An East Sheen couple spoke to the Richmond and Twickenham Times about their experience in writing a book about the blueprint of the Vietnamese revolution.

Virginia Morris, 49 and Clive Hills, 58 met in Laos during a research project. They decided to write a book documenting how the 1975 Vietnam revolution was made possible. Since 2003, the couple have worked closely with senior military and Communist Party members, including head of the military Vo Nguyen Giap as well as spies, civilians and guerilla fighters.

This unique perspective means the authors could delve deep into Vietnamese history, something which might not be possible now as most of these figures are now dead.

Virginia Morris said: "What is so important about our project is that some of the strategies that Ho Chi Minh designs are now being used against us today, one being a shadow government. America took this tactic and trained Osama and the Mujahideen in it, which they in turn used against the Americans. ISIL now use this tactic."

Virginia Morris has spent the past decade sourcing recently declassified documents in Vietnam and conducting rare interviews with Ho Chi Minh's strategists and operatives, as well as recording testimonies from US servicemen.

Starting in 1900, this book offers a fresh perspective on Ho Chi Minh’s unique blueprint and the reasons behind both the French (1945-1954) and American (1959-1975) military failures in Vietnam, concluding with an insight to the threat his model poses today.

Virginia added: "The most important discovery was that Ho Chi Minh designed a new form of warfare, a blueprint to fight a protracted asymmetric conflict against a superior power; known as an All-People’s War.

"It comprised four parts: the Revolutionary Infrastructure and the three strategic fronts of political, propaganda and the military. Designed in the 1940s, the infrastructure was a shadow government with all the associated services there to support, control and expand a shadow nation.

"I was surprised by the links between the wars in Afghanistan and the wars in Vietnam. The American CIA analysed some of Ho’s strategies. The CIA directed the Afghan Mujahideen against the Soviet invasion.

"The Mujahideen taught the Taliban their strategies and so on. Now some of the strategies the Americans fought against in Vietnam are being used against allied troops during our Global War on Terrorism.

"This is why the conclusion says, from an All-People’s War to All-People’s Terrorism, not because all the people wanted Ho’s revolution or all the people are terrorists, but through the blueprint strategies such as a shadow government, the leaders controlled the majority of the local populace."

The book was released earlier this year and is available to by online at https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/ho-chi-minhs-blueprint-for-revolution/