VIỆT NAM SỬ LƯỢC
THOUGHT
I read this book once every few years after going through other books in the same category. Like a map which I would need to lay out again in my head and put in the new details from different sources after the last reading. Not a perfect to details history book but Prof. Kim has put a lot of his thought into this piece of work, together with some controversial thinking as people who lived under Nguyen dynasty (the one about Tay Son, or Le Van Duyet). He has a similar standard to Thucydides when it comes to history: you need to separate the stories and put aside all the religious affection; and should not let your emotion lead the way.