Vetyukov V.A. The Sword Hidden in the Depth of Waters (Military Tradition of Medieval Vietnam) [Меч, сокрытый в глубине вод (военная традиция средневекового Вьетнама)]. Saint Petersburg: “Evraziya”, 2018. 318 p.
The military tradition of premodern Vietnam is a very interesting and understudied topic. This book is an attempt to answer some of the most important questions about the main components of Vietnamese medieval (X—XVIII cent. AD) warfare and military tradition. Some of the materials on which it is based were gathered during author's visits to Vietnam, where local historian and archeologist Nguyen Thi Don greatly helped him find information about Vietnamese medieval weapons and army organization. The book is illustrated by photos taken by the author during several visits to Vietnam and Cambodia.
During his PhD studies at the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts (Saint Petersburg, Russia) the author translated into Russian an important source titled "The Notes on Warfare" created by the Vietnamese medieval Confucian scholar Phan Huy Chu (1782—1840). It is the eighth part of his huge encyclopedia "Classified Notes on the History of Previous Dynasties" (1819). The "Notes on Warfare" contain rich and varied information about different aspects of medieval Vietnamese warfare.
In this book in five chapters the author explores some of the key components of the military tradition of Vietnam. The author hopes that this book will be of interest not only for specialists, but for everyone interested in Asian culture and military history.
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