 |
 |
|
|
 |
 |
 The Last ValleyDien Bien Phu and the French Defeat in Vietnamby Martin Windrow Dec 13, 2004
DescriptionIn December 1953 the French army occupying Vietnam challenged the elusive Vietnamese army to engage in a decisive battle. When French paratroopers landed in the jungle on the border between Vietnam and Laos, the Vietnamese quickly isolated the French force and confronted them at their jungle base in a small place called Dien Bien Phu. The hunters-the French army-had become the hunted, desperately defending their out-gunned base. The siege in the jungle wore on as defeat loomed for the French. Eventually the French were depleted, demoralized, and destroyed. As they withdrew, the country was ominously divided at U.S. insistence, creating the short-lived Republic of South Vietnam for which 55,000 Americans would die in the next twenty years. Reviews"This extraordinary story of heroism, passion, and tragedy should long stand as the definitive study of Dein Bien Phu." "Martin Windrow has eclipsed Bernard Fall [Hell in a Very Small Place] with this meticulous and magnificent account of the tragedy of the French war in Indochina.... Windrow is master of every detail.... His book makes gripping reading." "Vivid and well-written...a tribute to [Martin Windrow's] abilities both as a historian and as a writer." "Certain folks in certain government offices would do well to read The Last Valley." "[Windrow's] vivid descriptions...make you feel as if you are standing at the shoulders of the nervous French Legionnaires." "The Last Valley is a brilliant work of military history." Selling TerritoryWorld Excluding Canada, UK & Commonwealth |
|
 |
