Description
Book SynopsisPhu Rieng was one of many French rubber plantations in colonial Vietnam; Tran Tu Binh was one of 17,606 laborers brought to work there in 1927, and his memoir is a straightforward, emotionally searing account of how one Vietnamese youth became involved in revolutionary politics.
Trade Review“Tran Tu Binh’s recollection of his experience of labor service in the ‘rubber villages’ of the Michelin company was first published in 1965 in Hanoi under the title
Phu Riéng Do [Red Phu Rieng]. His description of the maltreatment, brutal punishment, lack of adequate food, housing, and medical care that Vietnamese workers had to endure in the ‘hell on earth,’ as plantations were called, corroborates what we know of the terrible forms of exploitation the representatives of the rubber companies practiced.” * The Journal of Asian Studies *
“This is a fascinating and short book—it extends to just 90 pages, including end notes and introduction. It is ably translated by John Spragens Jr…and edited by David G Marr for Ohio University and is a vital part of not just modern Vietnamese history but of post-colonial literature as a whole.” * BookIdeas *
