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Synopsis
Originally published in 1961, this book offered a warning about what American forces would face in the jungles of Southeast Asia; a war fought without fronts against a mobile enemy. This book describes the brutality of the Indochina War, in which French forces suffered a staggering defeat at the hands of Communist-led Vietnamese nationalists.
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First Sentence
WAR came to Indochina in the wake of the crumbling of the European colonial empires in Asia during World War II. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
WAR came to Indochina in the wake of the crumbling of the European colonial empires in Asia during World War II. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A "farewell "note to european influence in SE Asia?,
By Mr Andrew J Walley (Twickenham, Middlesex United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
This review is from: A Street without Joy: The French Debacle in Indochina (Hardcover)
Fall's books are brilliant.They were written close to the events that they described ,using french official military sources ,and sum up the futility of the war which unecessarily erased France from the map of SE Asia nd caused millions to be killed and displaced before the American War even started.You can see the Americans attempted to learn some lessons from the french experience,like the need for mobility and airpower. There is no better witness to these events than Fall, certainly not Anglo/American. Giap's memoirs, although comprehensive are too dull to read.
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Detailed account of the end of French colonialism in Indochina,
This review is from: Street without Joy: The French Debacle in Indochina (Paperback)
This is best and most detailed account of the Vietnamese struggle for independence prior to the arrival of significant numbers of US advisors and soldiers in the early 60s. Fall describes the bitter and bloody conflict with the French following the defeat of the Japanese in 1945 and the attempted restoration of colonial rule, almost entirely bankrolled by the USA. The coverage does not include anything other than a passing reference the siege of Dien Bien Phu, as this is the subject of separate title by the same author, 'Hell in a Very Small Place'.The book is very readable and is particularly interesting because it was written soon after the events by a journalist with an intimate knowledge of the country / conflict (Fall was killed in Vietnam in 1967 by a landmine). 'Street Without Joy' also has the added lure of having been widely read by the US advisors, counter-insurgency experts etc and journalists involved in the ensuing American escapade.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Learning from History,
By Dr Neil MacNeill "Dr Neil MacNeill" (Ellenbrook, Western Australia, Australia) - See all my reviews
This review is from: A Street without Joy: The French Debacle in Indochina (Hardcover)
Bernard Fall: "Street without joy".Reading "Street without joy" was like welcoming back again an old friend, who had been away for forty years. Bernard Fall's writing style slips easily between writing the academic, journalistic and popular genres. Pick up the book, start reading and be transported back in time to Indochina. Fall relates the war from the French side, but was immensely respectful of Giap and the Viet-Minh. In the French war effort he saw tremendous courage, Quixotic behaviour and bad decisions. You cannot read this book and not be impressed by the fierceness of the battles and bravery of the French and Viet-Minh troops. The terrible losses that were suffered slowly became unacceptable as the French counted the cost of holding its former colony. In 1954 the French had only 15 helicopters in Indochina and their reliance on road transport was fraught with danger. Later, in Algeria the French relied heavily on their 600 helicopters (p. 265). The story of Groupe Mobile 100 in the Central Highlands (Pleiku, Dak To) was a harbinger of what was to come in the next 20 years of war. The handover of the French wounded by the 803rd Division showed rare humanity in a bloody and savage campaign. One of the saddest aspects of the war was the abandonment of the Indigenous hill tribes, collectively referred to as the montagnards, who supported the anti-communist forces. Whether it was the French or the CIA providing logistical support for a better, independent existence, the end result was always going to be the same. The montagnards would always face communist retribution for backing the wrong side. The stories a loyal supporters left behind in the highlands flay the consciences of those who were prepared to live among them, and those who set up the interdiction guerrilla programs. Fall wrote about Dien Bien Phu only briefly, and it was covered more completely in "Hell in a very small place". The French commitment to a set piece battle in Laos ate the French resources and reserves in Vietnam and Fall said: "But reinforcements were nowhere to be had. Dien Bien Phu was eating the entrails of the French army in Indochina like a cancer...." (p. 205). The author recognised three errors in the French planning: the distance from French support structures; underestimation of the enemy's capabilities; and the unfortunate placement of the French task force within artillery range. The book is compulsory reading for anyone interested in guerrilla warfare, and it relates the transitions in tactical and strategic warfare in second half of the Twentieth Century.
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