“The Teacher” is the first literary work of Senior Lieutenant General, Professor, Dr. Nguyen Chi Vinh (son of General Nguyen Chi Thanh, an outstanding son of his hometown Hue ), published by the People's Army Publishing House in March 2023. The book revolves around the central character, Mr. Ba Quoc, aka Major General Dang Tran Duc (1922 - 2022), Hero of the People's Armed Forces, a legendary intelligence officer of the Vietnam People's Army. Mr. Ba Quoc is the teacher who guided and trained Professor, Dr. Nguyen Chi Vinh for more than 20 years, from when he was a young officer until he became a senior intelligence commander.

Cover of the book "The Teacher" by Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Chi Vinh

The book is 491 pages long, consisting of seven chapters: Mr. Ba Quoc, Cambodia - The first lessons; Mr. Ba and his comrades; The intelligence profession - things that were passed on; New vision, new horizon; Return to Cambodia; Life stories, moments and lives. The work recreates the excellent intelligence journey of Mr. Ba Quoc, the only spy who penetrated deep into the high-level intelligence agency of the Saigon government (including the Presidential Palace and the Central Intelligence Special Commission Office). He carried out many "super" missions, typically rescuing Secretary Nguyen Van Linh (later General Secretary ) and 9 Saigon - Gia Dinh Special Zone Commissioners from being captured by secret agents.

The highlight is that the author not only tells about the glorious achievements of Mr. Ba Quoc but also focuses on depicting the life, personality and relationship between the two teachers and students. Mr. Ba Quoc is "an outstanding teacher, both strict and kind, who taught me to be a good person when I first entered the intelligence industry, until he passed away 20 years later", Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Chi Vinh expressed. In "The Teacher", the teacher-student relationship, the strictness but humanity of Mr. Ba Quoc are told through personal memories, actual records from decades of work, mixed with the author's comments and reflections. The journalistic style is popular, easy to read, rustic but profound, not fictional but based on real events.

The book also provides many valuable documentary images about Mr. Ba Quoc, marking many important events. Typical examples are Deputy Director of Department 2 Nguyen Nhu Van handing over the decision to assign the task of Deputy Head of Group 817 to Lieutenant Colonel Dang Tran Duc in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, in 1981; Conference to celebrate the 817 Union in Phnom Penh in 1982; Mr. Ba Quoc at base K4, Ho Chi Minh City in 1993.

It is worth mentioning that the book is like a research on Mr. Ba Quoc's life, but also a process of looking back at the vibrant youth years of young Nguyen Chi Vinh. At every milestone of his career, there was always the shadow of his teacher Ba Quoc accompanying him. During his lifetime, the Senior Lieutenant General said that the idea for the book was formed through visits to Mr. Ba Quoc's family on holidays and Tet, sharing little-known stories about him, from daily life to work. After retiring, Nguyen Chi Vinh reread the archives, documents, books, even poems and diaries that he and his wife sent to each other.

Along with “The Teacher”, Prof. Dr. Nguyen Chi Vinh is also the author of several books in the genre of memoirs, non-fiction stories and historical documents, mainly revolving around the topics of defense intelligence, peacekeeping and historical military figures. Notably, “Journey for Peace”, a memoir of Vietnam’s participation in UN peacekeeping (the “blue beret” force); “Stories about General Nguyen Chi Thanh” tells the story of the life and career of General Nguyen Chi Thanh - the author’s father.

With its great documentary values ​​and emotional content, "The Teacher" was nominated in two categories: Readers' Favorite Book and Literature - Art Book at the 2024 National Book Awards.

An Nhien (introduction)

Source: https://huengaynay.vn/van-hoa-nghe-thuat/tac-gia-tac-pham/nguoi-thay-cua-tuong-vinh-160140.html