This comprehensive review of the gulag system instituted in communist Vietnam explores the three-pronged approach that was used to convert the rebellious South into a full-fledged communist country after 1975.

This book attempts to retrace the path of these imprisoned people from the last months of the war to their escape from Vietnam and explores the emotions that gripped them throughout their stay in the camps. Individual reactions to the camps varied depending on philosophical, emotional and moral beliefs. This reconstruction of those years serves as a memoir for all who were incarcerated in the bamboo gulags.

“A well-written, powerful and compelling account...comprehensive account...inportant source of information.”—James M. Freeman, Ph.D., author of Hearts of Sorrow; “an excellent description of what happen when the victors’ goal is to completely remake a people”—Catholic Library World; “well documented”—Southeast Asian Archive Newsletter.

Nghia M. Vo, a Vietnamese-American, has written multiple books on Vietnamese culture. He helped found the nonprofit Saigon Arts, Culture & Education Institute and works to document Vietnamese-American culture through conferences, publications and a website.