Street Without Joy: The French Debacle in Indochina (Stackpole Military History Series) Paperback – February 16, 2018

A worthwhile book that provides essential background to better understand the progression of nearly 3 decades of warfare in Vietnam that was a succession of disasters for not only the French but Americans, Vietnamese, and the Indochina environment. It is not an anti-war diatribe per se as the facts themselves make the point. He brings forward the relevant interesting military maneuver and logistical issues in a very competent and reasonably comprehensive manner and his concluding military comments are cogent and difficult to disagree with. This book obviously focuses on the post-WW2 French effort to re-establish their prior colonial domination of Indochina in the face of adversaries led by Ho Chi Min and General Giap who already had control of significant areas and had a deep and competent understanding of the terrain, the people of their own country, and jungle warfare. The French were constrained by their established military prejudices and preferences that dovetailed with the Vietminh insights into using the cover of dense jungle forests, maneuver under the forest canopies to avoid detection and interdiction and allow devastating mass attacks and skillfully crafted multicomponent intense roadway/trail ambushes. While the French constrained themselves to roads and established camps and bivouacs the VietCong surged undetected through the forests to set up violent ambushes with highly favorable attacker/defender ratios. The French fought from observable stationary encampments and strong points which allowed the unobservable VietCong to bring maneuver, concentration, surprise, and the unexpected from the deep shadows of the surrounding jungles. The French tried various modifications of their standard fare to include specialized mobile jungle warfare units but even those were systematically destroyed by the VietCong meat grinder. This all resulted in confusion, doubt, and loss of confidence and will among the French as it later did with the Americans. The book portrays all this violence especially the skillful VietCong ambushes and repetitive very damaging attacks in a vivid, dramatic and dispiriting manner. While of course the French had the occasional tactical successes those could not supercede the greater dire, confused, conflicted, ineffective, operational mess. It is clear that few of those involved with the American Vietnamese War policies, fighting, or media were aware of the full scope of what happened to the French (other than Dien Bien Phu). The VietCong employed the same methods against the US and ARVN with similar grinding results. Not covered in this book are the biographies of Ho Chi Min or General Giap, nor the pre WW2 antecedents that would be necessary to understand where the Street Without Joy actually began. As for Ho Chi Minh, it is surprising that as a younger man he had a short sojourn in the US, spent at least 4 years in France where many of his concepts of nationalism and socialism took root, and further developed as an academic for a time in Russia. For the French in particular he opines what is obvious as one reads this book that it was a stupid nihilistic war in pursuit of an antiquated foreign policy of colonialism but does not embellish the equally obvious proposal that the French could have eventually have established as much or more influence by vacating and gradually establishing cordial practical working relationships with Ho Chi Min and the Vietnamese people in general. Certainly some would have seen that possibility but one is not able to say without more depth why such thinking was not allowed to intrude into the grossly dysfunctional and anachronistic governmental/military fixations that established that unfortunate stairwell to a veritable blood soaked hell of devastating injuries and broken lives. Well the current reality is a cordial, positive, and productive relationship, one might even say alliance, that over time was gradually and naturally established between Vietnam and France and the US - obviously that end point could have been established without the massive destruction and human suffering of these wars. Reprise: one slightly amusing tangent to this historical account of a war far away was the author's description of women at the front especially intriguing though was the French habit of bringing along a mobile unit of prostitutes (many of whom apparently were fine looking girls from North Africa) for the bivouacked troops.

Excellent book! Well written, insightful and well researched. He was lucky enough to be able to do some research in Hanoi, as well as in both French and American archives which rounds things out a bit. He was also able add some more detail about the American experience up to about 1964 comparing and contrasting with the French experience in a limited way. His description of tactics and adaptations of both the French and Viet Minh are clear and detailed, and not too overwhelming for non-military experts to understand. Some of the maps are a little iffy, too much information or not enough labeling, but others are great. He is unsparing in his criticism on all sides, but praises where praise is due even-handedly. He is writing from a Western point of view, and having been published in 1961 it is a product of it's time. Some terms like "reds" are now out-dated, but in no way interfere with the narrative.As far as the Kindle edition is concerned there are a few typesetting issues such as "die" instead of "the" and "tom" instead of "torn" but not enough to make it unreadable. The footnotes are not back-hyperlinked, meaning within the text you can hit the linked footnote and it will take you there, but it will not take you back. Other than those issues, which are manageable, the kindle edition is fine.

I started to read this book when I was attending MACV school at Ft. Bragg, NC in1971. The boom was in the school library but it should have been a “must read” for all students.

This is one of the required sources for writing articles or Historical Fiction concerning the Vietnam War or the Era.

All the histories of American involvement in Vietnam mention this book, usually reverently, for its coverage of the French war in Vietnam. It's really good, with both the feel of an insider who knows the people and situation, and the big picture view. Fall sees it as a political war that the military can't win/couldn't win without immense changes elsewhere. But he's totally anti-Communist, while respecting the dedication and ability the Viet Minh showed. One bad point: this isn't a report on the whole 8 years the French fought there, just in depth reporting on a few campaigns in 1950 and later. One fascinating point: the potted bio on the back shows he was based in the US through most of the 50's and 60's, until he died walking with an American unit, killed by a land mine, so his view isn't totally French and foreign.

If you are happy thinking war is glorious, as shown in the movies, don't read this book. The climate, leeches, jungle and hand to hand fighting are the ugly truth. Only those who wearily continued, if luck was with them, survived. France was willing to sacrifice lives and limited treasure, until the situation was hopeless.

Gave me a ground level view of the dying days of the French colonial indochina empire, with stunning analysis of Viet Minh strategy.A sobering tale of the perennial folly of whites trying to extract economic benefit by subjugation of a dark-skinned population under the guise of “saving” it.

Story was told from the soldier and dealt with the trails they faced. It was plurplexing how the French forces never seemed to adopt a strategy more suited to the environmental they were fighting in. Their dependence on mechanized units which were constrained to the roadways put them a serious disadvantage compared to the Viet Minh, as did their series of fixed outposts. In both cases, their adversaries knew exactly where the French were, and could attack (or not attack) at their choosing. Sadly, the American forces in Vietnam could or would not learn from the French experience.

Il racconto è di uno stile giornalistico ma esauriente.

Outstanding read! Excellent condition. A must read for all who are interested in the history of the two wars in Vietnam.

Arrived earlier than expected and is in excellent condition. Looking forward to reading it.

All details about embarrassing French debacle in Indochina and it’s failure to recolonize Viet Nam after the World War II are quite interesting.But the author is basically sympathetic with the colonial powers (including the US), never critical about why they were there in the first place.Also, I found very difficult to continue reading each time when I came across such sentences like these:“A communist propaganda leaflet in my possession accuses 60 French soldiers of having raped 700 women in one afternoon. This works out to an average of 11 women per soldier. Such a compliment paid to French Virility by the enemy!”Talking of the French mobile field brothel,“As to Immorality issue, the girls themselves are volunteers, usually from the Oulad-Nail Tribe of Constantine, whose beautiful women have made it a century tradition of serving as prostitutes throughout North Africa, until they had assembled sufficient amount of money for their dowry. Once they have their Dowry, they return to their villages, settle down with the hometown boys and become devoted family mothers ever after.”

Great book!