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

It's easy to see why this became a classic. Fall's prose flows easily as he maintains an excellent middle ground examination of the failure of the French High Command coupled with both heroic and cowardly deeds of the French, Moroccan, Algerian, T'ai, and Vietnamese on the ground. As it is all to often in war, the men far behind the lines dither and dictate policy while the boots suffer and die for it.

This book I would also argue is paramount to understanding the French army's role and treatment of the populace in the struggle for Algeria. Most of the combatants and leaders were Indo-China and Dien Bien Phu veterans.

One can almost detect a pleading towards the end, Fall writing while his own country (The USA) began to commit more and show more more to a "conventional war" with the build up of forces in Vietnam passing from the role of adviser to active combatant. Fall hoped we would learn from both our and French mistakes in the 50's, sadly, he died while attached to a unit as a reporter in the jungle. With perfect hindsight, it is plain to see we did not take to heart Fall's excellent work and the lessons available to us. show less

The next time someone accuses the French of being cheese eating surrender monkeys, I will be forced to slap them. Dien Bien Phu is one of those battles that has shaped the course of history. In 55 days of brutal siege warfare, the Viet Minh under General Giap defeated a French garrison, ending French involvement in Vietnam, and setting the stage for America's bloody war. Published in 1966, this book was required reading in Wasington policy circles, and drove Lyndon Johnson’s obsession that the battle of Khe Sahn not be another 'din bin foo'.

Bernard Fall was an old Indochina hand, and this book mixes a day by day account of the battle with portraits of colorful French Foreign Legion officers and analysis of the mood and thought in show more Hanoi, Paris, and Washington. At times, the endless descriptions of desperate counter-attacks and airdrops under fire wears on, but a few scenes rise above prosaic reporting to describe the suffering endured by the French, trapped in hastily built trenches, starving, soaked to the bone, and under continual Viet Minh bombardment. The strategic analysis of Eisenhower's decision not to intervene is fairly accurate, especially considering how closely this book was published to the events. Notably, even in 1966 Vietnam experts were obsessed with counter-factuals and might-have-beens.

Ultimately, the French were defeated, but only after days without rations, reinforcement, or resupply. Dien Bien Phu fell only after every bullet was fired, and the last defensive positions overrun. Both sides were ferocious and skilled fighters, but what decided the battle was logistics. The French arrogantly assumed that the base could be supplied by airlift, and that it was impossible to move large numbers of men and supplies through the jungle. Communist flak, and the endurance of coolie porters carrying 200 kg loads on modified bicycles hundreds of miles through the jungle proved them wrong.

Dien Bien Phu was an atypical set-piece of battle, not characteristic of the war as a whole. Long and detailed, Hell in a Very Small Place is too much for a general audience, but vital reading for anybody interested in the origins of the war, or the French colonial forces. show less

Hell in a Very Small Place (1966) was the definitive book on the battle of Dien Bien Phu (1954) up until the release of The Last Valley in 2004. It still might be, I have not read the later to determine. Fall's book is mostly the chronicle of a "cage fight" with two tough cats thrown into a closed space and watching them destroy one another. I admit to being somewhat lost much of the time for lack of decent maps (I read the audiobook version). There is a lot of detail that would reward a second or third reading. As a battle it's interesting in the same way the Western Front was in WWI. Except in the back woods of Vietnam. And units that included ex-Nazi mercenaries, sub-Saharan Africans, Moroccan and Algerians, French elite show more paratroopers, Laos tribesmen, Chinese and of course many Vietnamese. Actions included massive air drops, mountain artillery, underground mines, human waves, daredevil feats of heroism. I'd like to revisit sometime but with a better understanding of the Indochina war. show less

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.

I have re read this book after 27 years and after a personal trip to the site of the battle. With greater maturity, I enjoyed the book much more with the second reading. The threat of Communism was perhaps less than the years of anti-colonial war that the Vietnamese people had to endure to finally throw off the foreign yoke, much as the French themselves had to fight off German occupation in several wars. The irony is that neither the French, nor the Americans (with their Revolutionary War experience) either identified with the Vietnamese struggle for their own independence.

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.

An outstanding, professional level military study of the lead up to the battle, the battle, and the sequelae. If you are a student of the conflicts in Vietnam, it’s a must read.