Hanoi (VNA) - The biggest andmost comprehensive-ever book collection on the history of Vietnam has justhit bookcases throughout the country.

Titled Lich Su Viet Nam,the 15-episode collection was printed for the first time by the Vietnam Academyof Social Sciences in 2015 with a limited number of 500 copies. The book wasawarded Best Book in 2015 by the IRED Institute of Education and Phan ChauTrinh Foundation.

“This very first reprint will help the 10,000-page collection serve a wideraudience,” said Vu Duong Thuy Nga, head of the Library Department within theMinistry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. “The collection will be sent to publiclibraries all over the country this time.”

According to Dinh Quang Hai, rector of the Vietnam History Institute, thecollection covering Vietnamese history from early times to the year 2000 was aministry-level research project hosted by the institute.

“The collection builds on basic knowledge in previous studies on the matter,besides focusing on including the most recent research by experts from history,archaeology, ethnology, religion and culture,” he said.

Tran Duc Cuong, Chairman of the Vietnam Association of History Science,stressed that the collection includes more details on two border wars between1975 and 1988.

“The southwest border war is very clear. After we gained the reunification in1975, the Pol Pot attacked Vietnam,” he said. “We had mobilised the army troopsto protect our border. Besides helping Cambodian patriots, our volunteer soldiersmarched to Cambodia to fight against the Pol Pot to free theCambodian people.”

He continued to talk about the border war against Chinese in 1979.

“In this collection, we mentioned the exact number of soldiers, tanks andcannons that the Chinese used during the war between 1979 and 1988,” he said.

“I believe the figures and materials on the wars updated in the collection arehighly objective and trustworthy,” commented researcher Hai.

According to Cuong, the collection has some fresh ideas in comparison withprevious studies.

First of all, the collection confirmed thatthe Vietnamese State was established early in the nation’shistory, but was based on three different ancient kingdoms.

[Photo book shows off Vietnam heritage]

 “These included Dong Son civilisation with Au Lac Kingdom [257-207BC], Sa Huynhcivilisation with Cham Pa Kingdom [192-1832] and Oc Eo civilisationwith Phu Nam Kingdom [68-550],” he said.

“Before, scholars had just discussed the history of Au Lac Kingdom as thehistory of the whole Vietnam,” he said.

This study also differs from predecessors by reexamining the royal reigns in Vietnam throughoutthe history, this time more objectively.

For example, researchers came into conclusion that Mac reign (1527-1677) wasamong reigns with good contributions to the country’s history.

The reign helped solve socio-economic problems handed down by the Le dynasty (1428-1527).

The Nguyen reign (1802-1945) was also re-judged with both achievements andmistakes.

“The Nguyen kings had great contributions to unifying the country, confirmingthe national sovereignty,” he said, “But they did not apply reform, whichresulted in the regression of the country’s society and economy, and enabledcolonists to conquer the country more easily.”

Cuong said the collection in general offers a more objective view on historythan previous works.-VNA