The last valley : Dien Bien Phu and the French defeat in Vietnam

In December 1953 French paratroopers, who had been searching for the elusive Vietnamese army, were quickly isolated by them and forced to retreat into their out-gunned and desolate jungle base-a small place called Dien Bien Phu. The Vietnamese besieged the French base for five long and desperate months. Eventually, the demoralized and weakened French were utterly depleted and withdrew in defeat. The siege at Dien Bien Phu was a landmark battle of the last century-the first defeat of modern western forces by an Asian guerilla army.__The Last Valley__ is the first new account of the battle since the 1970s. The author has incorporated much new material from French and Vietnamese sources, including veteran interviews, making this the most complete account to-date. And Martin Windrow has received widespread praise from top historians such as John Keegan and Max Hastings (below), as well as reviewers on both sides of the Atlantic. "In December 1953, the French army occuping 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 besieged it in a small place called Dien Bien Phu. The hunters - the French army - had become the hunted, desperately defending their outgunned base." "As defeat loomed for the French, they appealed to the United States for help. The vice-president at the time, Richard Nixon, and Air Force general Curtis Le May soon devised a plan to drop atomic weapons on Vietnamese supply dumps - an ill-considered strategy blocked by President Dwight Eisenhower." "And so the siege in the jungle wore on, its scope and ferocity calling to mind the siege of Stalingrad during World War II. Eventually, the French were depleted, demoralized, and destroyed. As they withdrew, the country of Vietnam 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." "Dien Bien Phu was a pivotal battle of the last century - the first defeat of modern Western forces by an Asian guerrilla army. Its political consequences reverberate to this day. The Last Valley is destined to be the classic account of the battle for generations to come." --Book Jacket In December 1953 French paratroopers, who had been searching for the elusive Vietnamese army, were quickly isolated by them and forced to retreat into their out-gunned and desolate jungle base-a small place called Dien Bien Phu. The Vietnamese besieged the French base for five long and desperate months. Eventually, the demoralized and weakened French were utterly depleted and withdrew in defeat. The siege at Dien Bien Phu was a landmark battle of the last century-the first defeat of modern western forces by an Asian guerilla army. The Last Valley is the first new account of the battle since the 1970s. The author has incorporated much new material from French and Vietnamese sources, including veteran interviews, making this the most complete account to-date. And Martin Windrow has received widespread praise from top historians such as John Keegan and Max Hastings (below), as well as reviewers on both sides of the Atlantic. In 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. ON A CRISP, SUNNY WINTER'S day on a red earth hilltop in North Vietnam, a young Californian named Howard Simpson was reluctantly fishing around with borrowed chopsticks in a lunchtime bowl of pho soup, while trying to ignore the stench of torn-up corpses festooning the barbed wire a few yards away. A fascinating look at the events that doomed the French Empire and drew America into Vietnam examines the 1953 battle that demoralized and destroyed the French army and paved the way for the creation of the ill-fated country of South Vietnam. 40,000 first printing. The highly acclaimed book about the battle that doomed the French Empire and led America into Vietnam, The Last Valley is ""a brilliant work of military history""--Boston Globe The highly acclaimed book about the battle that doomed the French Empire and led America into Vietnam, The Last Valley is ""a brilliant work of military history"" -Boston Globe