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Vietnam - Special Edition

Vietnam - Special Edition

by Don McCullin

£2,500.00 GBP
£2,500.00 GBP
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Pre-order. Expected October 2026.

This landmark volume represents the first time McCullin’s legendary Vietnam War photographs have been reproduced in a book dedicated only to this conflict.

McCullin, who turns 91 in Autumn 2026, presents—in what the photographer has indicated will be his ‘last ever book’—a retrospective in book form of his time in Vietnam; captured over three sections or ‘campaigns’ of the individual trips he made to the region throughout the war. The work is the result of a deep archival excavation, featuring approximately 100 black and white images and more than 20 colour photographs, nearly half of which have never been previously published in print or exhibited. Well known images of Marines sit alongside shots of domestic life caught amidst the battlefield; dead or dying men and women smoked out of bunkers, and piles of human and mechanical detritus amidst the fog of war.

More about this book

The narrative structure of Vietnam follows McCullin’s journey through distinct times in Vietnam covering 1965 to 1972; 1965–1967, 1968, and 1972. The collection is drawn from around 30 rolls of film taken on each trip, many of which contain images that were overshadowed by his most famous works but are now being given their proper due.

Edited in close collaboration with McCullin himself and with GOST Books Director Stuart Smith, Vietnam also provides intimate perspective through the inclusion of his own personal notes, commentary, and ephemeral materials; McCullin’s boot, spreads from the famous 1968 Sunday Times feature, his helmet, and his ID cards. Also included are contact sheets and the ‘backs’ of photos depicting press use, notes and editing plans.

The captions in the book, recorded from conversations between Smith and McCullin in 2026, also a way of storytelling used by McCullin in a for the first time, provide a comprehensive recording of his Vietnam experiences, reflecting on the fear, horror, devastation, shame, violence, bloodshed and extreme trauma from war and conflict; looking back with reflection and distance. It is the first time McCullin has shared these stories in this depth. 

“I had come to Vietnam during the Tet Offensive of 1968 to capture what threatened to be an ugly fight: At the center of Hue was an old imperial fortress called the Citadel; the city was filled with thousands of civilians. U.S. Marines had been surprised by the North’s attack, and they were unprepared for house-to-house guerrilla warfare. Sunday newspaper subscribers needed to see pictures of the ensuing battle, I thought. At 32, I’d already covered wars in Congo, Cyprus and Israel. I’d witnessed combat up close. I reviled violence, always, but journalism had also inculcated me with a certain dutiful attraction to conflict. I thought that in Hue, like elsewhere, I’d be able to walk right up to the fight and photograph it. 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. I shot wars after Hue, but nothing so intense and dangerous. I witnessed the most incredible courage, too. But for what?”—Sir Don McCullin

About special editions

Please note, Special Editions are not processed through our warehouse but individually condition checked and packaged by hand to avoid any damage. As a result, please allow extra time for your Special Edition to arrive. We will keep you updated on the progress of your order and we can be contacted on orders@gostbooks.com with any queries.

Published October 2026
255 x 322 mm
192pp, 124 images colour and duotone
Hardback
ISBN 978-1-80598-051-3

Black and White Print
Limited edition of 10
Clothbound clamshell box with a hardback, clothbound signed book and a 14.5x19.75’’ silver gelatine print, captioned, signed (not numbered) and printed by Don McCullin in his darkroom.
Print: “The Battle of Hué, 1968”
Please note: Price will increase as the edition sells out.

Colour Print
Limited edition of 12
Clothbound clamshell box with a hardback, clothbound signed book and a 16x20’’ Fuji Maxima Matt archival print, captioned and signed (not numbered) by Don McCullin in his darkroom. Print made by renowned printer Brian Dowling.
Print: “Hué, 1968”
Please note: Price will increase as the edition sells out.

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From the author

  • Don McCullin (b.1935) grew up in Finsbury Park, London. He began taking photographs during his military service and brought his camera back with him to the UK, beginning what would be a life-long commitment to photography. In 1961 McCullin travelled to Berlin just as the wall was going up , and his resulting photographs earned him a contract with The Observer. He went on to work for major British newspapers during some of the most violent conflicts of the late twentieth-century including Vietnam, Biafra, Bangladesh, Lebanon, Northern Ireland and more recently Iraq and Syria. Whenever he returned home, McCullin would turn his lens on still-life and landscape as a kind of therapy and solace. His landscapes have been the subject of solo exhibitions at international galleries, Hauser & Wirth and Hamiltons Gallery, and are held in the collection of Tate, London where McCullin enjoyed a major retrospective in 2019.

  • I had come to Vietnam during the Tet Offensive of 1968 to capture what threatened to be an ugly fight: At the center of Hue was an old imperial fortress called the Citadel; the city was filled with thousands of civilians. U.S. Marines had been surprised by the North’s attack, and they were unprepared for house-to-house guerrilla warfare. Sunday newspaper subscribers needed to see pictures of the ensuing battle, I thought. At 32, I’d already covered wars in Congo, Cyprus and Israel. I’d witnessed combat up close. I reviled violence, always, but journalism had also inculcated me with a certain dutiful attraction to conflict. I thought that in Hue, like elsewhere, I’d be able to walk right up to the fight and photograph it. 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. I shot wars after Hue, but nothing so intense and dangerous. I witnessed the most incredible courage, too. But for what?

    - Don McCullin