Mekong Diaries - Viet Cong Drawings and Stories, 1964-1975 (Hardcover)

In May 1965, vice president Hubert Humphrey declared that "the Viet Cong has committed the most unbelievable acts of terrorism the world has ever known." And throughout the long conflict in Vietnam, Americans similarly demonized the enemy fighters as reds, gooks, and fanatical killers. Offering a radically different view of these supposedly savage soldiers, "Mekong Diaries" presents never-before-published drawings, poems, letters, and oral histories by ten of the most celebrated Viet Cong war artists.
These guerrilla artists--some military officers and some civilians--lived clandestinely with the fighters, moving camp alongside them, going on reconnaissance missions, and carrying their sketchbooks, ink, and watercolors into combat. Trained by professors from the Hanoi Institute of Fine Arts who journeyed down the perilous Ho Chi Minh Trail to ensure a pictorial history of the war, they recorded battles and events from Operation Junction City to Khe Sanh to the Tet Offensive. They also sketched as the spirit moved them, rendering breathtaking landscapes, hut and bunker interiors, activities at base camps, troops on the move, portraits for the families of fallen soldiers, and the unimaginable devastation that the conflict left in its wake.
Their collective record--which Sherry Buchanan skillfully compiles here--is an extraordinary historical and artistic document of people at war. As such, it serves as a powerful response to the self-centeredness of American accounts of Vietnam, filling a profound gap in our national memory by taking us into the misunderstood worlds of those whom we once counted among our worst enemies.

General

Imprint:	University of Chicago Press
Country of origin:	United States
Release date:	October 2008
First published:	October 2008
Authors:	Sherry Buchanan
Dimensions:	25 x 23 x 3mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Hardcover
Pages:	264
ISBN-13:	978-0-226-07830-4
Categories:	Books > Arts & Architecture > Art forms, treatments & subjects > Art treatments & subjects > General Books > Humanities > History > History of specific subjects > Military history Books > Social sciences > Warfare & defence > War & defence operations > Battles & campaigns Books > Humanities > History > Asian / Middle Eastern history > From 1900 > Postwar, from 1945 > Vietnam War Books > Humanities > History > American history > From 1900 > Postwar, from 1945 > Vietnam War Books > History > American history > From 1900 > Postwar, from 1945 > Vietnam War Books > History > Asian / Middle Eastern history > From 1900 > Postwar, from 1945 > Vietnam War Books > History > History of specific subjects > Military history Promotions
LSN:	0-226-07830-2
Barcode:	9780226078304

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