Vietnam at Peace

Viet Nam At Peace is the monumental chronicle of a country struggling to emerge from the apocalyptic destruction of war, a destruction so seismic that it was thought vainly by many to be the end of all contemporary imperial aggression. It is Tolstoyan in its reach and emotional responses.

Philip Jones Griffiths, the author of Vietnam Inc. and Agent Orange: Collateral Damage in Viet Nam, has visited Viet Nam 25 times since the end of the war. The first Westerner to travel by road from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City after the war, and later the Ho Chi Minh trail, he has amassed an unparalleled photographic record of the post-war transformation of the country.\\r\\rFrom the first days of terrible hardships, as the joys of victory were quickly tempered by the reality of the extent of the destruction wreaked by the war, and the crippling effects of the US embargo, he has recorded an uncomfortably comprehensive view of the aftermath of war. This is not simply a record of shattered landscapes; it is also a record of the shattered hearts and minds, culture and hopes.\\r\\rHe has witnessed the limbless heroes, the Amerasian children, the boat people, and the re-emergence of the social problems of prostitution and drug addiction as the country embraces consumerism. Equally, here are recognised the horrified attempts by the Vietnamese themselves to curb the hydra of its worst excesses.

Born Rhuddlan, Wales,1936, died 19th March, London, 2008.
Philip Jones Griffiths studied pharmacy in Liverpool and practiced in London, while photographing part-time for the Manchester Guardian. In 1961, he became a full-time freelancer for the London Observer. Griffiths covered the Algerian War in 1962, and then was based in Central Africa before moving to Asia. He photographed the Viet Nam War beginning in 1966, publishing Vietnam Inc in 1971. Time Magazine called Vietnam Inc "the best work of photo-reportage of war ever published," and The New Statesman added, "Of all the hundreds of books about [the War,] this is the truest, the most important, the most upsetting."

His coverage of many of the major upheavals of the second half of 20th century has taken Philip Jones Griffiths to more than 120 countries in all five continents. In 1980, Griffiths moved to New York to assume the presidency of the legendary Magnum Photo Agency, a post he held for a record five years.

Griffiths' photographs have appeared in every major magazine in the world.

Extent: 312
Format: 248 x 335
Illustrations: 550 tritone B/W