History of Saigon Ho Chi Minh City: A book to read in one sitting

History Book of Saigon - Ho Chi Minh City by Ho Chi Minh City General Publishing House

The book is divided into five parts: Residents of the ancient land; Ancestors who opened the land; Saigon during the French colonial period; Struggle for unification; Peace and development.

According to this division, the book's content almost traces the formation and development process of Saigon - Ho Chi Minh City from ancient times to the present.

The book is full of illustrations as well as historical documents. It is not long, very suitable for those who want to learn about history but do not have much time. Especially children.

Although the phrase "read in one go" easily makes many readers think that books are fast and easy. In fact, that speed comes from a certain level of information compression.

Add a harmonious combination with the design. Images are not only illustrations but also part of the content, must be informative and often tell a story.

Remember on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of Vietnamese Doctors' Day, Kim Dong Publishing House released the picture book Dang Van Ngu - Devoting a lifetime .

Doctor Dang Van Ngu was born in 1910 in Hue . He passed both the Western and Vietnamese baccalaureates and received a scholarship to the Indochina University of Medicine and Pharmacy. After graduating, he chose to teach and do research instead of opening a private hospital.

He became the first Vietnamese lecturer at the University of Medicine and Pharmacy, he had many scientific works, becoming the leading parasitologist in Asia.

However, these unique biographies are not always presented clearly, neatly and vividly in pictures, making them more accessible to children.

The above book is part of a series of books introducing typical faces of Vietnamese science in the 20th century by Kim Dong Publishing House.

It is expected that in 2025 there will be more publications about famous people Nguyen Van Huyen, Le Van Thiem, Pham Ngoc Thach, Ton That Tung, Nguyen Cong Tieu, Hoang Xuan Han...

In addition, Kim Dong Publishing House also carries out the book series Thousand Years of Vietnamese History in parallel with recent works such as: The Drum of Me Linh (An Cuong); The Black King (Hoang Cong Khanh); Nguyen Truong To - the reformist thinker (Hoang Thanh Dam); The man who dug Vinh Te canal (Phan Khanh); Bui Huu Nghia - The golden and stone fate (Hoai Anh)...

The advantage of the above books is that they attract readers right from the art, the appeal of the theme, and the characters. Actually, this type of book is not new, but finding readers in the current difficult time of books is really difficult. Not to mention that the implementation also requires a lot of collective effort.

The content of these publications may not be too in-depth, but that does not mean that there is a lack of research and investment. At the same time, the implementation is not easy as it requires the synchronization of many stages.

There are four people whose names appear on the cover of the book History of Saigon - Ho Chi Minh City. Including the lyrics (Huynh Ba Loc), illustrations (Diep Xuong Vi), photography (Minh Hoa) and advisor (Tran Quang Duc).

This work is produced by a new unit entering the book industry. Tam Books is a young name. The history of Saigon - Ho Chi Minh City is in the series of books "Reading Vietnamese history and culture in one breath", proving that this unit has chosen a long path with the line of cultural and historical books.

According to the representative of Tam Books, "one-stop reading" books are not unfamiliar to the world book village.

In Europe and America, there is A very short history of... , in China, there is Nhat Khau Khi Doc Hoan, both with the goal of helping readers read concisely - easily understood - to introduce the topics of history, culture, cuisine, and customs.

"Tam Books recognizes a great need from readers for historical and cultural books, and more deeply, the need to explain the cultural identity of the Vietnamese people: who are we, where do we come from, how was our history created, the beauty of Vietnamese cuisine, costumes, art, literature associated with a turbulent history, what is special and unique... many questions that need to be answered have suggested to Tam Books ideas for this book series."

Will the "one-stop" book genre become a mainstream trend in today's fast-paced world? It may take time to observe further. But such books contribute positively to encouraging reading, to building a love of books from a young age.

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HUYNH TRONG KHANG

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/lich-su-sai-gon-thanh-pho-ho-chi-minh-sach-doc-mot-hoi-2025042009142615.htm