Selected Ho Chi Minh

by Hồ Chí Minh, Vijay Prashad (Editor)

Poet Ho Chi Minh,
who punches from Vietnam
to all humanity.
No cannon will erase
the furrow of your rice field.
The right to live in peace.

So sang Victor Jara, the legendary Chilean singer-poet, on behalf of millions around the world who were inspired by the heroism of the Vietnamese people, and by their leader, Ho Chi Minh.

Ho, Ho, Ho Chi Minh / We shall fight, we shall win!

For a revolutionary whose name is immortalised in songs and slogans worldwide, astonishingly little of Ho Chi Minh’s writing is available to a global readership. This volume seeks to fill that gap in some measure.

It is often said of Ho Chi Minh that he was not a theorist and that he did not leave behind a corpus of theoretical texts. This is a narrow and false judgment. Ho Chi Minh did not have the time to set out a major theoretical treatise on the nature of the Vietnamese Revolution, but the texts he left behind – a fraction of them collected in this volume – help us to understand the theory that enabled him to lead the Indochinese Communist Party and then the Workers Party to victory against imperialist aggression and to start the process of constructing socialism in Vietnam.

Genres: Nonfiction, Politics, History, Philosophy, Theory

317 pages, Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 2022

About the author

Vietnamese Communist revolutionary and statesman who was Prime Minister and President of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam).

Reviews

[s · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is fucking insane i learned so much and i’m glad i gave this collection of writings the gradual reading time it deserves - what lies in this book is not only an incredible theoretical treatise but an evocative account of revolutionary history that is alternative to mere facts or retellings. HCM’s boundless love for his people, his dedication to revolutionary education, and the promise of socialism all but burst through every single one of these pages, and it’s abundantly clear why the Vietnamese people loved him as well.

[Lo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like any successful communist, Ho Chi Minh took inspiration from all that came before him. From the Paris Commune, to the American Revolution, to the USSR, to China, to Lady Trieu and incorporated it into the material and historical realities of Vietnam. Minh revised Marxism down to its historical foundations, and like Fanon says, developed with views that are outside the boundaries of Western narratives. His Marxist analysis, critique, and rejection of dogmatism is shown in these texts and were crucial to the success of the War of Resistance and Socialist Construction in Vietnam.

Ho Chi Minh’s and the Vietnamese heroism broke the yoke of imperialism in Southeast Asia. Fighting not only the French colonists but also the Japanese and then back to the French and Americans. He passed before Vietnam was fully united, democratic, and free but he knew it was inevitable because of the work done.

There are obvious parallels in the War of Resistance that Palestinians wage against Israel and America. Minh and Lenin agree that marxists must encourage the national liberation struggles sometimes before the phase of proletarian struggle. Not that they are separate because they must be built up together and usually the proletarians are nonetheless the vanguard of the liberation struggle. That’s apparent in Palestine with the Resistance containing a massive coalition of Marxists. God willing we see these successes pass in Palestine and throughout the world.

[Carolyn Huynh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Important and alarmingly beautiful. May Uncle Ho's urgent words on revolutions be a balm and a light in a world full of grief.

[Leo46 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bach Ho, Uncle Ho, Ho Chi Minh were just some of the hundreds of pseudonyms this revolutionary leader went by (also a reason for his sparse accounts of writings). This collection by Vijay is presented very well in a way that captures Vietnam's unique place in Marxist-Leninist revolutions, colonial liberations, and imperialist aggression (different times of French colonization, then Japanese occupation, and finally US aggression and one of the bloodiest wars in the modern era). By reading these selections, one gets a great understanding of the evaluation of Vietnam's material conditions by way of the Marxist (-Leninist) method, the important place of national(ist) revolution in the context of the progression of revolutions, and his novel thought of patriotic emulation. However, Ho Chi Minh himself clarifies that he's not attempting to make any new theory but only trying to apply ML to Vietnam in order to liberate his people and fight imperialism. Subsequently, he shows his immense and clear understanding of theory through his writings (that aren't even clearly stated what exactly was translated from what language since he was fluent in 5) and it's importance to be unified with practice in revolutionary work.
"Theory is the summing up of the experiences of the workers' movements of all countries to the present time. Stalin said that theory is the science of laws governing the development of nature and society, the science of revolution of the oppressed and exploited masses, the science of the success of socialism in all countries, and the science of communist construction" (268-9). I particularly love this definition he gave at the opening of a school for cadres to learn theory. He also has a couple addresses to women in this book showing his aptness in aligning women's struggle with socialist struggle and implementing their emancipation at least constitutionally and speaking of the USSR's accomplishment on that front, that is, in women's equally immense and important output of political, economic, cultural, and especially engineering work. Lastly, he gives great exposition of the histories of many different revolutions and the history of Vietnam, countering many of the critiques I heard from Trotskyites (from IMT) on uncle Ho.
One of the few things I'm iffy on is his insight on Khrushchev's infamous 20th national Congress as an example of fixing mistakes through self criticism. Also, the book is probably more pricey just for a pretty cover and probably the promotion of 1804books and The People's Forum Revolutionary Summer School (which I read this book for). Vijay's intro is also a pretty half-assed summary of the entire selections with half of it just being biography with some interesting anecdotes. I'm just saying he doesn't really offer any interesting or analytically productive content, sadly.
Nevertheless, the work culminates and ended with Ho Chi Minh's beautiful last testament, cementing the Vietnamese people and their struggle of liberation as an astronomical success against all odds. To think it all started with a few dudes in a room with a few rifles to a full on revolution and mass mobilization in 6 years is incredible. All the devestating deaths and ongoing nuclear-influenced biological mutations/deformations shall be remembered as monstrosities of colonialist and imperialist hostility, but not for nothing, as Vietnam, "we are bound to win total victory. This is a certainty" (314). "The yanks will beat; we will build a country ten times more beautiful" (316).

[Toon Melis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wat een boek! Ho chi minh is echt iemand die Marxisme-Leninisme in de praktijk bracht. Iemand die in elke situatie hoofd en secundaire tegenstellingen kon onderscheiden. Iemand die historisch materialisme heel goed had bestuurd en dialectisch materialisme heel goed kon toepassen op de situatie van Vietnam. Alle toespraken bevatten de succesen maar ook de grote valkuilen. Kortom zeker lezen

[Thomas Baughman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A worthwhile selection of Ho's writings and speeches.

[Y Kanan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ho Chi Minh, having seen the suffering, pain and exploitation his people went through at the hands of the French became more and more radicalised. He wanted to help change that in any way possible. Seeing the success of the Bolshevik revolution and the emancipation that it had granted to millions, combined with the influence of the French Communist Party and his compatriots in exile, he came to understand that that was the path he wants to pursue. You can clearly see an improvement in his thought, intelligence, and writing throughout the years.

In his works in the 1920s he comes over as an passionate but not necessarily skilled writer and critic, but when it is compared to his later years, the change in him and his thought is immediately recognisable in every way, except in his passionate critique and his love for his people and others oppressed throughout the world, which remains beautifully the same. The insights the selected works give on how a revolution goes through practical matters are also immense, he explains in detail the issues that the ICP and CPV and how to correct them, he touches on successes and failures. Sadly he did not live long enough to see the reunification of his nation, having passed away a few years prior.

[dani㋛ · Rating 5 out of 5]

very easy to get through, especially for my low attention span 👍 recommend as a beginner read esp if u want to learn more about vietnamese history and their fight against imperialism and fascism.

this is a mandatory read for my fellow viet-american diaspora. within this book i found the answers i was looking for regarding our place in american imperialism as well as the gaps in knowledge on our own history. this book and bác hồ has reinvigorated my motivation for organizing and reading.

[Dante · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was interesting to read but I think Prashad could have done a better job editing the book, it needed either more historical introductions, or to be sectioned into themed chapters instead of just by date... He gives really long footnotes at times but I would have preferred something more substantial. Anyway, it was good to read Ho, now I have to supplement it with a history book.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's hard to rate such a thing, but it was nice to get a sense of Ho Chi Minh's ideas. He was an incredible figure.