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Vietnam, a photobook by Don McCullin from GOST Books, brings together his photographs from three periods of the Vietnam War: 1965–67, 1968 and 1972. Peter Dench’s 2026 feature in Amateur Photographer describes a volume of around 100 black-and-white photographs and more than 20 colour images, with nearly half previously unpublished or exhibited. Its archival material and less familiar pictures of Vietnamese civilians give readers a way to look beyond the best-known images.
What is in Vietnam?
The book gathers McCullin’s work from three visits or periods of work in Vietnam: 1965–67, 1968 and 1972. Dench reports that it contains around 100 black-and-white photographs and more than 20 colour images. He describes nearly half as previously unpublished or unexhibited; that is the feature’s characterization of the book, not an independently audited accounting of every image’s publication and exhibition history. Amateur Photographer’s feature was published on 2 October 2026.
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Vietnam: The Real War: A Photographic History by the Associated Press | $28.99 | Buy on Amazon |
| 2 |
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LIFE The Vietnam Wars: 50 Years Ago--Two Countries Torn Apart | $27.30 | Buy on Amazon |
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The Vietnam War: The Definitive Illustrated History | $26.80 | Buy on Amazon |
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SOG - A Photo History of the Secret Wars | $33.33 | Buy on Amazon |
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Lost in Vietnam | $37.21 | Buy on Amazon |
The selection includes familiar work, such as the shell-shocked US Marine and photographs from the Battle of Hue, alongside less familiar images. Dench’s reading is that these additional pictures expand the familiar record by making more room for Vietnamese civilians and everyday life interrupted by war, and for the vulnerability and dignity of people caught in the conflict.
How the archive shapes the book
Photographs appear alongside personal notes, contact sheets, press clippings, identification cards and other ephemera. According to Dench, the captions draw on conversations recorded in 2026 between McCullin and GOST Books director Stuart Smith. Together, these materials offer context not just for what was photographed, but for how the images were made, circulated, selected and later remembered.
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Dench reports that McCullin returned to his home archive in Somerset to review the work. Drawing on a prior visit to the archive, Dench describes it as containing around 60,000 negatives and 10,000 prints, and reports about 30 rolls of film from each Vietnam trip. These are figures from Dench’s account, not an independently audited archive inventory.
What McCullin says about photographing war
Dench reproduces McCullin’s written reflection on the Tet Offensive and the 11 days he spent inside Hue’s Citadel: “I thought I had the stomach for the Tet Offensive. But during 11 days inside the Citadel, I beheld all the ways that men live and die in war.” The passage frames the pictures as records made within sustained exposure to violence, rather than as distant observations.
In a gallery discussion reported by Dench, McCullin recalled that “Some of the soldiers had compassion.” Reflecting on a wounded North Vietnamese soldier, he said: “Maybe this boy has honoured himself, it’s his country he’s fighting for.” The comments point to the human regard that can persist across opposing sides of a conflict.
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McCullin also cautioned against assuming that powerful photographs can stop wars: “All the great images – then and even now – do not make any difference. They are proof of what happens in war, but they are like Christmas cards: they come every year.” These quotations are reproduced as Dench reports them; his feature does not give book page references or link to a recording.
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Reported editions and UK prices
Dench’s feature reports a 1 October 2026 release for Vietnam from GOST Books. Its listed prices and ISBNs are UK details reported in that feature, rather than verified current retailer listings.
| Edition | Reported UK price | ISBN or edition size |
|---|---|---|
| Standard book | £80 | ISBN 978-1-80598-046-9 |
| Signed book | £100 | ISBN 978-1-80598-047-6 |
| Special print editions | Prices from £2,500 | Two colour-image editions of 15 copies each; one black-and-white image edition of 9 |
The print-edition figures describe the editions reported by Dench, not a guarantee that any remain available. Before buying, confirm current price, stock, edition contents and shipping territory with the seller.
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