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Valley of Death: The Tragedy at Dien Bien Phu That Led America into the Vietnam War Hardcover – February 23, 2010

4.4 out of 5 stars 117 ratings

Pulitzer Prize–winning author Ted Morgan has now written a rich and definitive account of the fateful battle that ended French rule in Indochina—and led inexorably to America’s Vietnam War. Dien Bien Phu was a remote valley on the border of Laos along a simple rural trade route. But it would also be where a great European power fell to an underestimated insurgent army and lost control of a crucial colony. Valley of Death is the untold story of the 1954 battle that, in six weeks, changed the course of history.

A veteran of the French Army, Ted Morgan has made use of exclusive firsthand reports to create the most complete and dramatic telling of the conflict ever written. Here is the history of the Vietminh liberation movement’s rebellion against French occupation after World War II and its growth as an adversary, eventually backed by Communist China. Here too is the ill-fated French plan to build a base in Dien Bien Phu and draw the Vietminh into a debilitating defeat—which instead led to the Europeans being encircled in the surrounding hills, besieged by heavy artillery, overrun, and defeated.

    Making expert use of recently unearthed or released information, Morgan reveals the inner workings of the American effort to aid France, with Eisenhower secretly disdainful of the French effort and prophetically worried that “no military victory was possible in that type of theater.” Morgan paints indelible portraits of all the major players, from Henri Navarre, head of the French Union forces, a rigid professional unprepared for an enemy fortified by rice carried on bicycles, to his commander, General Christian de Castries, a privileged, miscast cavalry officer, and General Vo Nguyen Giap, a master of guerrilla warfare working out of a one-room hut on the side of a hill. Most devastatingly, Morgan sets the stage for the Vietnam quagmire that was to come.

    Superbly researched and powerfully written,
Valley of Death is the crowning achievement of an author whose work has always been as compulsively readable as it is important.
 
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Pulitzer-winning journalist Morgan (Reds) synergizes a comprehensive spectrum of overlooked sources in this magisterial analysis of the 1954 French defeat at Dien Bien Phu and its consequences. The battle ended French colonial rule in Indochina and set the stage for American involvement in Vietnam, as unwanted initially as it was tragic in the end. The French, in November 1953, decided to establish a base in the remote valley of Dien Bien Phu. They were convinced the garrison could be supplied and supported by air, and Vietminh reaction thwarted by the roadless mountains and impenetrable jungles. Both assumptions were mistaken. Morgan, himself a veteran of the French army, eloquently describes the envelopment, the strangling, and the crushing of the French garrison by a people's army of Vietnamese peasants in the face of no less determined defenders. Reframing the battle, often viewed as a French folly, Morgan calls Dien Bien Phu one of the great epics of military endurance by both sides. His book is a fitting tribute to the men who wrote that epic. 16 pages of b&w photos, 2 maps. (Feb. 23)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

This absorbing account of the prelude, battle, and aftermath that ended the “first Viet Nam War” is a sad tale of misconception, missed opportunities, and massive blunders by French and even American military and civilian officials. Morgan, whose given name is De Gramont, served as a French lieutenant during the Algerian war and has an understandably jaded view of French imperial pretensions. He illustrates how the arrogance of French imperial masters embittered Vietnamese and made a smooth transition to independence unlikely. Morgan eloquently illustrates the deceptions and maneuvers between France, Britain, and the United States over the fate of Indochina as World War II ended. Sadly, President Truman, reversing Roosevelt’s policy, supported the restoration of French control. The actual battle of Dien Bien Phu is recounted in brutal detail as French forces bravely but futilely fought off advancing Viet Minh, led by wily General Giap, who had deeply personal reasons to despise French imperialism. This is a superb chronicle of a sad and avoidable conflict that led to an even more destructive one. --Jay Freeman

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Random House; 1st edition (February 23, 2010)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 752 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1400066646
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1400066643
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.55 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.46 x 1.91 x 9.68 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 out of 5 stars 117 ratings

About the author

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Ted Morgan
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Ted Morgan is the author of more than fifteen books, including FDR: A Biography and Reds: McCarthyism in Twentieth-Century America. As Sanche de Gramont, he was the only French citizen to win the Pulitzer Prize (for journalism). He lives in New York City.

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4.4 out of 5 stars
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Customers say

Customers find this book to be an excellent review of history, providing detailed background on the politics of the Indochina War. The writing is well summarized and amazingly detailed, with one customer noting it's filled with quotes. They appreciate its realism, with one comparing it favorably to the Illiad.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

18 customers mention "History"18 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the book's historical content, particularly its detailed background of the politics, and one customer notes it provides a comprehensive overview of the entire period in Asia.

"...at DBP and how they played out afterward are thought-provoking and fascinating...." Read more

"...The book, superbly researched, portrays the history of Indochina from WWII, when the fall of France relaxed the often brutal control they had been..." Read more

"Extremely well researched...." Read more

"Good overview of the entire period in Asia and the political machinations of the big four with China entering the scene at the end...." Read more

16 customers mention "Writing quality"15 positive1 negative

Customers praise the writing quality of the book, finding it well summarized and amazingly detailed, with one customer noting it is filled with quotes.

"...Morgan is an excellent writer who can shift very easily from conferences at the Presidential/Foreign Ministry level to the viewpoint of troops in..." Read more

"...The book is well written and detailed...." Read more

"...The battle itself is a small part in the middle of all this, but well summarized...." Read more

"...Describes in great detail the Viet Minh insurgency and the French response to that insurgency, as well as American military aid to the French...." Read more

15 customers mention "Readability"15 positive0 negative

Customers find the book readable, with one noting it provides a valuable look at Vietnam.

"...Morgan has written another excellent book called "My Battle of Algiers" about his experience as a conscript in the French army during the equally..." Read more

"...Otherwise, it is a worthy addition to any library on the history of the Vietnam conflict." Read more

"...So while I would say that this is a good addition to the books on this battle it is not the best and not, in my opinion, a definitive account as the..." Read more

"Great book on several fronts - it covers the history of French Indochina and the political background of the Indochina War all with a focus on the..." Read more

3 customers mention "Realism"3 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the realism of the book, with one comparing it favorably to the Illiad, and another noting its graphic nature.

"...of Dien Bien Phu and the run-up to it, in amazingly detailed, graphic and sympathetic terms. There are many helpful maps and photos." Read more

"...Even thought I fought in a later war it was uncanny the resemblance. I’m going back after 50 years with my son to visit DBP" Read more

"More realistic than the Illiad, more detail, more about the political forces dooming men to die for nothing. Douglas Makepeace, New York" Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on March 1, 2010
    Ted Morgan has written an excellent book about the 1954 Battle of Dien Bien Phu. Actually, it starts in 1940 and takes about a third of the book just to get to the commencement of the battle because it covers the background on the French and Vietminh sides (and the American involvement too). Morgan is an excellent writer who can shift very easily from conferences at the Presidential/Foreign Ministry level to the viewpoint of troops in the field. The interplay between soldiers and politicians in France is fascinating and sometimes revolting if you believe, as I do, that it is obscene to send young men into battle unless you are serious about the war aims and prepared to see them through to the end. The details of the French involvement before the battle and the consequences of the defeat at DBP and how they played out afterward are thought-provoking and fascinating. The popular view is sometimes that the American vs. NVA/VC Battle of Khe Sanh in 1968 was just Dien Bien Phu Part II with the Americans substituting for the French; this book definitively shows why this was not so. Morgan has written another excellent book called "My Battle of Algiers" about his experience as a conscript in the French army during the equally unpopular Algerian war and his very mixed - to say the least - feelings about his military service there. He is uniquely qualified to write on these topics because he was born French (as Sanche de Gramont) but moved to America when young and has since become very Americanized. Anyone interested in what happened before the US got involved in Vietnam will like this book.
    28 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on May 12, 2013
    Author Ted Morgan begins with a description of his 2008 tour of the Dien Bien Phu battlefield. The site, 20 miles from the Laotian border and almost 200 miles northwest of Hanoi was a plain ten miles long by five miles wide. It was the site of a battle that changed history, and for that reason alone, it must be studied.

    The French built the base to protect Laos and to draw the forces of General Vo Nguyen Giap into a pitched battle, one that the French expected to win. In addition to the problem of being dominated by the surrounding high ground, the valley could only be supplied by air.

    Logistics then, became the problem facing both armies. The Viet Minh had to move an army of 35,000 soldiers over 300 miles from their supply bases along the Chinese border. More importantly, they had to man-handle heavy artillery pieces, disassembling them before moving them by brigades of coolies over mountains, across rivers, and through thick jungle. And they had to do this without being discovered by the French.

    All the French supplies and manpower had to be dropped by air. Weather, distance, lack of resources, and enemy anti aircraft fire all impacted their ability to accomplish this mission.

    Neither side had any shortage of courage and both were subjected to horrendous conditions. In the end, the Viet Minh prevailed. The French left Vietnam for good, we entered the fray, and the rest, as they say, is history.

    The book is well written and detailed. I would have liked to see more maps (there are only three in the front of the book), and more photos of some of the combatants who so bravely fought there. Otherwise, it is a worthy addition to any library on the history of the Vietnam conflict.
    6 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on October 1, 2012
    Henri Navarre, then French military commander in Indochina, took by the end of 1953 the decision to occupy Dien Bien Phu, a 10 by 5-mile unnacesssible valley in NW Vietnam, aiming to protect the Laotian border from the Vietminh guerrillas, in war with the French colonial forces. The place was taken with paratroopers and fortified with a 12,000-strong force. Two airstrips provided the only supply links.

    It would prove a tragic decision. Still thinking the movement headed by Ho Chi Minh as a band of guerrillas, Navarre didn't realize that Chinese support had transformed the Vietminh forces in a proper army. The French were soon entrapped - general Giap, the Vietminh commander, had decided the time was ripe for a battle in a fixed area.

    The French base, consisting of several strongpoints scattered around a central command post, soon lost its airstrips and became a hell from which the wounded could not be evacuated. A brutal three-month trench fight ensued, in which the French were squeezed into an ever smaller perimeter. As airdrops turned out almost impossible, the situation became unsustainable. Upon surrender almost 11,000 prisoners were taken, most of them foreigners - German Legionnaires, Morrocans and Vietnamese - since the French could not send conscripts abroad. Less than a third survived the forced marchs and POW camps.

    Ted Morgan, née Sanche de Gramont, is a veteran of the French army, having fought in Algery in the 1950's. The book, superbly researched, portrays the history of Indochina from WWII, when the fall of France relaxed the often brutal control they had been enforcing over the region for a century and allowed the Vietminh nationalist movement to set foot. Initially occupied during the war by the Japanese, a French administration sent by Vichy was allowed to keep nominal control. By the end of the war, fearing an American invasion, the Japanese took control back and jailed the French troops. The vaccum created by Japan's surrender allowed the Vietminh to take power, though the country ended up divided and occupied by the Chinese on the north and the British on the south. Roosevelt, a stark anti-colonialist, didn't want to hand power back to the French. His death in 1945 and the reality of cold war in Europe allowed the French to regain their colony. The forceful cohabitation between the French and the Vietminh soon deteriorated towards a war.

    The conflict extended from 1947 to 1954, when the defeat at Dien Bien Phu led to the partition of Vietnam in a conference in Geneva. The French had finally lost their Asian colony, while US involvement - they supplied the French with matériel all over the war - would soon result in their own tragedy in the region.
    6 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on March 9, 2025
    for students of the conflict in Indochiana this is one of the best.
  • Reviewed in the United States on September 12, 2024
    Extremely well researched. The author is highly experienced journalist who is an American Citizen of French birth who as a young man served in the French Army in Algeria. He brings a soldiers knowledge with a journalist eye & ear for a story.
    As a Vietnam Combat Veteran I like understand the long tail of historical actions & motives that resulted in both my father & myself separately serving in this 30 year conflict.

Top reviews from other countries

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  • Frank Huebner
    5.0 out of 5 stars Schwpunkt auf HIntergründe und Politik
    Reviewed in Germany on March 9, 2012
    Das Buch von ted Morgan kommt sehr fett daher: Über 700 Seiten auf dünnem Papier, gute Druck- und Herstellungsqualität und seeeehr viel Text.

    Neben den beiden bisherigen Schwerpunktbüchern zu Dien Bien Phu (The last Valley von Martin Windrow und Hell in a very small Place von Bernard B. Fall) ist dieses Buch sicher kein Ersatz für die beiden, aber eine wertvolle Ergänzung. Anders als Windrwo und Fall konzentriert sich Morgan mehr auf die Hintergründe, die Politik und das Verhältnis der Kommandeure untereinander. Ich selbst dachte beim Anfang des Lesens, dass so viele Neuigkeiten mich nicht mehr überraschen könnten. Weit gefehlt, hier bekommt man zusätzliche Sichtweisen, die die anderen Bücher bisher nicht gaben.

    Klar, Morgan's Buch ist Stand 2010, Windrow von etwa 2000 und Fall von 1963. So ist es nur verständlich, dass wieder neue Informationen ausgegraben werden.

    Die Schlacht selbst wird dabei eher verworren und bruchstückhaft beschrieben, eher als Situationsbeschreibung. Was sehr fehlt sind Karten und Übersichten, aber darauf lag, wie schon erwähnt, wohl nicht der Schwerpunkt.

    Trotzdem 5 Sterne, weil auch die Hintergründe sehr interessant sind.

    Wer sich für die Schlacht und für Indochina an sich interessiert ist mit Windrows The last Valley am Besten bedient, Fall ist dazu eher eine Ergänzung. Wer sich auch für die ganzen politischen Ränkespielchen interessiert muss dieses Buch einmal lesen. Wer sich für Indochina und den ganzen Konflikt interessiert...sollte alle 3 Bücher lesen, und Bernard Falls Streets without Joy dazu!
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  • Randhir
    5.0 out of 5 stars The ramifications of the Battle had great impact on SE Asia but the steadfastness of the ...
    Reviewed in India on January 6, 2017
    This may be perhaps the last word on the Battle of Dien Bien Phu which spelt the doom of French colonial ambitions in SE Asia. The Author has taken a wider geo-political canvas and describes what went on in the corridors of power as the Battle builds up to its tragic climax. The courage of the defending troops, especially the paras, volunteering and dropping through a hailstorm of lead is breathtaking. Courage of the Viet Minh is no less remarkable. The generalship of Giap is obvious and requires a separate book of its own. The French underestimated the ability of Giap to bring his guns across trackless wastes and effectively invest the French, eating relentlessly into their defences until they have no option but to surrender. What is tragic is that the people of France showed scant support to the heroism unfolding. the Americans knowing fully well that Eisenhower will not put boots on the ground still kept French hopes alive. The British refused to ally with the Americans, in sharp contrast to later years, while the Russians stonewalled all attempts at resolution. The Chinese remained steadfast in their support to Ho Chi Minh who stands out as a remarkably determined and patient leader. The French higher leadership remained wanting. The ramifications of the Battle had great impact on SE Asia but the steadfastness of the Vietnamese was clearly not understood by America as it too later drowned in the mire. There are several lessons which can be drawn, the primary one being that America refuses to learn from its experiences, especially in fighting insurgencies. A book worth reading, maybe twice at least.
  • J Anderson
    3.0 out of 5 stars Not the best
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 4, 2018
    Found this book a bit hit and miss to be honest. This is the fourth book i have read on the subject and must say it is the worst one of the bunch. The first part was excellent dealing with the politics and how the french and the americans were at odds over colonialism but it went down hill after that. The book continues to perpetuate the myth of the legion being virtually german to a man and giving units the wrong size and titles. I must admit i am a die hard reader of this battle and I'm being a little bit pedantic. It was ok but not the best.

    Jim
  • PHILIPPOS VOIDOMATIS
    5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 1, 2015
    item arrived in excellent condition
  • Mrs P Lynch
    5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 4, 2015
    Excellent and frightening book!