Writings by and about Important Communist Leaders

 
Chu Van Tan

Chu Van Tan, translated by Mai Elliott, Reminiscences on the Army for National Salvation: Memoir of General Chu Van Tan. Data Paper no. 97. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Southeast Asia Program, 1974. vi, 217 pp. Chu Van Tan was a Nung who became a Viet Minh general, and was a member of the Communist Party Central Committee from 1945 to 1976. This memoir (Vietnamese original published by NXB Quan Doi Nhan Dan in 1971) covers the period from 1940 to 1945.

Chu Van Tan, Mot bien doi cach mang to lon o mien nui. Hanoi: Su That, 1962. 75 pp. Discusses the development of agricultural cooperatives in the highlands of North Vietnam.

Chu Van Tan, Lam tot cong tac quan su dia phuong. Hanoi: NXB Quan Doi Nhan Dan, 1968. 58 pp.

Chu Van Tan (and Ngoc Tu? as told to Ngoc Tu?), Ky niem cuu quoc quan: hoi ky. Hanoi: Quan Doi Nhan Dan, 1977. 252 pp. The National Salvation Army, a guerrilla group in northern Bac Bo, 1941-1945; Chu Van Tan was one of its leaders.

 
"Cuu Long" (believed to have been a pseudonym of General Tran Do)

Cuu Long, Chien luoc "Viet Nam hoa" chien tranh cua My da that bai, dang that bai, nhat dinh that bai. Hanoi: Su That, 1971. 57 pp.

The Virtual Vietnam Archive of the Vietnam Project, at Texas Tech University, has placed online a few of his articles and talks, in US Government translations:

Cuu Long, "New Developments in the Guerrilla War in South Vietnam." Written for Quan Doi Nhan Dan; broadcast on Liberation Radio, 13 November 1966. FBIS 29 November 1966, South Vietnam, pages kkk 3 to kkk 15.

Cuu Long, "The Lessons of Mobilizing the People to Fight the Americans," Tap Chi Quan Doi Nhan Dan, February 1967, broadcast on Radio Hanoi 6-7 February 1967. FBIS 15 February 1967, North Vietnam, pages jjj 5 to jjj 16.

Cuu Long, "The Dead End of U.S. Military Strategy in South Vietnam." Hoc Tap, January 1969, pp. 61-69. Section 1 is titled "Tet Offensive War Turning Point." Translation.

Cuu Long, "Nixon Vietnamization Plan, Born in Defeated Situation, Will Certainly End in Ignominious Defeat." Broadcast on Liberation Radio, 11-12 January 1970. FBIS 13 January 1970, South Vietnam, pages L 1 to L 7.

Cuu Long, "Vietnamization of the War, an Impasse for the U.S. Imperialists." Broadcast on Liberation Radio, 11 and 26 April 1970. FBIS 15 April 1970, South Vietnam, pages L 4 to L 15; 29 April 1970, South Vietnam, pages L 6 to L 7.

Cuu Long, "The U.S. Vietnamization Strategy Has Been and Will Certainly Be Defeated." Broadcast on Liberation Radio, 17 and 19 October 1971. Principal Reports from Communist Radio and Press Sources, special, 22 October 1971. 35 pp. The text.

Cuu Long, "Some Problems of Guerrilla Warfare in the Southern Rural Areas in the Phase of Struggle to Defeat the U.S. Vietnamization Strategy." Part 3, "The Problem of Building and Developing Forces," broadcast on Liberation Radio, 23 April 1972. FBIS 25 April 1972, South Vietnam, pages L 2 to L 6.

Some other U.S. translations of Cuu Long's writings can be found by doing a keyword search for his name in Translation Series. Some can be found in Patrick McGarvey, ed., Visions of Victory.

 
Ho Chi Minh

Ho Chi Minh, Selected Writings. Hanoi: Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1973. 368 pp.

Ho Chi Minh, Selected Writings. Hanoi: The Gioi, 1994. The Communist Party of Vietnam has placed this substantial collection of Ho's writings from 1920 to 1969, in English translation, on its web site.

Ho Chi Minh Toan tap (Collected writings of Ho Chi Minh).  10 vols.  Hanoi: Su That, 1980-1989.

Ho Chi Minh Toan tap (Collected writings of Ho Chi Minh), 2d ed.  12 vols.  Hanoi: Chinh tri Quoc gia, 1995-1996.

"Tran Dan Tien" (a pseudonym of Ho Chi Minh), Glimpses of the Life of Ho Chi Minh, President of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. Hanoi: Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1958. 63 pp.

"Tran Dan Tien" (a pseudonym of Ho Chi Minh), Nhung mau chuyen ve doi hoat dong cua Ho Chu tich. Hanoi: Van Hoc, 1960. 148 pp.

Ho Chi Minh, Dan toc Viet-Nam ta la mot dan toc anh hung. Hanoi: Su That, 1974. 135 pp.

Ho Chi Minh and Nguyen Van Linh, Di chuc cua chu tich Ho Chi Minh (The testament of Chairman Ho Chi Minh). Hanoi: Ban chap hanh trung uong Dang cong san Viet Nam, 1989. 59 pp. Several versions of Ho Chi Minh's testament, and a comment by Nguyen Van Linh on the way the testament had been falsified in the version published shortly after his death.

Ho Chi Minh, Con duong giai phong. Hanoi: Su That, 1990 115 pp.

Walden Bello, ed., Down With Colonialism! / Ho Chi Minh. London and New York: Verso, 2007. xliv, 226 pp. A collection of Ho's writings. The title on the cover is Walden Bello Presents Ho Chi Minh.

Bernard Fall, ed., Ho Chi Minh on Revolution: Selected Writings, 1920-66. New York: Praeger, 1967. 349 pp.

Alain Ruscio, ed., Ho Chi Minh textes 1914-1969. Paris: l'Harmattan, 2000.

Jack Woddis, ed., Ho Chi Minh: Selected Articles and Speeches, 1920-1967. London: Lawrence & Wishart, 1969. 172 pp.

Pierre Brocheux, Ho Chi Minh. (Paris?): Presses de Sciences Po, 2000. 200 pp.

Pierre Brocheux, Ho Chi Minh: Du révolutionnaire à l'icône. (Paris?): Payot-Rivages, 2003. 348 pp. An English translation (Claire Duiker, trans.) is forthcoming, Ho Chi Minh: A Biography. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007 300 pp. I believe the title for this was previously announced as Ho Chi Minh: From Revolutionary to Icon.

Peter Anthony DeCaro, "Struggle for Independence: The Reconstitutive Rhetoric of Ho Chi Minh." Ph.D. dissertation, Speech Communication, Florida State University, 1998. 228 pp. DA 9827637.

Peter A. DeCaro, Rhetoric of Revolt: Ho Chi Minh's Discourse for Revolution. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger, 2003. 140 pp.

William Duiker, Ho Chi Minh.  New York: Hyperion, 2000.  xix, 695 pp.  By far the best overall biography of the man so far, but Quinn-Judge's work (see below) should also be consulted for the early years. Transcript of Duiker's extended discussion of his book on the C-SPAN show "Booknotes," November 12, 2000.

Charles Fenn, Ho Chi Minh: A Biographical Introduction. London: Studio Vista, 1973. 144 pp. Fenn was one of the OSS officers who handled U.S. liaison with Ho in 1945.

Christopher E. Goscha and Benoît de Tréglodé, eds., Naissance d'un État-Parti: Le Viêt Nam depuis 1945/The Birth of a Party-State: Vietnam since 1945. Paris: les Indes Savantes, 2004. 463 pp.

William Duiker, "Ho Chi Minh: Myth and Reality" (pp. 117-133)

Daniel Hémery, "Ho Chi Minh: Vie singulière et nationalisation des esprits" (pp. 135-148)

Benoît de Tréglodé, "Reflet d'une nation: La figure de Ho Chi Minh dans les biographies du 'héros nouveau'" (pp. 149-157)

Sophie Quinn-Judge, "Ho Chi Minh and the Making of his Image" (pp. 159-171)

David Halberstam, Ho. New York: Random House, 1971. 118 pp.

Daniel Hémery, Ho Chi Minh, de l'Indochine au Vietnam.  Paris: Gallimard, 1990.  192 pp.

Ho Chi Minh bien nien tieu su (A chronological history of Ho Chi Minh).  10 vols.  Hanoi: Thong tin ly luan, 1992.

Ho Chi Minh: Anh hung giai phong dan toc danh nhan van hoa. Hanoi: Nha Xuat Ban Khoa Hoc Xa Hoi, 1990.

Evgenii Vasil'evich Kobelev, Kho Shi Min (Ho Chi Minh). Moskva: Mol. gvardiia, 1983. 349 pp.

Yevgeny Kobelev, Ho Chi Minh. Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1989. 242 pp. Translation, probably a bit abridged, of the above item. Also Hanoi: The Gioi, 1999. 301 pp.

Jean Lacouture, Ho Chi Minh. Paris: Editions du Seuil, 1967. 256 pp. Life of the man who effectively founded Vietnamese Communism, by a French journalist and scholar. Translated by Peter Wiles as Ho Chi Minh: A Political Biography. New York: Random House, 1968. 313 pp.

Reinhold Neumann-Hoditz, Portrait of Ho Chi Minh: An Illustrated Biography. New York: Herder and Herder, 1972. 187 pp. Translated by John Hargreaves, from a work published in German in 1971. Says very little about events after the 1940s.

New Ho Chi Minh Biography. Translations on North Vietnam, No. 751. JPRS 50916. Washington, D.C.: Joint Publications Research Service, 9 July 1970. 88 pp. Translation of "Chu tich Ho Chi Minh," serialized in Nhan Dan, May 17, 18, 20, and 21, 1970. The text has been placed on-line in the Virtual Vietnam Archive of the Vietnam Project, at Texas Tech University, in two parts: pp. 1-43 (going up to 1945), pp. 44-88 (1945 onward, and endnotes).

Nguyen Khac Huyen, Vision Accomplished? The Enigma of Ho Chi Minh. New York: Macmillan, 1971. xviii, 377 pp. pb New York: Collier, 1971. xviii, 377 pp.

Sophie Quinn-Judge, Ho Chi Minh: The Missing Years, 1919-1941. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002. xii, 356 pp.

Thu Trang-Gaspard, Ho Chi Minh a Paris (1917-1923). Preface by Philippe Devillers. Paris" l'Harmattan, 2000.

Vien Quan He Quoc Te Bo Ngoai Giao, Chu tich Ho Chi Minh voi cong tac ngoai giao (Ho Chi Minh and Foreign Relations). Hanoi: Su That, 1990.

 
Hoang Van Hoan

Hoang Van Hoan, A Drop in the Ocean: Hoang Van Hoan's Revolutionary Reminiscences. Beijing: Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1988. Memoir by a senior Vietnamese leader who defected to China in 1979.

 
Hoang Van Thai

Hoang Van Thai, Some Aspects of Guerilla Warfare in Vietnam. Hanoi: Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1965. 39 pp.

Hoang Van Thai, Cuoc tien cong chien luoc Dong Xuan, 1954-1954. Hanoi: NXB Quan Doi Nhan Dan, 1984. 152 pp.

Hoang Van Thai, Nhung nam thang quyet dinh.  Hanoi: NXB Quan Doi Nhan Dan, 1985. 330 pp.

Hoang Van Thai, The Decisive Years: Memoirs of Vietnamese Senior General Hoang Van Thai. JPRS-SEA-87-084. Springfield, VA: NTIS, 1987. (Translated from General Thai's memoirs as serialized in the Ho Chi Minh City newspaper Saigon Giai Phong, March 13 to May 14, 1986, not necessarily identical to the version published as a book the previous year.) Deals mainly with the period 1972 to 1975. The text has been placed on-line in the Virtual Vietnam Archive of the Vietnam Project at Texas Tech University, in four parts: front matter and pp. 1-47, pp. 48-97, pp. 98-147, and pp. 148-156.

Hoang Van Thai, How South Vietnam was Liberated: Memoirs. Hanoi: The Gioi, 1992. 251 pp. Probably just a different English translation of the above item.

Hoang Van Thai, Dien Bien Phu, chian dich lich su: hoi uc. Hanoi: NXB Quan Doi Nhan Dan, 1994. 185 pp.

Dai Tuong Hoang Van Thai.  Hanoi: NXB Quan Doi Nhan Dan, 1999.  456 pp.

The Virtual Vietnam Archive of the Vietnam Project, at Texas Tech University, has placed online a few of his articles and talks, in US Government translations:

Hoang Van Thai, "It is Necessary to Hold Fast to the Party Military Line and Check the Revisionist Influence in the Military Sphere." Translation (FBIS, North Vietnam, 14 May 1964, pages jjj 1 to jjj 15) of an article published in Hoc Tap, April 1964. The text. Also another version (might be a preliminary draft done within FBIS before formal publication?).

Hoang Van Thai, "The Lesson of Dien Bien Phu." Translation of an article published in Hoc Tap, May 1964, pp. 14-22. The text.

Hoang Van Thai, "It is Necessary to Be More Thoroughly Imbued with the Party's Military Line in the Building of the Army and the Consolidation of National Defense." Translation (FBIS, North Vietnam, 25 January 1965, pages jjj 8 to jjj 20) of an article published in Hoc Tap, December 1964. The text.

Hoang Van Thai, "The Strategy of People's War and the Building of the People's Armed Forces." Translation of an article published in Hoc Tap, July 1965, pp. 44-51. The text.

Hoang Van Thai, "Consolidate and Strengthen People's National Defense and Lead the Anti-U.S. National Salvation Cause to Complete Victory." Translation (appears to be by FBIS, dated 24 February 1966) of an article published in Hoc Tap, January 1966. The text. Also Another version (not FBIS; maybe JPRS?).

Hoang Van Thai, "Several Matters Pertaining to Local Military Activities in the New Stage." Translation of an article said to have been published in Quan Doi Nhan Dan, January 1975, pp. 20-32. But I wonder whether it might not actually have been Tap Chi Quan Doi Nhan Dan. The text.

Hoang Van Thai, "Building and Employing the Strength of the Rear Area in the War of Resistance Against the United States for National Salvation." Translation of an article published in Tap Chi Cong San, no. 12, December 1982, pp. 11-19. The text.

 
Le Duan

Le Duan, Cach mang xa hoi chu nghia o Viet Nam: tac pham chon loc. 4 vols. Hanoi: Su That, 1976, 1976, 1980, 1984. Vol. 4, containing writings from 1978 to 1983, had 654 pp.

Le Duan, Chu nghia yeu nuoc va chu nghia quoc te vo san (Patriotism and proletatian internationalism). Hanoi: Su That, 1979. 118 pp.

Le Duan, Mot vai van de trong nhiem vu quoc te cua Dang ta. Hanoi: Su That, 1964. 55 pp.

Le Duan, Nhung nhiem vu lich su cua phong trao cong san quoc te. Hanoi: Su That, 1958. 58 pp.

Le Duan, On the Socialist Revolution in Vietnam. 3 vols. Hanoi: Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1965, 1965, 1967. 110, 212, 214 pp.

Le Duan, Selected Writings. Hanoi: Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1977. 540 pp. Portions of this have been placed on-line in the Virtual Vietnam Archive of the Vietnam Project, at Texas Tech University. "Hold High the Revolutionary Banner of Creative Marxism, Take Our Revolutionary Cause to Complete Victory!" March 13, 1963. pp. 57-104.   "The Vietnamese Revolution: Fundamental Problems, Essential Tasks," written in 1970: front matter and pp. 163-211,   pp. 212-261,   pp. 262-311,   pp. 312-329.

Le Duan, Some Questions Concerning the International Tasks of Our Party. Peking: Foreign Languages Press, 1964. 56 pp. This is a speech Le Duan gave at the Ninth Plenum, in December 1963, at which the Lao Dong Party Central Committee decided on a significant escalation of the war in South Vietnam. The text has been placed on-line in the Virtual Vietnam Archive of the Vietnam Project, at Texas Tech University, in two parts: front matter and pp. 1-28,   pp. 29-56. See also a U.S. government translation of the same speech. See also the original Vietnamese-language text: Le Duan, Mot vai van de trong nhiem vu quoc te cua dang ta. n.p.: Nha Xuat Ban Co Do, 1964. 50 pp.

Le Duan, Tho vao Nam (Letters to the South). Hanoi: Su That, 1985. 422 pp. This collection of directives to senior Communist personnel in South Vietnam is an extremely important source for DRV policy during the war. There is an English translation: Letters to the South. Hanoi: Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1986. 263 pp. Judging from the page count, this may be abridged.

The Virtual Vietnam Archive of the Vietnam Project, at Texas Tech University, has placed online a few of his articles and talks, in US Government translations:

Le Duan, "Saving the Country is the Holy Task of All Our People," speech to an anti-aircraft unit described as having been "made recently" when it was broadcast on Radio Hanoi, 29 December 1966. Translation in FBIS, North Vietnam, 4 January 1967, pages jjj 10 to jjj 16.

Le Duan, "Under the Glorious Party Banner, for Independence, Freedom, and Socialism, Let Us Advance and Achive New Victories." FBIS Daily Report: Asia & Pacific, supplement, 5 March 1970, No 44 Supp 8. 83 pp. Translation of an essay published in Nhan Dan and Quan Doi Nhan Dan, 14 February 1970. pp. 1-42, pp. 43-83.

 
Le Duc Tho

Le Duc Tho, Mot so van de ve tong ket chien tranh va bien soan lich su quan su. Hanoi: Su That, 1989.

 
Le Quang Dao. (Lieutenant general, deputy chief of the General Political Department of the PAVN; see biographical sketch.)

Vu Mau et. al., eds., Le Quang Dao, 1921-1999. Hanoi: Quan Doi Nhan Dan, 2000. 617 pp. General Le Quang Dao served in the Red River Delta for considerable parts of the First Indochina War, and was involved with the PAVN forces in Quang Tri, and nearby areas of Laos and North Vietnam, from 1968 to 1972. I haven't seen this book, so I don't know whether it is things he wrote, or things others wrote about him after his death, or what.

 
Nguyen Binh

Christopher E. Goscha, "A 'Popular' Side of the Vietnamese Army; General Nguyen Binh and the Early War in the South (1910-1951)," in Christopher E. Goscha and Benoît de Tréglodé, eds., Naissance d'un État-Parti: Le Viêt Nam depuis 1945/The Birth of a Party-State: Vietnam since 1945 (Paris: les Indes Savantes, 2004), pp. 325-353.

Nguyen Hung, Nguyen Binh, huyen thoai va su that. Hanoi: Van hoc, 1995. 494 pp.

 
Nguyen Chi Thanh, a.k.a. Truong Son (Politburo member; head of COSVN 1964-1967)

The Virtual Vietnam Archive of the Vietnam Project, at Texas Tech University, has placed online a number of his articles and talks, in US Government translations:

Nguyen Chi Thanh, "We Must Study, Support, and Develop What Is New," Hoc Tap, June 1961 (pp. 1-4?). Translation.

Summary of an address by Nguyen Chi Thanh at the Military and Political Institute, 26 May 1963, published in Quan Doi Nhan Dan, 30 May 1963. Translation.

Nguyen Chi Thanh, "Let Us Improve Our Proletarian Stand and Ideology, and Unite and Struggle for New Successes." Translation of an article published in Hoc Tap, October 1963. The text and another version of the text.

Nguyen Chi Thanh, "Some Ideas About the Relationship Between Individualism and Modern Revisionism," Tuyen Huan, March 1964, broadcast on Radio Hanoi 9 April 1964. FBIS 13 May 1964, North Vietnam, pages JJJ 7 to JJJ 13.

"The Political Bureau's Assessment of the Situation: An Address Delivered by General Nguyen Chi Thanh, 20 November 1964." The document was captured during the Cambodian Incursion, May 13, 1970. Translation.

"Truong Son Article on 1966-67 Victories." FBIS Daily Report: Asia & Pacific, supplement, 26 June 1967, FB123/67/14S. 37 pp. Translation of an essay published in Quan Doi Nhan Dan, and broadcast in Vietnamese by Radio Hanoi on 2 June 1967. The text and also The text of an abridged version broadcast in English by VNA, 26-27 May 1967, and reproduced in FBIS North Vietnam, 31 May 1967, jjj 13 to jjj 34.

Some other U.S. translations of Nguyen Chi Thanh's writings can be found in Patrick McGarvey, ed., Visions of Victory.

Truong Son, A Bitter Dry Season for the Americans. Hanoi: Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1966. 62 pp. The text (possibly incomplete--there appears to be some front matter missing) has been placed on-line in the Virtual Vietnam Archive of the Vietnam Project at Texas Tech University.

Truong Son, The Winter 1966-Spring 1967 victory and five lessons concerning the conduct of military strategy (title on title page) or Five Lessons of a Great Victory (Winter 1966 - Spring 1967) (title on cover). Hanoi: Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1967. 72 pp. The text has been placed on-line in the Virtual Vietnam Archive of the Vietnam Project at Texas Tech University.

Nguyen Chi Thanh, Dang ta lanh dao tai tinh chien tranh nhan dan va xay dung luc luong vu trang nhan dan (Our party cleverly leads people's war and builds the people's armed forces). Hanoi: Su That, 1970. 404 pp.

Nguyen Chi Thanh, Luon luon giu vung va tang cuong su lanh dao cua Dang doi voi luc luong vu trang nhan dan. Hanoi: NXB Quan Doi Nhan Dan, 1970. 313 pp.

Nguyen Chi Thanh, Ve xan xuat nong nghiep va hop tac hoa nong nghiep. Hanoi: Su That, 1969. 366 pp.

Nguyen Chi Thanh et. al., Dai Tuong Nguyen Chi Thanh.  Hue: Nha Xuat Ban Thuan Hoa, 1997.  392 pp.  Most of the volume is articles by General Thanh.

Dai Tuong Nguyen Chi Thanh voi cuoc khang chien chong My, cuu nuoc.  Hanoi: NXB Quan Doi Nhan Dan, 2004. 618 pp.

 
Nguyen Huu Tho

Luat su Nguyen Huu Tho, ca nuoc ton vinh anh: truyen va ky. Hanoi: Van hoc, 1995. 441 pp.

Tran Bac Dang, ed., Luat su Nguyen Huu Tho: nguoi con tan trung voi nuoc tan hieu voi dan. Hanoi: NXB Chinh Tri Quoc Gia, 1998. 511 pp.

 
Nguyen Thi Binh

Nguyen Thi Binh, Mat tran dan toc giai phong Chinh phu Cach mang lam thoi tai Hoi nghi Paris ve Viet Nam: hoi uc. Hanoi: Chinh Tri Quoc Gia, 2001. 688 pp.

 
Nguyen Thi Dinh

Mrs. Nguyen Thi Dinh, No Other Road to Take, trans. by Mai V. Elliott. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Southeast Asia Program, 1976. viii, 77 pp. Memoir of the Communist movement up to the end of 1960, especially in Ben Tre (in the Mekong Delta), by a woman who joined the movement in the 1930's.

 
Pham Van Dong

Pham Van Dong, American Imperialism's Intervention in Vietnam. Hanoi: Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1955. 35 pp.

Pham Van Dong, President Ho Chi Minh: Political Biography. Hanoi: Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1960. 121 pp.

Pham Van Dong, Selected Writings. Hanoi: Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1977. 410 pp. Materials written between 1954 and 1975.

 
Pham Xuan An (Communist intelligence agent who worked as a reporter first for Reuters, later for Time Magazine)

Thomas A. Bass, “The Spy Who Loved Us: The Double Life of Time’s Saigon Correspondent during the Vietnam War.” New Yorker, May 23, 2005. Pham Xuan An.

Larry Berman, Perfect Spy: The Incredible Double Life of Pham Xuan An, Time Magazine Reporter and Vietnamese Communist Agent. New York: Smithsonian Books (HarperCollins), 2007. 328 pp.

Hoang Hai Van and Tan Tu, Pham Xuan An: A General of the Secret Service. Hanoi: The Gioi, 2003. 215 pp. (I believe this was translated from a book titled Pham Xuan An: tuong tin bao chien luoc, but I have been unable to find publication data on that one.)

Nguyen Thi Ngoc Hai, Pham Xuan An ten nguoi nhu cuoc doi. Hanoi: Cong an nhan dan, 2002. 211 pp.

Nguyen Thi Ngoc Hai, Toi chet bat dau mot the gioi song: Pham Xuan An ten nguoi nhu cuoc doi. Hanoi: Cong an nhan dan, 2004. 375 pp.

 
Song Hao (head of the PAVN's General Political Directorate; original name Nguyen Van Khuong)

The Virtual Vietnam Archive of the Vietnam Project, at Texas Tech University, has placed online a biographical sketch of Song Hao and also a number of his articles and talks, in US Government translations:

Song Hao, "Promote Determination-to-Win Traditions of People's Armed Forces to Defeat U.S. Aggressors," Hoc Tap, December 1966, pp. 14-25. The translation (with two page missing) is pp. 17-30 of what I presume (from the CSO number at the bottom of the last page) was a JPRS publication, probably in the series Translations from North Vietnam.

Maj. Gen. Song Hao, talk on strengthening "basic units" in the PAVN, given at a conference of the PAVN Directorate of Political Affairs, broadcast on Radio Hanoi 5 April 1967. By "basic unit" he seemed to mean both the companiy as a military unit, and the chi bo, the Lao Dong party organization within the company. FBIS 13 April 1967, North Vietnam, pages jjj 4 to jjj 10.

Lt. Gen. Song Hao, "Develop the Proud Tradition of Our Army and Unceasingly Reinforce the Revolutionary Quality and Determination to Defeat the Aggressive U.S. Pirates," Quan Doi Nhan Dan, 19 December 1967, pp. 1-3. FBIS 31 January 1968, North Vietnam, pages jjj 4 to jjj 23.

Lt. Gen. Song Hao, "Party Leadership Is the Cause of the Growth and Victories of Our Army," Nhan Dan, 24 December 1969, translated in FBIS Daily Report: Asia & Pacific, Supplement, 14 January 1970. 43 pp.

Col Gen Song Hao, "Develop the Revolutionary Nature and Traditions of the VPA," published in the December 1974 issues of Tap Chi Quan Doi Nhan Dan and Tap Chi Hoc Tap, and broadcast in Vietnamese in installments on Radio Hanoi, December 8-14, 1974. FBIS 24 December 1974, North Vietnam, pages K1 to K22. [Some details of Song Hao's activities 1969-73, taken from the files of Douglas Pike rather than from the FBIS report, have also been included in this .pdf file.]

 
Tran Van Tra

Tran Van Tra, Nhung chang duong lich su cu B2 thanh dong, 5 vols. projected. Vol. 5, Ket thuc cuoc chien tranh 30 nam, was published first, (Ho Chi Minh City: Van Nghe, 1982), and was translated as Vietnam: History of the Bulwark B-2 Theatre, vol. 5: Concluding the 30-Years War, JPRS 82783 (Springfield, VA: NTIS, 1983). 251 pp. The text is available as a single large .HTML file, unpaginated, at an Army website. If you need a version with page numbers, use the .PDF that has been placed online in the Virtual Vietnam Archive of the Vietnam Project, at Texas Tech University, in six parts: front matter and pp. 1-46,   pp. 47-96,   pp. 97-146,   pp. 147-196,   pp. 197-224,   pp. 225-251.   This volume covers the period from 1973 to 1975. It was widely rumored that General Tra got in trouble for having published this. Vol. 1, Hoa binh hay chien tranh (Hanoi: Nha Xuat Ban Quan Doi Nhan Dan, 1992) covered the period from 1954 to 1960.

Tran Van Tra, Can nhan ve xuan Mau Than, 1968. TP Ho Chi Minh: Nha Xuat Ban Tre, 1998. 228 pp.

 
Truong Chinh, a.k.a. Dang Xuan Khu

Truong Chinh, The August Revolution. Hanoi: Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1958. 76 pp. The story of the Viet Minh siezure of power in 1945. Truong Chinh was General Secretary of the Indochinese Communist Party at that time; he published the Vietnamese original of this work in Su That in 1946. By the time this translation was published in Hanoi as a book, Truong Chinh had been demoted as punishment for his errors in the Land Reform campaign of 1953-1956. The text has been placed on-line in the Virtual Vietnam Archive of the Vietnam Project, at Texas Tech University, in two parts: pp. 1-40 and pp. 41-76.

Truong Chinh, Primer for Revolt. New York: Praeger, 1963. An American reprint combining the above work with another, The Resistance Will Win (originally written in 1947, published in English in Hanoi in 1960). The full text is available online to paid subscribers of Questia.

Truong Chinh, For the Centenary of Lenin's Birth. Hanoi: Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1971. 45 pp. The text has been placed on-line in the Virtual Vietnam Archive of the Vietnam Project, at Texas Tech University, in three parts: pp. 1-16, pp. 17-30, and pp. 31-45.

Truong Chinh, Selected Writings. Hanoi: Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1977. 818 pp. There are no short items in this collection, just eight long ones, from "The August Revolution" (1946) and "The Resistance Will Win" (1947) to "Political Report at the Political Consultative Conference on National Reunification" (November 1975). Part of this, at least, has been placed on-line in the Virtual Vietnam Archive of the Vietnam Project, at Texas Tech University: "Implementing the Land Reform" (November 1953), pp. 465-510 and pp. 511-555. "Forward Along the Path Charted by Karl Marx (1968), pp. 557-605, pp. 606-655, pp. 656-673.

Truong Chinh and Vo Nguyen Giap, Van de dan cay. Hanoi: Su That, 1959. 131 pp. Originally published in Hanoi in 1937 and 1938, with the authors using the pseudonyms Qua Ninh and Van Dinh.

Truong Chinh and Vo Nguyen Giap, The Peasant Question, 1937-1938. Translated and introduced by Christine Pelzer White. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Southeast Asia Program, 1974. xii, 112 pp. Translation of the above item.

 
Van Tien Dung

Van Tien Dung, South Vietnam: U.S. Defeat Inevitable. Hanoi: Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1967. 47 pp.

Van Tien Dung et. al., Chien tranh nhan dan danh thang chien tranh pha hoai cua de quoc My. Hanoi: NXB Quan Doi Nhan Dan, 1968. 194 pp.

Van Tien Dung, May van de nghe thuat quan su Viet-Nam. Hanoi: NXB Quan Doi Nhan Dan, 1968. 322 pp. All or most of this material appears to have been written in 1966 and 1967. 2d. ed. Hanoi: NXB Quan Doi Nhan Dan, 1974. 401 pp.

Van Tien Dung, Dai thang mua xuan (Our great spring victory). 2d ed.: Hanoi: NXB Quan Doi Nhan Dan, 1977. 322 pp. 3d ed. (revised and enlarged): Hanoi: NXB Quan Doi Nhan Dan, 1995. 336 pp.

Van Tien Dung, Our Great Spring Victory. New York: Monthly Review Press, 1977. x, 275 pp. The final Communist victory of 1975, as told by the general who commanded the PAVN forces in that campaign. A U.S. government translation of roughly the first half of this work, taken from its 1976 publication in the Hanoi newspaper Nhan Dan, has been placed on-line in the Virtual Vietnam Archive of the Vietnam Project at Texas Tech University, in two parts: first part and second part.

Van Tien Dung, Chien tranh nhan dan, quoc phong toan dan [vol. 1?]. Hanoi: NXB Quan Doi Nhan Dan, 1978.

Van Tien Dung, Buoc ngoat lon cua cuoc khang chien chong My.  Hanoi: Su That, 1989. 255 pp.

Van Tien Dung, Cuoc khang chien chong My: toan thang.  Hanoi: Su That, 1991.

Van Tien Dung, Di theo con duong cua Bac: hoi ky. Hanoi: Chinh Tri Quoc Gia, 1993. 203 pp.

Van Tien Dung, Ve cuoc khang chien chong My cuu nuoc. Hanoi: Chinh Tri Quoc Gia, 1996. 537 pp.

Vo Nguyen Giap and Van Tien Dung, How We Won the War. Philadelphia: Recon Publications, 1976. 63 pp. (See comments below, under Vo Nguyen Giap).

 
Vo Nguyen Giap

Truong Chinh and Vo Nguyen Giap, Van de dan cay. Hanoi: Su That, 1959. 131 pp. Originally published in Hanoi in 1937 and 1938, with the authors using the pseudonyms Qua Ninh and Van Dinh.

Truong Chinh and Vo Nguyen Giap, The Peasant Question, 1937-1938. Translated and introduced by Christine Pelzer White. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Southeast Asia Program, 1974. xii, 112 pp. Translation of the above item.

Vo Nguyen Giap, American Imperialism's Intervention in Vietnam. Hanoi: Foreign Language Publishing House, 1955. 35 pp.

Vo Nguyen Giap, On the Implementation of the Geneva Agreements: Excerpts from a Report in the Fourth Session of the National Assembly, March 1955. Hanoi: Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1955. 51 pp.

Vo Nguyen Giap, People's War, People's Army. New York: Praeger, 1962. xl, 217 pp. Basic work by the man who beat the French. The full text is available online to paid subscribers of Questia.

Vo Nguyen Giap, Cuoc chien tranh giai phong cua nhan dan mien Nam chong de quoc My va tay sai nhat dinh thang loi. Hanoi: Quan Doi Nhan Dan, 1964. 67 pp.

Vo Nguyen Giap, Dien Bien Phu. Revised and enlarged edition. Hanoi: Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1964. 254 pp.

Vo Nguyen Giap, The South Vietnam People Will Win. Hanoi: Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1965. 127 pp.

Vo Nguyen Giap, Once Again We Will Win. Hanoi: Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1966. 48 pp. Translation of an article published in Hoc Tap January 1966. A somewhat abridged version of this article, titled "Let the Entire People Resolutely and Unanimously Step Up Their Great Patriotic War to Defeat the U.S. Aggressors," was broadcast in English by Radio Hanoi, 31 January 1966. The text, published as a special supplement to the U.S. Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) Daily Report: Far East, 1 February 1966, has been placed online in the Virtual Vietnam Archive of the Vietnam Project, at Texas Tech University. 14 pp.

Vo Nguyen Giap, "The Strategic Role of the Self-Defense Militia in the Great Anti-U.S. National Salvation Struggle of Our People." Text of a talk by General Vo Nguyen Giap at a January 1967 conference. The text, published as a special supplement to the U.S. Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) Daily Report: Asia & Pacific, 14 April 1967, has been placed online in the Virtual Vietnam Archive of the Vietnam Project, at Texas Tech University. 30 pp.

Vo Nguyen Giap, "The Big Victory; The Great Task." Nhan Dan and Quan Doi Nhan Dan, 14-16 September 1967, broadcast on Radio Hanoi, 17-20 September 1967. An English translation published as a special supplement to the U.S. Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) Daily Report: Asia & Pacific, 16 October 1967, has been placed online in the Virtual Vietnam Archive of the Vietnam Project at Texas Tech University: pp. 1-47, pp. 48-54.

Vo Nguyen Giap, "Big Victory, Great Task"; North Viet-Nam's Minister of Defense Assesses the Course of the War. New York: Praeger, 1968. xix, 120 pp. Introduction by David Schoenbrun.

Vo Nguyen Giap, interview with Oriana Fallaci, February 1969, in Oriana Fallaci, Interview with History (New York: Liveright, 1976), pp. 74-87. Ms. Fallaci also published in the Washington Post, April 6, 1969, pp. B1, B4, a detailed account of the interview, and a discussion (with phrases like "offical mutilation of the truth") on the difference between what General Giap said to her in the interview, and what was in the official text of it that she was given afterward.

Vo Nguyen Giap, Dien Bien Phu. 4th ed.: Hanoi: NXB Quan Doi Nhan Dan, 1969. 165 pp.

Russell Stetler, ed., The Military Art of People's War: Selected Writings of Vo Nguyen Giap. New York: Monthly Review Press, 1970. 332 pp. pb New York: Monthly Review Press, 1971. 332 pp. Contains material from various of the books listed above, but also some items that cannot so easily be found elsewhere. See for example Giap's interview with Madeleine Riffaud, May 1968, on pp. 319-327 (originally published in French in l'Humanité, June 4, 1968), in which Giap gave an exaggerated acount of the accomplishments of the Tet Offensive.

Vo Nguyen Giap, National Liberation War in Vietnam. Hanoi: Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1971. 142 pp.

Vietnam Documents and Research Notes. Saigon: U.S. Mission in Vietnam. This series was made up mainly of major Communist documents, some openly published in Hanoi and others captured by US forces, translated into English. The texts of some items in this series have been placed on-line in the Virtual Vietnam Archive of the Vietnam Project, at Texas Tech University. Those that translate Giap's works include:

No. 68, "Two Speeches by General Vo Nguyen Giap." November 1969. ii, 37 pp. Speeches given in June and July 1969. Text.

No. 70, "The Party's Military Line is the Ever-Victorious Banner of People's War in Our Country" by General Vo Nguyen Giap. January 1970. iii, 82 pp. Translation of material originally serialized in the newspapers Nhan Dan and Quan Doi Nhan Dan, December 14-17, 1969. Errata, front matter, and pp. 1-45,  and pp. 46-82.

No. 74, "Vietnamization . . . The Path Leading to Collapse." February 1970. iii, 30 pp. Translation of material originally broadcast on Liberation Radio in five installments, December 14, 15, 17, 1969, and January 3 and 4, 1970. Text.

No. 87, Developing Vietnamese Military Science: An Address by Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap. December 1970. vi, 32 pp. A speech given in September 1970, published in Nhan Dan and Quan Doi Nhan Dan, October 30, 31, 1970. The text.

No. 98, "World Situation and Our Party's International Mission" as seen from Hanoi, 1960-1964. September 1971. pp. 1-47: a long introduction written by the U.S. editors, tracing Lao Dong Party policy with many long quotes from party leaders (pp. 1-37), and the first part of Vo Nguyen Giap, "Strengthening National Defense and Building Up the People's Armed Forces," September 1960;   pp. 48-97: the remainder of Giap's essay (pp. 48-54), "Joint Statement of Chairman Liu Shao-chi and President Ho Chi Minh, May 1963 (pp. 55-67), and the first part of "World Situation and Our Party's International Mission" (resolution of the Lao Dong Party 9th Plenum, December 1963) (pp. 68-97);   pp. 98-147: remainder of "World Situation and Our Party's International Mission" (resolution of the Lao Dong Party 9th Plenum, December 1963) (pp. 98-134);  and pp. 148-153.

No. 106, Part I, "Arm the Revolutionary Masses and Build the People's Army" by General Vo Nguyen Giap, Chapters I and II. June 1972. iii, 54 pp. Translation of material originally published in Tap Chi Quan Doi Nhan Dan, issues for December 1971 and January 1972, and in Hoc Tap, issues for January and February 1972. Text. Note that the American translation was in three parts, while the Vietnamese original had been in four parts, so the numbers are out of synch.

No. 106, Part II, "Arm the Revolutionary Masses and Build the People's Army" by General Vo Nguyen Giap, Part III. June 1972. vi, 72 pp. Translation of material originally published in Hoc Tap, April 1972. Text, missing a couple of pages.

No. 106, Part III, "Arm the Revolutionary Masses and Build the People's Army" by General Vo Nguyen Giap, Part IV. October 1972. An introduction without page numbering, followed by 51 pp. of text. Translation of material originally published in the PAVN newspaper Quan Doi Nhan Dan, September 23-28, 1972. Front matter and pp. 1-30,  and pp. 31-51.

Vo Nguyen Giap, Vi tri chien luoc cua chien tranh nhan dan o dia phuong va cua cac luc luong vu trang dia phuong. Hanoi: Quan Doi Nhan Dan, 1972. 49 pp.

Vo Nguyen Giap, People's War Against U.S. Aeronaval War. Hanoi: Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1975. 223 pp. Speeches given at conferences in 1969 and 1970.

Vo Nguyen Giap, Dan quan tu ve, mot luc luong chien luoc. Hanoi: Su That, 1974. 261 pp.

Vo Nguyen Giap, To Arm the Revolutionary Masses, To Build the People's Army. Hanoi: Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1975. 233 pp.

Vo Nguyen Giap, Nhung nam thang khong the nao quen (Unforgettable months and years). Hanoi: NXB Quan Doi Nhan Dan, 1974. 440 pp. The revolution of 1945-1946.

Vo Nguyen Giap, Unforgettable Days. Hanoi: Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1975. 430 pp. Translation of the above item.

Vo Nguyen Giap, Unforgettable Months and Years. Ithaca, New York: Southeast Asia Program, Cornell University, 1975. viii, 103 pp. Translated and with introduction by Mai Van Elliott.

Vo Nguyen Giap, Tu nhan dan ma ra: hoi ky. Hanoi: Quan Doi Nhan Dan, 1975. 230 pp. A memoir of Giap's early life.

Vo Nguyen Giap, Dien Bien Phu. 2d ed.: Hanoi: Su That, 1976. 80 pp. 5th ed.: Hanoi: The Gioi, 1994. 166 pp. 7th ed. Hanoi: The Gioi, 2004. viii, 261 pp.

Vo Nguyen Giap and Van Tien Dung, How We Won the War. Philadelphia: Recon Publications, 1976. 63 pp.
        This book has been the subject of several unfounded rumors on the Internet. The first one began in the late 1990s. Supposedly, General Giap had written in How We Won the War that in the aftermath of the Tet Offensive of 1968, the Communist leaders in Vietnam had been ready to abandon the war, but that a broadcast by Walter Cronkite, declaring the Tet Offensive a Communist victory, persuaded them to change their minds and fight on. This rumor was entirely false. Giap had not mentioned Cronkite, and had not said the Communists had ever considered giving up on the war.
        Several variants of this rumor appeared in 2004. In these, Giap is supposed to have credited either the American anti-war movement in general, or John Kerry's organization (Vietnam Veterans Against the War) in particular, for persuading the Communist leaders to change their minds and not give up on the war. Giap is sometimes said to have made this statement in How We Won the War, sometimes in an unnamed 1985 memoir. All versions of the rumor are false. Neither in How We Won the War, nor in any other book (the 1985 memoir is entirely imaginary), has Giap mentioned Kerry or Vietnam Veterans Against the War, or said that the Communist leaders had ever considered giving up on the war.

Vo Nguyen Giap, Selected Writings. Hanoi: Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1977. 514 pp.

Vo Nguyen Giap, Pac Bo, nguon suoi. Hanoi: Van Hoa Dan Toc, 1990. 113 pp.

Stanley Karnow, "Giap Remembers," New York Times Magazine, June 24, 1990, pp. 22-23, 36, 39, 57-60. There is an unfounded rumor on the Internet claiming that in this interview, Giap said that the Viet Cong ceased to be a fighting force after the Tet Offensive of 1968. Giap did not say that in this interview and has not said it elsewhere.

Vo Nguyen Giap, Dien Bien Phu. Hanoi: Chinh Tri Quoc Gia, 1994. 362 pp. Revised edition: Hanoi: Chinh Tri Quoc Gia, 1998. 370 pp.

Vo Nguyen Giap, Chien dau trong vong vay (Fighting in a situation of encirclement). Hanoi: NXB Quan Doi Nhan Dan, 1995. 436 pp. Covers the period from 1946 to 1950. Translated as Fighting Under Siege: Reminiscences. Hanoi: The Gioi, 2004. 314 pp.

Vo Nguyen Giap, Duong toi Dien Bien Phu (The road to Dien Bien Phu). Hanoi: NXB Quan Doi Nhan Dan, 1999. 427 pp. Covers the period from late 1950 to late 1953.

Vo Nguyen Giap, Dien Bien Phu, diem hen lich su. Hanoi: NXB Quan Doi Nhan Dan, 2000. 476 pp. Second edition, revised: Hanoi: NXB Quan Doi Nhan Dan, 2001. 452 pp.

Vo Nguyen Giap, with Huu Mai, Dien Bien Phu: Rendezvous with History: A Memoir. Hanoi: The Gioi, 2004. 479 pp. An annotated translation by Lady Borton of the preceding item.

Vo Nguyen Giap, with Huu Mai, Mémoires, 1946-1954, 3 vols. Paris: Anako, 2003-2004. Vol. I, La résistance encerclée, 314 pp., covers the period up to the summer of 1950. Vol. II, Le chemin menant à Diên Biên Phu, 304 pp., covers late 1950 to late 1953. Vol. III, Diên Biên Phu, Le rendez-vous de l'histoire, 346 pp., covers the end of the First Indochina War. (These are French translations of the three volumes represented by the four entries immediately above.)

Cecil B. Currey, "Senior General Vo Nguyen Giap Remembers" Journal of Third World Studies, Fall 2003. Covers the early part of General Giap's career.

Vo Nguyen Giap, Tong hanh dinh trong mua xuan toan thang: Hoi uc. Hanoi: NXB Chinh Tri Quoc Gia, 2000. 374 pp. Edited by Pham Chi Nhan. The story of the last years of the war, from 1972 onward.

Vo Nguyen Giap, The General Headquarters in the Spring of Brilliant Victory: Memoirs. Hanoi: The Gioi, 2002. 350 pp. An English translation of the preceeding item.

Vo Nguyen Giap, Tong tap hoi ky. Hanoi: NXB Quan Doi Nhan Dan, 2006. 1359 pp. A collection of memoirs General Giap has written, covering various portions of his life: Tu nhan dan ma ra (presumably covering his early life), Nhung nam thang khong the nao quen (Unforgettable months and years, covering 1945-46), Chien dau trong vong vay (Fighting in a situation of encirclement, covering 1946-1950), Duong toi Dien Bien Phu (The road to Dien Bien Phu, covering from late 1950 to late 1953), Dien Bien Phu, diem hen lich su (1953-54), and Tong hanh dinh trong mua xuan toan thang (late 1972 to the end of the war in 1975).

Dai Tuong Vo Nguyen Giap voi cuoc hhang chien chong My, cuu nuoc.  Hanoi: NXB Quan Doi Nhan Dan, 2005. 1002 pp. In this huge volume, pp. 15-782 are a collection of Giap's writings and speeches, dating between 1964 and 1972. pp. 783-1002 are the 2004 version of Tong hanh dinh trong mua xuan toan thang, Giap's memoir of the period 1972-1975.

John Colvin, Giap: Volcano under Snow. New York: Soho, 1996. xii, 336 pp. The few pages at which I have glanced were not very accurate. The strangest errors I have noticed are on p. 272. Here Colvin states that the Republican Party's caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives voted, on January 4, 1973, to cut off funds for U.S. combat operations in Indochina. He also appears to say that the final version of the Paris Peace Agreement signed January 27, 1973, formally recognized the Saigon government as the legal government of South Vietnam, and authorized "unrestricted US military support for the ARVN."

Cecil B. Currey, Victory at Any Cost: The Genius of Viet Nam's Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap. Washington: Brassey's, 1997. xxii, 401 pp. The two sections at which I have looked are the one on the land reform of the 1950s, which was dreadfully inaccurate (note the spurious quotation from Giap on p. 222--Giap did not actually say that in the land reform Communist leaders allowed "too many deviations and executed too many honest people"), and the one on the Tet Offensive of 1968, which was also seriously inaccurate.

General Hoang Cu, General Giap: His Youth. Youth Publishing House, 2008. 154 pp. Covers the years up to about 1937.

Peter MacDonald, Giap: The Victor in Vietnam. New York: Norton, 1993. 368 pp. The brief glance I have taken at this suggests it is not reliable.

Robert O'Neill, General Giap: Politician and Strategist. New York: Praeger, 1969. xi, 219 pp.

Tran Trong Trung, Tong tu lenh Vo Nguyen Giap [Supreme Commander Vo Nguyen Giap]. Hanoi: NXB Chinh Tri Quoc Gia, 2006. 910 pp.

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Copyright © 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, Edwin E. Moise. This document may be reproduced only by permission. Revised July 25, 2008.