Ho Chi Minh: A Life


  • Lowest New Price: $11.00
  • Lowest Used Price: $4.00
  • Total New: 29
  • Total Used: 33
  • Total Collectible: 0
  • Total Refurbished: 0

    • Features:

    • ISBN13: 9780786887019
    • Condition: New
    • Notes: BUY WITH CONFIDENCE, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and service to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed
    • Author : William J. Duiker
    • Binding : Paperback
    • Dewey Decimal Number : 959.704092
    • EAN : 9780786887019
    • ISBN : 078688701X
    • Is Eligible For Trade In? : Yes
    • Label : Hyperion
    • List Price : $18.95 (USD)
    • Manufacturer : Hyperion
    • Number Of Items : 1
    • Number Of Pages : 752
    • Package Dimensions : 1.81 inches (Height) x 9.13 inches (Length) x 2.07 pounds (Weight) x 6.14 inches (Width)
    • Publication Date : 2001-11-28
    • Publisher : Hyperion
    • Release Date : 2001-11-28
    • Studio : Hyperion

    Ho Chi Minh (1890-1969) fought for half a century to free Vietnam from foreign domination, and the story of his life illuminates the ongoing struggle between colonialism and nationalism that still shapes world history. William J. Duiker, who served in Saigon's U.S. embassy during the Vietnam War, spent 30 years delving into Vietnamese and European archives, as well as interviewing Minh's surviving colleagues, in order to write this definitive biography. The son of a civil servant from a traditionally rebellious province, the future president of North Vietnam was known for more than 20 years as Nguyen That Thanh. It was under this name that he founded the Vietnamese Communist Party, having concluded after reading Lenin's analysis of imperialism that revolutionary Marxism was the most effective tool to achieve Vietnam's independence. He spent 30 years in exile, cementing his communist ties in Moscow and working with Vietnamese rebels from a base in China, before assuming the name Ho Chi Minh in 1942, when the forces unleashed by World War II seemed to be clearing the way for Vietnamese liberation. French intransigence and American anti-communism would delay the emergence of an independent, united Vietnam for another 30 years, but Ho became an icon who inspired the communist North and the Southern Vietcong to keep fighting. Focusing almost exclusively on political events and ideological debates, Duiker depicts Ho as a nationalist first and foremost, but also as a convinced (though pragmatic) Marxist who believed socialism would help his country modernize and correct ancient inequities. This long, very detailed biography is not for the casual reader, but anyone with a serious interest in modern history will relish a dense narrative that fully conveys the complexities of the man and the issues with which he grappled. --Wendy Smith

    - Amazon.com Review

    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!

    - Product Description

    Customer Reviews:

    Rated 4.5 stars Customers rated Ho Chi Minh: A Life 4.5 stars out of 5.0 based on 35 reviews:

    • Excellent look at a fascinating life

      by John Weathers (Smyrna, GA USA) - 2010-07-05  Rated 5 stars
      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.

    • "UNCLE HO"

      by Joseph R. Calamia (El Paso, Texas) - 2009-05-05  Rated 5 stars
      "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.

    • Remarkable

      by J R Lankford - 2009-03-24  Rated 5 stars
      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

    • More for Scholars than Casual Reading

      by Gordon C. Duus (Glen Ridge, NJ USA) - 2008-12-06  Rated 4 stars
      I visited Viet Nam in 2002. After reading a favorable review of this book in the New York Times, I decided to take it with me on the trip to read during the 24 hour plane rides and down times. I had already read Stanley Karnow's excellent book Viet Nam: A History, and thought this book would provide interesting insights into my trip, particularly in Hanoi where many of the events described in the book occurred. But this book is written in such a scholarly style that made it difficult to use for that purpose. Apparently, there were no quality biographies of Ho Chi Minh before this was written. It was extensively researched and provides detailed descriptions of the first 55 years of Ho's life prior to World War II. This clearly took substantial effort because Ho used many aliases to avoid capture by the French colonial government of Viet Nam and he traveled all over the world, including to China, Russia, France (he was a chef in Escoffier's Paris kitchen!) and the United States. The problem is that the first 55 years of his life are somewhat uneventful, and so the 300 pages that cover them are not that interesting for casual reading. This book starts to pick up the pace during World War II, when Ho and his followers assisted the Allies fighting in the Pacific theatre. Ho made overtures to the United States for assistance in establishing the independence of Viet Nam from France. When that effort failed, he led the effort to defeat the French and unify the country. When the United States stepped in to assist South Viet Nam in its fight against communist North Viet Nam, Ho, now in his seventies, helped lead the effort by the North to win the war. He died in 1969, years before Saigon fell in 1975, but not before becoming the founding father of a unified Viet Nam. Over 600 pages to get where this book takes you will become a bit of a chore to anyone other than a scholar who really wants all of the mind-numbing details of Ho's life. And as well written as this was, I found myself wishing that the author and his editor had condensed it down to the 300 pages that would have better held my interest.

    • Thank you Mr William J. Duiker, I really appreciate your book.

      by Ha Thanh Tran (New Zealand) - 2008-07-07  Rated 5 stars
      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.

    Your Opinion Counts:

    Copyright © 1999-2010 Data Growth Pty Ltd. All rights reserved.
    Privacy Policy | Terms of Use |