Books on the South’s history and culture by cultural researcher and historian Nguyễn Đình Đầu will soon release in new versions by the Trẻ (Youth) Publishing House. Photo courtesy of the Trẻ Publishing House.

HCM CITY — HCM City’s based Trẻ (Youth) Publishing House has signed an exclusive copyright deal with well-known historian Nguyễn Đình Đầu, writer of many books and documents on Vietnamese history and culture. 

The deal grants the printer exclusive rights to publish and sell all of Đầu’s works.

The publisher will soon release four books written, compiled and edited by Đầu.

These books feature the history of the South’s development in different periods from the 19th century until the 20th. Southern people, particularly farmers, and their contributions to the fight against the French colonialists, are featured.

Trẻ Publishing House has released eight publications by Đầu, including Tạp Ghi Sử Địa Việt (Records on History and Geography of Việt Nam) in 2020. 

The 232-page book is on the history and geography of Việt Nam. 

It consists of historical events and characters as well as geographical documents from the 20th century which Đầu collected for several years. 

Đầu’s articles about Sài Gòn, now Hồ Chí Minh City, and on Việt Nam’s sovereignty over the Hoàng Sa (Paracel) and Trường Sa (Spratly) archipelagos are also included. 

Đầu’s books help readers, particularly young people, learn more about Southern culture and lifestyle through the region’s history, according to the publisher’s director Phan Thị Thu Hà. 

Phan Thị Thu Hà, Director of the Trẻ Publishing House with historian Nguyễn Đình Đầu of HCM City. Photos courtesy of the Trẻ Publishing House.

 Born in 1920 in Hà Nội, Đầu graduated from the Bách Nghệ (Polytechnic) School in 1941 and Sorbonne University in Paris in 1953.

He returned to HCM City in 1955 and worked as a high school teacher of history and geography.

Since 1960, he has focused on research on the history and geography of Việt Nam, and published several articles in local newspapers and magazines.

Đầu released more than 40 books, including Việt Nam Quốc Hiệu và Cương Vực – Hoàng Sa, Trường Sa (Việt Nam's Official Names and Territories – Hoàng Sa, Trường Sa) in 2013.

He won the Trần Văn Giàu Prize in 2005 and Phan Châu Trinh prize in 2008, the country’s prestigious awards for research works in different fields such as history, geography and culture.

He owns a collection of many maps of Việt Nam, especially more than 3,000 ancient maps of the country’s sovereignty rights over Trường Sa and Hoàng Sa archipelagos. — VNS