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Bernard B. Fall (1926–1967)

Author of Hell In A Very Small Place: The Siege Of Dien Bien Phu

15+ Works 1,276 Members 19 Reviews

About the Author

Bernard Fall was born in Vienna in 1926, migrating to France in 1938. After his father was killed by the Gestapo and his mother killed at Auschwitz, he joined the French Resistance at sixteen, then the French Army. Following World War II, he was an analyst with the Nuremberg War Crimes Tribunal. show more Coming to the United States in the early 1950s, he earned a master's and a doctorate at Syracuse University. He first traveled to Indochina in 1953, returning in 1957, 1962, 1965, 1966, and 1967, when he was killed by a mine on the "street without joy," the highway he had described in his book. He also wrote Hell in a Very Small Place. show less

Works by Bernard B. Fall

Associated Works

Reporting Vietnam: American Journalism 1959-1969, Volume 1 (1998) — Contributor — 323 copies

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Bernard Fall was a Jewish refugee into France from Austria in 1938. Losing both his parents to the gestapo in WWii, Fall, a resistance fighter ended WWii in the Ftrench Army. He then gained his PHD while writing this in-the-field account of the Indo Chinese war 1646 - 54. He correctly predicted the French collapse there. Returning to the USA, he combined University teaching with War Corresponding in thr 1950's and 1960's. This book was a success at the time. A keen critic of American involvmewnt in the Vietnam War, he was killed by a land mine in 1967 in Vietnam.… (more)
 
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DinadansFriend | 11 other reviews | Nov 22, 2023 |
Superb. One of the best books I've read this year. Comparable to The Great Siege b Ernle Bradford, it describes an horrific battle whose outcome changed the course of history. I'm not much into military tactics, but this book by B. Fall lays everything out in clear maps and prose with unbelievably expert analysis. And, yet, the US still decided to tackle Vietnam, committing many of the same mistakes as did the French. The US deserved what it got. The author's story is equally credible and worth learning as well. Finished 03.09.20.… (more)
 
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untraveller | 5 other reviews | Sep 17, 2020 |
Fall, a Resistance fighter in World War 2, brings uncommonly acquired insights and knowledge to events witnessed in French Indo-China as a European colonial power enters the quagmire of battling against a people's army of revolution and liberation.
 
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Top.Notch.Hill | 11 other reviews | Dec 20, 2019 |
A good writer, and a well researched book. it remains one of the classics of war reporting. It may have had some influence on whipping up enthusiasm for the Widening Vietnamese conflict when it was published.
1 vote
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DinadansFriend | 5 other reviews | Jul 16, 2019 |

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Works
15
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1,276
Popularity
#20,106
Rating
4.2
Reviews
19
ISBNs
35
Languages
4

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