Author(s): John Ramsden (By (photographer))

Historic Photography

Hanoi after the War shows every day life in the North of Vietnam just after the war.

Black and white photographs by John Ramsden reveal a world of hardship, poverty and endurance, but also an ancient culture still very much alive, with scenes of wistful beauty amidst the austerity. Well known Vietnamese writers describe living through the period, in essays full of vivid memories and telling detail. Each photograph has a caption by Duong Trung Quoc, an eminent historian who takes us deeper into what we are seeing.

Taken together, side by side, the pictures, the Vietnamese stories and the captions...produce a moving experience. Few pictures books pull this off. And it_s all in black and white. - Christopher Goscha (Penguin History of Vietnam) in the Mekong Review