Street Without Joy

First published in 1961 by Stackpole Books Street without Joy is a classic of military history. Journalist and scholar Bernard Fall vividly captured the sights sounds and smells of the brutal— and politically complicated—conflict between the French and the Communist-led Vietnamese nationalists in Indochina. The French fought to the bitter end but even with the lethal advantages of a modern military they could not stave off the Viet Minh insurgency of hit-and-run tactics ambushes booby traps and nighttime raids. The final French defeat came at Dien Bien Phu in 1954 setting the stage for American involvement and a far bloodier chapter in Vietnam‘s history. Fall combined graphic reporting with deep scholarly knowledge of Vietnam and its colonial history in a book memorable in its descriptions of jungle fighting and insightful in its arguments. After more than a half a century in print Street without Joy remains required reading.