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Ho
Offering a rare Vietnamese perspective, this brief biography focuses on Ho's political development and the power of his personality in enlisting the support of his countrymen. -- (Softcover)
Paperback
First published January 1, 1971
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About the author
David Halberstam
98 books863 followersDavid Halberstam was an American journalist and historian, known for his work on the Vietnam War, politics, history, the Civil Rights Movement, business, media, American culture, and later, sports journalism. He was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting in 1964.
Halberstam graduated from Harvard University with a degree in journalism in 1955 and started his career writing for the Daily Times Leader in West Point, Mississippi. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, writing for The Tennessean in Nashville, Tennessee, he covered the beginnings of the American Civil Rights Movement.
In the mid 1960s, Halberstam covered the Vietnam War for The New York Times. While there, he gathered material for his book The Making of a Quagmire: America and Vietnam during the Kennedy Era. In 1963, he received a George Polk Award for his reporting at the New York Times. At the age of 30, he won a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting on the war. He is interviewed in the 1968 documentary film on the Vietnam War entitled In the Year of the Pig.
Halberstam's most well known work is The Best and the Brightest. Halberstam focused on the paradox that those who shaped the U.S. war effort in Vietnam were some of the most intelligent, well-connected and self-confident men in America—"the best and the brightest"—and yet those same individuals were responsible for the failure of the United States Vientnam policy.
After publication of The Best and the Brightest in 1972, Halberstam plunged right into another book and in 1979 published The Powers That Be. The book provided profiles of men like William Paley of CBS, Henry Luce of Time magazine, Phil Graham of The Washington Post—and many others.
Later in his career, Halberstam turned to the subjects of sports, publishing The Breaks of the Game, an inside look at the Bill Walton and the 1978 Portland Trailblazers basketball team; an ambitious book on Michael Jordan in 1999 called Playing for Keeps; and on the pennant race battle between the Yankees and Red Sox called Summer of '49.
Halberstam published two books in the 1960s, three books in the 1970s, four books in the 1980s, and six books in the 1990s. He published four books in the 2000s and was on a pace to publish six or more books in that decade before his death.
David Halberstam was killed in a car crash on April 23, 2007 in Menlo Park, California.
Halberstam graduated from Harvard University with a degree in journalism in 1955 and started his career writing for the Daily Times Leader in West Point, Mississippi. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, writing for The Tennessean in Nashville, Tennessee, he covered the beginnings of the American Civil Rights Movement.
In the mid 1960s, Halberstam covered the Vietnam War for The New York Times. While there, he gathered material for his book The Making of a Quagmire: America and Vietnam during the Kennedy Era. In 1963, he received a George Polk Award for his reporting at the New York Times. At the age of 30, he won a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting on the war. He is interviewed in the 1968 documentary film on the Vietnam War entitled In the Year of the Pig.
Halberstam's most well known work is The Best and the Brightest. Halberstam focused on the paradox that those who shaped the U.S. war effort in Vietnam were some of the most intelligent, well-connected and self-confident men in America—"the best and the brightest"—and yet those same individuals were responsible for the failure of the United States Vientnam policy.
After publication of The Best and the Brightest in 1972, Halberstam plunged right into another book and in 1979 published The Powers That Be. The book provided profiles of men like William Paley of CBS, Henry Luce of Time magazine, Phil Graham of The Washington Post—and many others.
Later in his career, Halberstam turned to the subjects of sports, publishing The Breaks of the Game, an inside look at the Bill Walton and the 1978 Portland Trailblazers basketball team; an ambitious book on Michael Jordan in 1999 called Playing for Keeps; and on the pennant race battle between the Yankees and Red Sox called Summer of '49.
Halberstam published two books in the 1960s, three books in the 1970s, four books in the 1980s, and six books in the 1990s. He published four books in the 2000s and was on a pace to publish six or more books in that decade before his death.
David Halberstam was killed in a car crash on April 23, 2007 in Menlo Park, California.
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
September 4, 2017
Ho is the precis of much longer political biography. In 1971, Ho the man, the thinker, and revolutionary political leader had already disappeared behind decades of underground life on the run and deliberate communist myth making. Halberstam draws from the best available evidence to describe Ho Chi Minh's career. Ho was an ardent Vietnamese nationalist who, while living in Paris around World War I, found the Communist Party to be the only group speaking to the concerns of colonized people. When the chance for Vietnamese freedom came post World War 2, the Vietn Minh was the group best placed to seize it, whatever the cost.
At just over 100 pages, and based primarily on interviews with a handful of Western journalists and writings from the 1920s, this book is necessarily thin of hard details. Halberstam is an engaging writer as always, but he doesn't have the tools to grapple with the big questions: How did the Viet Minh grow and win their wars? How did Ho Chi Minh avoid the authoritarian purges and cults of personality that characterized other Communist parties? (Not to cast Ho Chi Minh as blameless. There is blood on his hands, but it's nothing compared to Stalin and Mao.)
I'm sure better books on Ho Chi Minh have been written since the 70s.
At just over 100 pages, and based primarily on interviews with a handful of Western journalists and writings from the 1920s, this book is necessarily thin of hard details. Halberstam is an engaging writer as always, but he doesn't have the tools to grapple with the big questions: How did the Viet Minh grow and win their wars? How did Ho Chi Minh avoid the authoritarian purges and cults of personality that characterized other Communist parties? (Not to cast Ho Chi Minh as blameless. There is blood on his hands, but it's nothing compared to Stalin and Mao.)
I'm sure better books on Ho Chi Minh have been written since the 70s.
February 28, 2020
A short but effective read on the education and creation of a revolutionary icon. David Halberstam cuts into the ethereal fog that surrounds and obscures Western perceptions of Ho Chi Minh. Perhaps an underrated 3 stars.
Likes:
+ brief but dense prose
+ vivid visualizations through effective writing
+ Halberstam displays depth of insight into the roots of revolutionary war in Southeast Asia
Dislikes:
- some of Halberstam's analysis on the Vietnam War, particularly regarding the Tet Offense, are highly contestable
- ultimately more of a long essay than deep historical work
Likes:
+ brief but dense prose
+ vivid visualizations through effective writing
+ Halberstam displays depth of insight into the roots of revolutionary war in Southeast Asia
Dislikes:
- some of Halberstam's analysis on the Vietnam War, particularly regarding the Tet Offense, are highly contestable
- ultimately more of a long essay than deep historical work
November 15, 2025
Strong writing from a younger and more idealistic Halberstam in the early chapters. Not much was learned in the latter half.
September 21, 2018
Well-written and exciting biography. In telling the successes of Ho, Halbestram often put the Communist Leader in relation to Vietnam's socio-historical context at that time, as well as drawing comparison between him and his rivals, be it the French, the Americans, or the Nationalist. However, this book does not explain the legacy of Ho's leadership, other than there's no power struggle and North Vietnamese victory after his death. Nevertheless, Halbestram's Ho is a fine introduction for Vietnamese, and other Third World nationals, early 20th century anti-colonial struggle.
February 24, 2013
Short, fascinating biography of Ho Chi Minh written in 1971. It's especially interesting to read how Ho drew upon the American and French conceptions of liberty to announce the independence of Vietnam. This is probably new and very important information for the generation that came of age after the American War drew to a close in 1975.
October 9, 2015
Very interesting biography. It's good to see this perspective. You can see the author glosses over the bad parts of Ho, though. But his view of the mess of Vietnam is worthwhile.
May 5, 2015
Ho almost disappears in the last third of the book. Probably the best a Western journalist could do in 1971; I'll have to read the Duiker bio.
November 29, 2019
Halberstam was a hell of a writer and I always thought this little book was one of his better gems...
July 6, 2020
After reading this, Ho Chi Min changed from a hated communist in my mind to an intelligent, very interesting man.
August 8, 2023
The best book you will ever read about Ho Chi Minh and how he became a revolutionary. Incidentally, it explains a LOT about why the US had so much trouble in Vietnam (we lost, man!).
June 20, 2024
great little bio, certainly need to keep on reading.
A titan of 20th century history
A titan of 20th century history
May 31, 2022
Initially published in 1971, this book was a unique if controversial look at the life and elusive cult of personality that was Ho Chi Minh.
On the back of the book cover, The Times reviews the book by saying "The reader may or may not accept Halberstam's basic viewpoint. Even so, this book is a very searching analysis of what made Ho tick."
It is a short, engaging, easy read for anyone searching for an objective view of history; less appealing, certainly, for the American looking for a pro-Western tale of Vietnam.
What stood out most to me was the book's inadvertent lesson of East vs. West warfare, and the culture of what one side views as Communism being the other side's view of freedom. Some 50 years later, the tales of violence and diplomacy are surprisingly relatable to modern politics.
For a quick read, I would definitely recommend for anyone looking for a broader understanding of this man and the unique traits that, for better or worse, made him a power player in shaping world history.
On the back of the book cover, The Times reviews the book by saying "The reader may or may not accept Halberstam's basic viewpoint. Even so, this book is a very searching analysis of what made Ho tick."
It is a short, engaging, easy read for anyone searching for an objective view of history; less appealing, certainly, for the American looking for a pro-Western tale of Vietnam.
What stood out most to me was the book's inadvertent lesson of East vs. West warfare, and the culture of what one side views as Communism being the other side's view of freedom. Some 50 years later, the tales of violence and diplomacy are surprisingly relatable to modern politics.
For a quick read, I would definitely recommend for anyone looking for a broader understanding of this man and the unique traits that, for better or worse, made him a power player in shaping world history.
March 6, 2018
Halberstam's extended essay on Ho Chi Minh, and the Vietnam War generally, lacks the magisterial biographical impact of William Duiker's book, but delivers on sharp insights and analysis as to why the reputations of so many French and American politicians and generals were shipwrecked by the ambitions and determinations of Ho Chi Minh.
Halberstam's book is certainly a bit dated - for example, he ascribes the Tet Offensive to General Giap, whereas further reporting since the 1970s has revealed that Le Duan was the prime mover behind the 1968 strategy (and indeed had largely taken the reigns of government of North Vietnam by the late 1960s). However, the easy tone, the contrasting of Ho Chi Minh against South Vietnamese forces duering the American War, and the occasional anecdotes dropped in by Halberstam still make this a worthwhile read.
As ever, Ho Chi Minh remains a man of mystery, but also one of historical significance for the 20th Century, and beyond.
Halberstam's book is certainly a bit dated - for example, he ascribes the Tet Offensive to General Giap, whereas further reporting since the 1970s has revealed that Le Duan was the prime mover behind the 1968 strategy (and indeed had largely taken the reigns of government of North Vietnam by the late 1960s). However, the easy tone, the contrasting of Ho Chi Minh against South Vietnamese forces duering the American War, and the occasional anecdotes dropped in by Halberstam still make this a worthwhile read.
As ever, Ho Chi Minh remains a man of mystery, but also one of historical significance for the 20th Century, and beyond.
August 7, 2017
The late (damn it, gone too soon!!!) great David Halberstam published this in 1971 and nailed on the head the man and his fight to liberate Vietnam. Also pinpointed how it all went wrong for the French and the US. Winning the hearts and minds was the correct philosophy, but being oblivious to the social structure post the French surrender in Vietnam and how those neo-mandarin political appointments of those that fought on the French side or were complacent and did not nothing did not bode well to move forward. Too much bravado and under estimations have been repeated in the 21st century. This book takes you back to a time when policing the world was a brand new concept that quickly went wrong.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 3, 2023
An interesting read for sure. Halberstam, treats this more like a essay then an actual biography and isn’t shy to put his opinion in it. It is surprisingly an entertaining read, but I found myself at times wondering about details that seemed to be missing from most of the writings. The details of Ho’s escapes from prison, what his death actually looked like other then like a paragraph of “he died being right”. Y’know? If those details are available that is. Overall a good read especially from when it was written.
August 12, 2011
Halberstam writes with enthusiasm, energy, and has insight, but he lacks details and hard analysis. Also the work is laudatory to the point of annoyance, including the author's closing positive sentiments about the Baby Boomer generation. Wonder how he feels after they elected Reagan and Bush Jr? If you you want to know what made Ho attractive to people this is a good book, but there has to be a better book about him out there.
September 28, 2009
Although not badly written I did find the short book, only 118 pages, to seem longer. I come away from the book gladly knowing more than I did before and communism was the least of Ho Chi Minh’s agenda, if at all.
January 26, 2018
Humanizes Ho and shows his humanity, humbleness, and his viscous nature too
A truly captivating insightful book, on the mentality and ignorance of the west and how they underestimated Ho and had no inclination of the foresight and genius he possessed.
A truly captivating insightful book, on the mentality and ignorance of the west and how they underestimated Ho and had no inclination of the foresight and genius he possessed.
January 21, 2008
A very good sweet and short historical overview of one of the 20th century's awesome political leaders.
July 13, 2017
a short bio written by a good author. very informative and a good, quick read. I had little to no knowledge of Ho Chi Minh. Certainly recommended for anyone interested in Vietnam
October 8, 2012
Interesting but short biography of one of the most successful freedom fighters in history.
July 7, 2014
Good for the time it was written (1972). Much has been disclosed and made available since then.
November 26, 2015
Interesting to look beyond the Vietnam War era domestic reporting to learn more about this elusive leader, really a patriot for his country.
May 16, 2016
book club book, too short
February 27, 2023
Great 130 page read!!
July 22, 2018
Very short biography, not as much depth as I was hoping for.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews