Vietnam: Spirits of the Earth

New York, New York, U.S.A.: Bulfinch Pr, 2001. Book. New. Cloth. First North American Edition. 4to - over 9¾" - 12" tall. New York: Bullfinch, 2001. First North American Edition, stated. 4to. Illustrated with beautiful color photographs throughout. 208 pp. This beautifully illustrated and historically sensitive portrait of Vietnam is a collaboration between historian Frances FitzGerald and photojournalist Mary Cross-friends and colleagues who have visited Vietnam on numerous occasions and who traveled the country together in 2000. The author of the Pulitzer Prize- and National Book Award-winning Fire in the Lake, a classic work on the Vietnam War from 1972, FitzGerald discovers that the shift to a market economy in Vietnam today has brought a resurgence of traditional culture. She describes village festivals, the rites of ancestor worship, the cults of women goddesses, and, most important, the revival of Buddhism. Enlivened by personal anecdotes, her text is a major piece of reporting and cultural analysis that sheds new light on this beautiful and intriguing country. Cross's 100 color images reflect the varied landscape, from the pale green rice fields to the floating houseboat villages of central Vietnam, and the jagged rock formations that rise from the waters of Ha Long Bay. She records the rituals of life in Buddhist monasteries, the grief of mourning families at village funerals, and the warmth and intimacy of family life on the sidewalks of Saigon. New in new dustjacket, protected with a mylar cover..