Telling history with pictures and photos

In July 2023, after 5 years of diligently searching for data from many libraries, museums, and monuments... at home and abroad, the book was titled Tay Son Army - History in Pictures by Dao Nguyen Khanh - a guy working in marketing and sustainable development - has officially launched to readers.

The Tay Son Army does not tell stories in a fictional way or based on real history as many young people often do. Khanh chose to tell a period of real human history, real work with condensed content, vivid images, eye-catching design, and easy to understand.

In this book, Khanh uses many images including artifacts, antique paintings, and illustrations compiled from many historical documents at domestic and international museums such as Thailand, the US, France, the UK, and the Netherlands. and Taiwan (China) that he worked hard to collect describe and explain specifically about weapons, the Tay Son army, and other interesting related information.

Besides, the book also provides a lot of historical information comparing the Tay Son army with the armies of other countries at the same time such as Siam (Thailand), Qing (China)... Two famous battles are Rach. Gam - Mango Mut and Ngoc Hoi - Dong Da are also beautifully visualized.

At the same time, the book also has a QR code leading to 3 more videos being developed. Photo: TL.

Before the book's release, Khanh had sincere sharing with the researcher about his strong passion for history and the challenges of "hands-on" when encroaching on the field of research and writing.

As a son of Binh Dinh, it is not difficult to understand when he chose the topic of the Tay Son army for his first book. Besides the above reasons, what motivated you to write this book?

It is a special love and passion for historical stories that I have been passed down by my parents since childhood. Although currently in a different profession, that love is still very special. I chose Tay Son because this dynasty is not only associated with my homeland, where I was born and raised but also the common pride of the Vietnamese people.

There is an old saying that "Heroes emerge from chaos". Tay Son is such a dynasty. There are so many interesting and interesting things to tell. If it was made into a movie, it would definitely be interesting. I can't make movies, so I choose books. I always wonder, what created the quick and heroic victory of the Tay Son army? And this book is somewhat of a solution, at least for my curiosity.

Why don't you choose the easier way than a text-based book with illustrations?

I want the book to be able to attract many young readers. The current trend, most young people like to see more pictures. Therefore, in order for books to come closer to them, it is necessary to be more diverse in expression. The Tay Son Army is 185 pages thick, with 175 historical pictures and 73 weapons artifacts. Accompanying each image are captions, clear captions for readers to visualize.

At the same time, the book also has a QR code leading to 3 more videos developed by me. Readers can easily watch a video on how to use a musket when scanning the QR code on page 35; watch the expanded video on Bo Tu for Qing military officials by scanning the QR code on page 135; watch an interesting comparison video of Emperor Quang Trung and Alexander the Great when scanning the QR code on page 171. In this way, readers can not only receive information intuitively but also by hearing, increasing interest, Curious to learn more history.

As a passerby who turns his way to books and to history books again, where did you start?

There were a lot of challenges in starting this book. First, don't know where to start. I choose to start from what I have heard and read before. Secondly, when I researched deeply and rummaged through documents all over the country and abroad, I fell into a state of "swimming" in the data. Don't know what to use, what to use, what not to. There are information read a year ago that was good but not used, next year need to use it, do not remember where the details are located. This research process also gave me a lot of insight on how to manage documents scientifically for the project.

Third, when I had quite a bit of information to write down, I had so many interesting ideas that I wanted to put into the book that I stuck and sometimes deviated from the content of the book. Fortunately, I met Master Nguyen Phuoc Quy Khanh. Khanh not only provided many valuable materials but also gave me many useful advices. This book would not have been complete without the ongoing discussions between me and Khanh during the last 2 years of the project.

At his age, many people are preoccupied with making money and accumulating assets. By telling history with pictures, you seem to be going against the crowd?

Actually, I'm also preoccupied with making money and accumulating assets. However, making books does not fall under that goal. As for the idea that I'm going against the crowd, I don't think so. I have seen many young people, with their own abilities and energies, gather to do interesting projects on history. It could be a graphic short film, it could be a fantasy comic, it could be a comic book.

I am a big fan of comic books. Either way, there is a common denominator: there are still many young people who love history and want to refresh familiar stories. History only lives when it is generational and told in language in many different ways. That is a positive signal. Like myself, when making this book, I have also received unconditional help from my uncles, aunts, brothers and sisters in many fields and professions.

After this book, what other projects do you have in mind?

I hope I will have enough time to make a book about Cham culture. Many books written about Cham culture today are research-oriented and are very long and thick, making it difficult for people who are new to them or want to learn. My goal is to be able to make a pocket-sized book, providing the most general information about Cham culture with attractive images.