From Booklist
In this masterful account of the Battle of Dien Bien Phu of 1953-54, Windrow dissects retrospective criticism of the French strategy. For reasons that emerge within his comprehensive, meticulous analysis, the ideas behind the French strategy at Dien Bien Phu were taken from a prior victorious battle. Generals believed that establishing a ground base deep in Communist-controlled territory and supplying it by air would regain them the initiative against the Viet Minh insurgency. The heart of Windrow's narrative, and implicitly his sympathies, lies with the officers and men who carried out the strategy--and bore its cost as its assumptions were progressively stifled by the Viet Minh commander, the storied Vo Nguyen Giap. As the mobile battle envisaged by French planners degenerates into a wallow of World War I-style attrition, Windrow describes with brutal realism the carnage of the combat, which snuffed out tens of thousands of lives. Many works address Dien Bien Phu's history-altering significance in the Indochina conflict, but for learning about what actually happened there, Windrow's will be difficult to surpass. Gilbert Taylor
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The Economist
"Vivid and well-written...a tribute to [Martin Windrow's] abilities both as a historian and as a writer."
John Keegan
"The Last Valley is a brilliant work of military history."
Boston Globe 1/4/05
"Powerful and sharply detailed...The "Last Valley" stands on its own as a brilliant piece of military history."
Booklist 1/1/05
"[A] masterful account of the Battle of Dien Bien Phu...[it] will be difficult to surpass."
New York Sun 12/31/04
"By far the best account ever produced in English of the 1954 French disaster in Indochina."
Wall Street Journal 1/12/05
"[A] meticulous and masterly narrative...The Last Valley succeeds marvelously in recreating the heat of battle."
New York Sun 1/12/05
"It is hard to praise too highly Martin Windrow's account...[He] is master of every detail."
Library Journal 2/15/05
"This extraordinary story of heroism, passion, and tragedy should long stand as the definitive study of Dein Bien Phu."
San Diego Union-Tribune 2/27/05
"Certain folks in certain government offices would do well to read The Last Valley."
Book Description
A highly acclaimed, well-written, and flawlessly researched history of the battle that doomed the French Empire and led America into Vietnam. 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.
About the Author
Martin Windrow is an associate of the Royal Historical Society and a member of the Foreign Legion Association of Great Britain. He is the co-author of several well-known military reference works, including the Dictionary of Military Biography. He lives in Sussex, England.
The Last Valley: Dien Bien Phu and the French Defeat in Vietnam FROM THE PUBLISHER
"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.
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