As the title suggests, the book is primarily concerned with developments in Vietnam north of the provisional military demarcation line. It deals with the legacy of colonialism, the problem of moving the people’s administration for the jungle to take over cities and industrial centres, the achievements of reconstruction, the immediate and long-range perspectives for economic progress. An account is given of the battle of Dien Bien Phu and the Geneva Conference and some of the historical developments which preceded and made them possible. It includes pen portraits of some of those that inspired, organized and participated in these events from President Ho Chi Minh to combat heroes and model workers. Application of the Geneva Agreements and the activities of the International Control Commission are analysed and the situation south of the 17th parallel is dealt with briefly.
The book describes the drama of land reform, the sweeping changes in the lives of the peasantry and the new deal
for the minority peoples. It is especially directed against the professional line-freezers, those western politicians and diplomats who during the past ten years, have concentrated their energies of creating situations favourable to drawing lines across other people's territories and then freezing them into semi - permanent political boundaries. The book exposes the myth, so popular in certain circles, that the drawing of a line to separate the combatants, acted as a magic wand to create two different Vietnams, two different peoples. It is shown that for the Vietnam people, there is only one Vietnam, just as there is only one China, one Korea and one Germany,