Ho Chi Minh: The Missing Years 1919-1941

by Sophie Quinn-Judge

This book explores Ho's pre-power political career, from his emergence at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 to his organization of the Viet Minh united front at the start of the Second World War. Using previously untapped sources from Comintern and French intelligence archives, Sophie Quinn-Judge examines Ho's life in the light of two interconnecting themes--the origins and institutional development of the Indochinese Communist Party, and the impact on early Vietnamese communism of political developments in China and the Soviet Union.

Genres: History

356 pages, Hardcover

First published December 30, 2002

Reviews

[Quân Khuê · Rating 5 out of 5]

Với giọng điệu khách quan hơn cả Duiker trong Ho Chi Minh - A Life, tác giả cuốn này dựa trên tư liệu được giải mật của Quốc tế cộng sản đã cung cấp nhiều thông tin về giai đoạn ít được biết đến của Hồ Chí Minh 1919 - 1941, vai trò của Hồ Chí Minh trong tổ chức Quốc tế cộng sản cũng như trong mối liên hệ với phong trào cộng sản trong nước. Cuốn sách này một lần nữa khẳng định các luận điểm sau:

1/ Hồ Chí Minh là một nhà yêu nước lớn.
2/ Hồ Chí Minh là một nhà dân tộc chủ nghĩa hơn là một người cộng sản. Ông ít quan tâm đến giáo điều cộng sản. Ông đặt vấn đề đoàn kết dân tộc trên vấn đề đấu tranh giai cấp.
3/ Ông có khả năng tổ chức tuyệt vời và cũng như khả năng biến báo rất cao.
4/ Ông là con người của hành động chứ không phải lý thuyết.
5/ Ông không phải là một vị thánh.

Ngoài ra, lần đầu tiên tôi được biết rằng Hồ Chí Minh có một vết sẹo trên tai trái do một tai nạn thời nhỏ.

[Tuna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm currently willing to learn about his untold stories during years HCM crossed Europe countries. Not on the side of his finding to lead VN fighting against France, but on his very personal side, as I am spending lonely years exploring myself in Europe. Not only the missing years, I do believe they're unforgettable years contributed to a great Ho Chi Minh.

[Bruce Graham · Rating 3 out of 5]

My main concern while reading this book is that a lot remains missing. On page one we are told that Ho Chi Minh (He who Enlightens) was a communist spy for the Kremlin and became the leader of North Vietnam in that role. What we don't learn is what kind of training Ho Chi Minh got.
We learn that 'the man with 70 aliases' was inspired by Lenin's treatise on colonialism. As the Soviet Union was a 'colonial construct'—the only nation larger than a planet (Pluto) —Sophie doesn't point out the Ho's planetary sized blindness.
Was this foolishness part of Ho's plan? After all, he did say ‘We need fights and foolishness to get attention.’ Sophie doesn't tell us.
Sophie doesn't tell us all of the aliases. Doesn't she know them? Or perhaps they are not important?
We get almost no information about his Chinese 'wife' or, in fact, any of the other females in Ho's life.
We learn that Ho had a scar on his ear from a childhood injury. What was the injury? We don't know.
Churchill's definition of Russia, "a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma" also applies to this book.

[Geert · Rating 4 out of 5]

impressively researched. though i am not familiar with the history of Vietnam, the author is able to separate the myths about HoChi Minh from the facts through painstaking archival research. For others to judge whether her attempt does justice to the amazing life story of Ho Chi Minh. I was impressed by the amazing mobility of HCM and how much communication there was at the start of the 20th century, e.g. debates in and decisions by the 3rd communist international seem to have really had an influence of events and tactics of Vietnamese communists/nationalists.
a bit too detailed for my level of knowledge/interest. DNF

[Massimo Andolfatto · Rating 2 out of 5]

Detailed history of hard work and travels of Ho Chi Minh from 1920-1940, and an interesting period of modern global history more generally.

I was going to give 3 stars but have to give two because Sophie Quinn-Judge’s analyses suffers from anti communist propaganda at points which undermines the credibility of the account.

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful book. How political biography should be written. Lots of great stories in it, too.

[Khan Vannak · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is good way how to read book online and it is really helpful.