The book "Soldiers - History of Vietnamese warships" by Dong Nguyen and Kaovjets Ngujens introduces the development, structure, manufacturing techniques and water warfare strategies of warships throughout the history of the nation.
The book is divided into 5 chapters, in which it delves into the general history of Vietnamese warships through the Tien Le, Ly, Tran - Ho, Hau Le, Tay Son and Nguyen dynasties; technical aspects of Vietnamese warships such as the shape of the boat's body, boat frame, hydrological part...; tactics and hydrological tools; typical warships in our country such as bronze cages, buoys, long boats, silver ships...
In each chapter of the book, the group of authors provide reference documents for comparison and evidence, and have careful observations and research in advance of historical documents.
Among the documents the group of authors refer to, it is necessary to mention "Le Trieu Nghiep" - a work that can be considered the only work that still records the parameters and technical regulations of warships during the Le Trung Hung period. Next is the Dai Nam Congress's Commendation on the very detailed presentation of the form of warships during the Nguyen Dynasty and the Silver Boat, a collection of plans with the names of the parts of warships during the Nguyen Dynasty, found and published by scholar Pham Hoang Quan.
In particular, there are documents by foreign researchers, including the collections " Esquisse d'etunehnographie navale des pays Annamites" by Petro Paris and " Voiliers D'Indochine" by J. B. Pietri.
These are rich treasures with images and descriptions of Vietnamese canoes in the early 20th century, carefully researched by maritime expert Do Thai Binh, who famously quoted the terms for traditional boats.
With a rich source of documents and an interdisciplinary approach to military history - engineering - culture, the book not only recreates the heroic appearance of Vietnamese shipmen through the ages but also reveals the sophistication in the design and strategic thinking of their ancestors.
The book has many illustrative paintings from detailed to panoramic landscapes painted by Kaovjets Ngujens, along with photos of Dong Nguyen's boat models at the Vietnam History Museum, and valuable related documentary paintings/photo.
It is known that author Dong Nguyen specializes in researching the history of customs, costumes and military equipment. He is the co-founder of many groups and sites specializing in research on history and ancient culture such as: "Dai Viet Co Phong", "Vietnam Centre", "Vuong Su Kien Due"...
Kaovjets Ngujens is a Vietnamese-American artist specializing in historical illustrations through the ages, and is the author and main painter in many historical book and documentary projects.
The two authors have collaborated in the book project "Artificial technological revolution - Some techniques and technologies on the S-shaped strip of land before the 20th century" published by Kim Dong Publishing House.
The project "Sinking Dragonots - History of Vietnamese Boats" has received much support, advice, and documentation from researchers including: Do Thai Binh, Tran Trong Duong, Nguyen Viet, Le Thi Lien, Pham Le Huy, Phan Thanh Nam, Nguyen Van Hieu.
