| Ho Chi Minh - A Political Biography
(1968)
|
| Front Cover |
Book Details |
|
| Genre |
Non-Fiction; Biography |
| Subject |
Hồ, Chí Minh, 1890-1969 |
| Publication Date |
1968 |
| Format |
Hardcover (8.7
mm)
|
| Publisher |
Random House |
|
|
| Personal Details |
| Store |
AbeBooks |
| Purchase Price |
$14.50 |
| Acquire Date |
11/24/2018 |
| Condition |
Very Good/Good |
| Rating |
0 |
| Links |
Library of Congress
|
|
| Product Details |
| LoC Classification |
DS557.A76 .H643 |
| Dewey |
959.7/04/0924 |
| Cover Price |
$5.95 |
| No. of Pages |
313 |
| First Edition |
No |
| Rare |
No |
|
| Notes/Review |
Although this book was published before Ho's death, I would still consider it a "whole life" biography.
I consider myself fairly well-versed in the involvement of the USA in Vietnam since WWII. But it is all from the American perspective. I wanted to read this book to both get a more well-rounded view of Vietnam as well as to understand that nation's most important leader.
When reading biography I always try to take into account any biases the author may provide and apply a sort of "filter" to the text. I am not familiar with Jean Lacouture, but reading this book leads me to believe he brought a definite positive bias to the subject. I'd say this book tends toward hagiography. Ho is almost uniformly portrayed positively. There are few mentions of anything bad Ho did or about any bad treatment of the people by the government Ho led, and those mentions are just a few words. A well-rounded biography would include more critique.
I expect modern non-fiction to be well noted (either footnotes or end notes) but this one has very few, and a high proportion of those notes cite only a handful of sources. It also lacks a bibliography and any photos of Ho other than the front cover.
That said, the book did meet my goals. It doesn't spend much time on the "American" war, but does go into detail of the struggle with France. It also does a good job describing how Ho tried to not get too reliant on either China or the USSR. Although Ho was steeped in Leninist thought, he realized that the peasants of rural Vietnam didn't face the same struggle as the proletariat of more industrialized nations.
In spite of only giving the book 3 stars, I'd recommend it to anyone studying the American war in Vietnam, particularly the last two chapters. |
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