreign services officer for the USA in Saigon during the 1960s, takes no side in the scholarly dispute about Ho Chi Minh's essential orientation as either a nationalist or an ideologically pure Marxist, there is little doubt from the evidence set forth in the book that Ho was first and foremost a nationalist. The evidence couldn't be clearer given the numerous occasions Ho recommended elected coalition governments to rule an undivided Viet Nam, recommendations he made to several USA officials well before the onset of the war with the USA.




I couldn't keep from wondering about the multiple millions of lives that might have been spared if the USA had only listened to its sober analysts in the region who believed Ho instead of hearkening to those caught up in the red scare.




Ho was essentially a pragmatist whose burning passion was for an independent and sovereign Viet Nam. Even his ascription to Marxist Leninism was born from his pragmatism since Marxist Leninism alone purported to provide a model by which the imperialist control of nations could be understood, resisted and broken. Accordingly, it also provided a vision through which ordinary Vietnamese citizens could foresee an end to the French imperialist occupation of their nation. Marxist Leninism was for Ho a means by which Viet Nam could become independent and self-governing.




Duiker's work provides an excellent analysis of Ho's early years leading up to his return to Viet Nam. I felt it was a bit short on content during the last years of Ho's life before the war with the USA ended. But Duiker's depiction of how the USSR and China played Viet Nam off against each other is not to be missed.




This book is worth reading.

Report




Ruben Chandler

5.0 out of 5 stars If You Choose Someone In Life And Act Accordingly, You Can't Go Wrong With Ho.

Reviewed in the United States on 11 April 2022

Verified Purchase

The Vietnamese people's struggle was the actual most heroic accomplishment of the 20th century. Ending America's pointless occupation following the awesome French defeat at Dien Bien Phu finally freed Viet Nam from over 500 years of oppression. The US lied to the Vietnamese to enlist their help against the Japanese and said when the war was over Viet Nam would be an independent nation. Instead, the US lied, like it ALWAYS does, and after the Japanese having been disarmed by the Vietnamese people, the guns were given back to the Japanese to hold the people hostage until those colonialist C words from France could be brought back to continue with the country's regularly scheduled enslavement.




They say one should select a person one respects and then use what that person's personality represents to you and run your difficulties through those people. I use Ho Chi Minh. A true hero but very humble man. I still miss him. Americans would probably use Ted Kennedy. Take off pants and mingle was his entre into any situation. Just doesn't work for me.

Report




Amazon Customer

4.0 out of 5 stars A tome, a text, a reference, an explanation.

Reviewed in the United States on 31 March 2014

Verified Purchase

Long, interesting. The fallibility. The constant negotiation and compromise. How exhausting.




So much said, and still so much unsaid. For instance, the book doesn't say much about HCM actually having a ruthless side. Though the book makes reference to a few political assassinations done or not done, did he ever really order wide spread elimination of his political opponents? I wonder if that is just legend, or the work of others.




We didn't know much about HCM, or the Vietnamese. I wonder what would have happened if we had. Would we have left them to make their own choices, to do things their own way?




Did we drive them into the arms of the PRC?




Did their communist party want a bloody war, insist on it, as part of their revolution? If so, did they get more than they bargained for?




If we hadn't gone in would the other dominos have fallen into a Vietnamese hegemony?




This book doesn't answer these questions, but gives hints, and to me they are worth the read.

Report




Rickyb

4.0 out of 5 stars foto 1

Reviewed in the United States on 17 March 2013

Verified Purchase

William Duiker reads into this book a great detail of Ho's life. Ho has lived and worked in many countries and Duiker has pursued most of the available files to bring the haunting life of Ho into the light of realism. As a peasant Ho mines the trails of poverty that bring him and some of his sons to realize that their agrarian background is not the life. The names of the Vietnamese families that Duiker associates with Ho and his sons, reminds one of the changes that are made for the Imperialists that not only dominate Asian culture but also occurr in today's world.. As a recent visiter to Vietnam, I can now see many differant shades of light and life as to the history of Vietnam and its people. The book is not an easy read unless one has a sense of being there in the culture. The book means much more when you have lived in Vietnam for even a short period of time.

Report




J R Lankford

5.0 out of 5 stars Remarkable

Reviewed in the United States on 24 March 2009

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

This is one of those remarkable biographies that makes history come alive. I bought it as part of my research for a novel. It confirmed my belief that most wars result from either a tragic misunderstanding, or truly monstrous mistreatment of one group by another (or both). Such was the case with The American War, as the Vietnamese call it. We ignorantly backed the French in a heartless brand of colonialism that made slavery look good in comparison. Then America shut its ears to Ho Chi Minh's repeated pleas for our friendship. How many precious lives were lost as a result, no one can accurately count. I only know I can't walk the length of the Viet Nam memorial in D.C. without crying as I see the more than 58,000 names and I'll surely do the same when I go to Viet Nam, the bamboo country, where perhaps 3 million died. Hy sinh, the Vietnamese still call them -- sacrificed. I highly recommend William Duiker's Ho Chi Minh.




J R Lankford

Report




Anthony

4.0 out of 5 stars An impartial & detailed account

Reviewed in the United States on 15 December 2019

Verified Purchase

An objective, well-documented biography that provides a an in-depth account of Ho Chi Minh's political activities. Although I had read roughly 10 books about the Vietnam War before reading this book, I knew very little about Ho Chi Minh. One of the most interesting aspects of the book is its information concerning the extent of Ho Chi Minh's power within the communist party when the United States had completely taken over the role of France in attempting to reassert colonial domination of Vietnam when WWII had ended. The book also provides a detailed account of conditions when Vietnam had been a French colony.

Report




John Weathers

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent look at a fascinating life

Reviewed in the United States on 5 July 2010

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Excellent look at the life of a fascinating man whose life played a defining role in the history of Vietnam in the 20th century. Thoroughly researched and exemplary in terms of attempting to tell the history without trying to tell the reader too much what to think about the history. No biographer can fully escape his or her own attitude towards the subject, the best biographers attempt to minimize its influence and present as faithful a portrait as possible. I suspect that the author admires Ho Chi Minh the man while disapproving of his politics, but if this is the case we are not reminded of it with every turn of the page. The prose is fluid, the details engrossing and the end-notes extensive. I found this point a pleasure to read, and I highly recommend it to fans of biography and to those interested in the history of Vietnam.

Report




Burfam

5.0 out of 5 stars If you're wanting an in-depth account, order this book for sure!

Reviewed in the United States on 13 February 2013

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

My dad really likes history and wanted a book about Ho Chi Minh. I ordered this book for Christmas as it seemed to have the highest reviews and they were not wrong. He says the book is extremely well documented. The pictures in it are great, and the amount of info from many different places helps to make sure that what you're reading is accurate. The author really did an amazingly thorough job and you will not be disappointed by this book if you're wanting a lot of facts and a lot of information. If you're looking more for like an easy-read novel, this is most likely a little too technical for you, though it is not too hard to read, just a little dry to me since I was only interested in skimming a few pages. If you're wanting an in-depth account, order this book for sure!

Report




Nguye n Va n Huy

1.0 out of 5 stars Duiker's fanatical admiration of Ho ruins his own book

Reviewed in the United States on 8 July 2015

Verified Purchase

1. Duiker's fanatical admiration of Ho Chi Minh leads to biassed judgments throughout the book, and in the end his book is ruined.




2. In 1953 Ho created the killing fields through the land reform campaign, under the guidance of Mao's men. Hundred thousands of people were executed and their properties were confiscated. The article "Land reform in North Vietnam" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_reform_in_North_Vietnam) gives a much less number of around 100 thousand people executed. That is understandable when not every proof is available, especially the Vietnamese Communist Party has never opened the archives for scholars to examine.




3. Look, whatever number, it is human lives, not animal lives. In America if one innocent man was killed, the man who caused the killing must face justice. If the same genocide had happened in the America, would Duiker try to defend the man who ordered the killings? If the order of the killing of an innocent man is injustice in the America, so was it in North Vietnam in 1953. It is wrong to consider Vietnamese at the time had no feeling of justice. Or perhaps Duiker thinks that there are two classes of justice: one for Western countries and another one for developing countries. The My Lai massacre was condemned by the world, but it was nothing compared with the 1968 Tet Offensive massacre in Hue, of which more than 5000 South Vietnamese men, women and children were buried alive by Ho's troops. Would Duiker spare him of that crime as well?




4. In 1975, another evil man, Pol Pot, under the guidance of Mao's men again, executed more than one million Cambodians. Both men were Mao's dogs and no more. But Duiker disregarded all the facts, and just tried to defend Ho by all speculations.

Report




H. lemcke

4.0 out of 5 stars Read this book - long but can be skimmed

Reviewed in the United States on 27 January 2015

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

Too bad this wasn't written in about 1958. Maybe Eisenhower and Kennedy and Johnston and Nixon would have known not to even get involved. A long but very good read. What I suggest is skimming it to pick out his development and that of Vietnam, Cambodia, China and the errors made by the west. Vietnam wasn't about communism at all, it was about imperialism. Ho Chi Minh had little interest in communism except as a vehicle toward their independence. The book also confirms what I have read elsewhere, that the USSR really wanted a peaceful relationship with the west - something our military did not want.

Report




DaveF

2.0 out of 5 stars Look for a more readable biography

Reviewed in the United States on 25 January 2023

Verified Purchase

2 to 2.5 stars. To me, this biography appears to be written by a scholar for scholars. It contains a wealth of information and seems to be well documented.

But I have several issues. First is the writing. This is the driest book I've read in a long time and it made for a struggle to stick with it. The hundreds of names, places, and events are poorly explained or not explained at all - a clear indication to me that the target audience is the specialist. The second issue is simply the title. Yes, the book contains a lot of biographical information about Ho Chi Minh. But it's really a modern history of the independence struggle of Vietnam. And as a result, the book is much too long. It is also repetitive and quite speculative at times. Cannot recommend, there must be more concise, easier to read biographies of Ho Chi Minh.

Report




Nicholas S. Ackerman

5.0 out of 5 stars As thorough a look with currently accessible documents

Reviewed in the United States on 5 February 2023

Verified Purchase

A very intensive look at what is known about Ho Chih Minh's life, with a good framework of what went on around him over the course of decades. If you're interested this is great; if not this will be a slog, especially with the large number of aliases he used, and the nature of Marxist-Leninist theory along with it's changes over the century.

Report




Family Paxton

5.0 out of 5 stars Complex Look at a Complex Man

Reviewed in the United States on 1 September 2014

Verified Purchase

Duiker tries to cut through all the mystique built up around Ho Chi Minh, and does a fair job. Clearly, figuring out the facts of a man who spent his life deceiving everyone in regards to his past is a a challenge. Ho wasn't the saint Vietnam wants him to be, but he wasn't the monster many westerners think of him as. Duiker's response to the question of whether Ho was a communist first or a nationalist first is perfect; he was both, but more than anything he was a pragmatic leader of a country he sacrificed greatly for.

Report




Sharon S

5.0 out of 5 stars This book was great preparation for me

Reviewed in the United States on 21 January 2016

Verified Purchase

Started reading this book before a trip to Southeast Asia; first stop Ho Chi Minh city. After traveling up the Mekong River and eventually making my way to Hanoi this book helped me understand much of the people's attitude and hardship I was observing. This book was great preparation for me; long and sometimes very laden with details but some of those details had me more informed of this man than our guide. If you like details then you will enjoy this book; if you want to understand the Vietnamese culture this book is a must.

Report




James P O'Hara

5.0 out of 5 stars Understand the man

Reviewed in the United States on 14 March 2020

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

We get a lot of superficial information about Ho from a lot of sources and we find a lot of it in the work of authors we’ve followed for years. But this biography gives us insights into his development, personal and political, over the course of his life, and we learn why history could have taken no other course. No biographical examination of the man is complete without this book.

Report




Michael Amir Heidari

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Read

Reviewed in the United States on 22 April 2015

Verified Purchase

The book was pretty descriptive and it contained a vast amount of details about Uncle Ho. What I really liked was how the author used different events and political figures to illustrate Ho Chi Minh's life. A great read for someone who wants to learn about Uncle Ho, especially if you have been to Vietnam or plan on visiting it.

Report




Hunyadi

4.0 out of 5 stars A good book

Reviewed in the United States on 12 April 2014

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

A good book about the very intelligent Ho Chi Minh and his revolution against the French and how he came to be. This book opens the door into his world and removes the mystery so many of us have of him. A must read for anyone interested in Pre-Colonial Indochina and the Vietnamese uprising against the French regime.

Report




Sandra

4.0 out of 5 stars and this book answered that question and gave me a great sense of the dreadful war and what it cost ...

Reviewed in the United States on 2 March 2016

Verified Purchase

This name evokes lots of emotions in the US. I wanted to know who he was, and this book answered that question and gave me a great sense of the dreadful war and what it cost the Vietnamese. We all know about US losses - they were minuscule relative to Vietnam.

Report




Allen Weintraub

5.0 out of 5 stars A biography everyone should read. The book describes the ...

Reviewed in the United States on 15 March 2016

Verified Purchase

A biography everyone should read. The book describes the complex life of Ho Chi MInh. Almost as an aside, the author introduces us to Ho Chi Minh's relationship with the United States starting with the Treaty of Versailles ending World War,I his contracts with Americans in fighting the Japanese in World War II, and the eventual failure between the two countries starting with the withdrawal of the French in 1954.

Report




Jericho Bob

4.0 out of 5 stars Ho-Hum-Long and Tedious

Reviewed in the United States on 23 July 2014

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Very definitive account of Ho's life but extraordinarily wordy. I had to skip several paragraphs to stop from getting bored. Next time I would for an abbreviated version of his life history. Also, I bought it used and the binding was falling apart!

Report




Kindle Customer

3.0 out of 5 stars Slow read

Reviewed in the United States on 6 May 2015

Verified Purchase

This book is painstakingly detailed and thoroughly researched. Definitely a great source on the context and details of Ho Chi Minh's life and role in the evolution of his country. It is riddled with distracting typographical errors that are very distracting though. And I found it digressed too much on surrounding events instead of focusing on the primary subject.

Report




Thomas R. Belfield

5.0 out of 5 stars a worthy read

Reviewed in the United States on 19 August 2020

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

I am about half-way through this thick book. It's more of a political biography/history of Ho and the Vietnam Communist Party. The book is a worthy and often astonishing read. Highly recommend it.

Report




Joseph W.

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Read - Provides Historical and Human Perspective

Reviewed in the United States on 6 December 2018

Verified Purchase

I read the book as my company is expanding in Vietnam. This gave a great perspective on a key figure in the Vietnam's history and how the country came to its current political reality. I now can visit with a greater cultural and historical perspective and understanding.

Report




Edward Thilborn

4.0 out of 5 stars Very good but many misspellings in Kindle version.

Reviewed in the United States on 20 May 2015

Verified Purchase

Kindle version often has "r" and "t" mixed up so it is difficult reading. But the book is very good and highly detailed -- almost too much so.

Report




John Coutts

4.0 out of 5 stars This appears to be an extremely well researched biography. ...

Reviewed in the United States on 27 October 2014

Verified Purchase

This appears to be an extremely well researched biography. A window into a life about which little is known in the West.

Report




Brad97756

3.0 out of 5 stars The best of the books I could find to read about ...

Reviewed in the United States on 4 January 2017

Verified Purchase

Serious meh. The best of the books I could find to read about Ho Chi Minh after visiting Vietnam. However, the namesake is so enigmatic that it is hard for the author to put meat in the book.

Report




P N

4.0 out of 5 stars Good read

Reviewed in the United States on 24 October 2019

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

Good read

Report




Alys Bruffy

4.0 out of 5 stars Very well done.

Reviewed in the United States on 26 February 2015

Verified Purchase

Very enlightening and educational about a war I grew up with. Well written. Difficult material to work with.

Report




Carlos A. Simmons

3.0 out of 5 stars Ho Chi Minh

Reviewed in the United States on 16 June 2014

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Very good book. It explored the life of Ho Chi Minh from his birth, childhood, wars he was involved in, friends, enemies, travels, politics, death and the effects of his death on his country as well as his place in history.

Report




Charles H. Rittle, Jr

5.0 out of 5 stars Ho Chi Minh's life had more twists than many of us ever knew

Reviewed in the United States on 4 March 2020

Verified Purchase

Very long and hard to read due to all the different people mentioned over Ho's life. However - great story.

Report




Daniel J Wojo

4.0 out of 5 stars Answered

Reviewed in the United States on 27 June 2015

Verified Purchase

Answers some tough questions,the u.s. was on a collision course and no one blinked..

Report




Gil Caballero

4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars

Reviewed in the United States on 13 May 2016

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

I love the prices on Amazon. book worth the value

Report




Steve Williams

4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars

Reviewed in the United States on 17 February 2016

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

A most thorough distillation of a complex individual.

Report




Peter van den Bergh

1.0 out of 5 stars Hardcover? It’s actually a low quality Amazon reprint.

Reviewed in Canada on 23 January 2021

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

This is sold as a hardcover book for over $40. What they don’t tell you is that it’s printed by Amazon. And the book quality and in particular the binding are awful. Buy a used copy instead.

Report




UK Amazon Customer

4.0 out of 5 stars A good read.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 28 May 2013

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Bought this for my father, who said it was a good read. Certainly worth the price I paid for it.

Report




Jehoshephat

1.0 out of 5 stars NO maps????

Reviewed in the United States on 19 August 2022

Verified Purchase

As far as I've read, there is not a single map of Vietnam or any part of it in this e-book. This is a major flaw, and I deleted the book and gotten a refund. Pfui to the publishers.

Report




hoang huy

3.0 out of 5 stars great document.

Reviewed in the United States on 24 August 2015

Verified Purchase

The book is too long. I think it should be reduced to 350 pages only. Anyway, great document.

Report




Valerie Vauthier

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book, neutral and very well researched

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 2 December 2017

Verified Purchase

Very well researched, informative book and although dense in information, it almost reads like a novel rather than a history book.

Report




Harry

5.0 out of 5 stars Thank you Mr William J. Duiker, I really appreciate your book.

Reviewed in the United States on 7 July 2008

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

First, from the bottom of my heart I would like to thank Mr William Duiker for this awesome book

This book has taught me to love Vietnam again, and my love and respect for Uncle Ho is unconditional.




I strongly recommend this book for all Vietnamese patriots; it's worth every cent.

Report




Liem Huynh

5.0 out of 5 stars Ho Chi Minh Hate him or love him

Reviewed in the United States on 5 June 2016

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

Ho Chi Minh




Hate him or love him. He had a goal and accomplished it. Interesting read

Report




Jorge

5.0 out of 5 stars One of my favorite books now

Reviewed in the United States on 24 July 2014

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

One of my favorite books now. If you want to learn about Ho Chi Minh and Vietnamese and general history read this book. I loved it!!!

Report




Tuan A. Nguyen

5.0 out of 5 stars Mr. Duiker nails it.

Reviewed in the United States on 10 August 2013

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

The book is wonderful written.I am enjoying it even though it was more than 600 pages, no wonder Mr Duiker took quite a long time to complete.

Report




Mrs. G. C. Jenkins

5.0 out of 5 stars GREAT BOOK INTERESTING READ

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 2 February 2012

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Bought this for my husband to take on our holiday to Vietnam as he is an avid reader on anything to do with Vietnam and it's history. Highly recommend

Report




Carl Rarick

3.0 out of 5 stars Three Stars

Reviewed in the United States on 27 November 2015

Verified Purchase

Ok

Report




Giang T. Do

3.0 out of 5 stars Three Stars

Reviewed in the United States on 6 March 2015

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Ok

Report




Edward Tick

5.0 out of 5 stars Ho Chi Minh comes to life

Reviewed in the United States on 3 March 2016

Verified Purchase

Brilliantly researched, comprehensive, and as well written and energized as a novel.

Report




James O'Kane

1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointed.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 17 January 2015

Verified Purchase

Perhaps I was mistaken in my belief that this was a book which would reveal the personality and character of the subject. While giving lots of detail about his travels and the intrigues of the Communist Block, I found little to enlighten me on the man himself.

Report




Poppy Sargeaunt

5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 29 January 2013

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Bought this book for my dad after sending a month in Vietnam. It is a really interesting read and full of great stories.

Report




Carolyn Clark

5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars

Reviewed in the United States on 1 December 2017

Verified Purchase

excellent!

Report




Han Lee

5.0 out of 5 stars a book that you need to see

Reviewed in the United States on 2 March 2008

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

If you want to know more about Ho Chi Minh, the biggest father of Vietnam, and also understand more about the country and its people, this book is recommended.

Report




Damien Ferris

5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 9 October 2015

Verified Purchase

Great item. Fast Delivery

Report




LR

5.0 out of 5 stars Good

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 14 October 2015

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Good

Report

To see more, search or filter all reviews.