Book series about General Giap released in five foreign languages

A series of books entitled Vo Nguyen Giap - The People's General, with a Vietnamese version and five bilingual versions, has been published to pay tribute to the commander of the Dien Bien Phu campaign in 1954.

Published by the Su That (Truth) National Political Publishing House, the series is being released in Vietnamese and five foreign languages, including English, French, Spanish, Chinese and Arabic, to mark the 70th anniversary of the Dien Bien Phu victory.

The book series is released in the northern province of Dien Bien. Photo: Ngo Minh/The Hanoi Times

The books, whose lead author was Professor Vu Trong Lam, director and editor-in-chief of the publishing house, portray the life and revolutionary career of General Vo Nguyen Giap - a brave, loyal and indomitable communist, a military genius, an excellent disciple of President Ho Chi Minh, a highly respected leader of the Party, State and people of Vietnam, and the first general of the Vietnamese People's Army.

“One of the finest generals in history, General Vo Nguyen Giap was also a brilliant strategist and a military genius to the Vietnamese people. As well as being revered as a national hero by the Vietnamese, his name has had a lasting influence on his friends abroad. The name Vo Nguyen Giap has become extremely personal and intimate with the people and peace-loving people of countries around the world,” Lam said.
The recollections of the General help the reader to piece together a picture of a military leader who, in every situation, always showed the courage of a loyal communist, maintained the will for independence and remarkably fulfilled all the tasks assigned to him by the Party, the State and the people. He always described himself as "a drop of water in the ocean", equal to all other soldiers, and acknowledged the great merits and sacrifices of the people and soldiers who fought on the battlefields.
The books are also an affirmation that Giap's reputation, prestige, moral qualities and personality transcended the borders of Vietnam to become a symbol of revolutionary heroism and greatly contributed to the struggle for peace, independence and social progress against oppression, exploitation and injustice in the colonized countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America. All these earned the General the admiration of progressive and peace-loving people all over the world.

Lead author Vu Trong Lam (left) and Arabic translator Saleem Hammad (center) at the book launch in Hanoi. Photo: Nam Nguyen/The Hanoi Times

Saleem Hammad, the Arabic translator of the book, expects that a large proportion of the more than 400 million Arabs in the world will read and understand more about the life, personality and great achievements that General Vo Nguyen Giap left behind for the Vietnamese people and humanity.

"We Palestinians greatly admire General Vo Nguyen Giap, not only now but for a long time. There was even a Palestinian who named his child Giap. Palestine always looks to Vietnam as a source of inspiration and motivation to continue the just struggle of the Palestinian people for independence and freedom," said Saleem Hammad.

At the same time as publishing the paper books, the publishing house also publishes the e-version at sachquocgia.vn for the convenience of the readers for studying and reference.