"A meticulous and masterly narrative" of the Battle of Dien Bien Phu, which doomed the French Empire and led America into Vietnam ( Wall Street Journal ).In December 1953, French paratroopers searching for the elusive Vietnamese army were quickly isolated by their enemy and forced to retreat. They took refuge in their outgunned and desolate jungle base—a small place called Dien Bien Phu.The Vietnamese besieged the ...

The gripping true story of the French Foreign Legion in the Sahara.Ever since the 1920s the popular legend of the French Foreign Legion has been formed by P.C. Wren's novel BEAU GESTE - a world of remote forts, warrior tribes, and desperate men of all nationalities enlisting under pseudonyms to fight and die under the desert sun.As with all clichés, the reality is far richer and more surprising than this. In this book Martin Windrow describes desert battles...

It is arguable that no group of fighting men in the history of European arms has been so misrepresented by ill-informed publicity as the French Foreign Legion.Though initially conceived in 1831 as a means of drafting recently discharged foreign soldiers to Algeria, the Legion has developed into a sophisticated force of motorized infantry, airborne troops and light armour.In this book, acclaimed French Army expert Martin Windrow examines the history and unif...

This memoir of the relationship between a British military historian and a Tawny Owl is "a small masterpiece of animal literature . . . [a] perfect book" ( The Wall Street Journal).Mumble was so much a part of my life in those days that the oddity of our relationship seldom occurred to me, and I only thought about it when faced with other people's astonishment. When new acquaintances learned that they were talking to a book editor who shared a seventh-f...

It is hard to convey the public impact of France's war to maintain her colonial grip on Algeria.In the late 1950s this ugly conflict dominated Europe's media to almost the same extent as would Vietnam ten years later. It brought France to the very verge of military coup d'etat; it destroyed thousands of careers; bitterly divided the French military and political classes for a generation; and was characterised by extreme atrocities and war crimes.This compac...

Bloomsbury presents Dien Bien Phu 1954: The French Defeat that Lured America into Vietnam by Martin Windrow, read by Thomas JuddA study of the battle at Dien Bien Phu, the 56-day siege that eventually led to the surrender of the remaining French-led forces, this iconic battle provided the climax of the First Indochina War.In late 1953, the seventh year of France’s war against the Viet Minh insurgency in its colony of Vietnam, the C-in-C, General Na...

The states of Indochina had been French colonies or protectorates since the 19th century.However, in March 1945 the Japanese interned all French troops and officials, and turned over all civil government to local authorities. The power vacuum caused by the Japanese surrender allowed the Viet Minh, a strong revolutionary organisation, to be established throughout Vietnam.When the French returned to the north, incidents between French and VM troops were inevi...

This volume covers the classic 'Beau Geste' period, of the French Foreign Legion when the corps was expanded during the most dynamic years of French imperial expansion. Legion battalions fought in the deserts and mountains of southern Algeria and Morocco, as well as in the jungles of North Vietnam, West Africa and Madagascar. Their varied uniforms and equipments for each period and theatre are illustrated and examined. Written by a leading expert on the French Foreign Legion, this is a col...

A highly illustrated study of the battle at Dien Bien Phu, the 56-day siege that eventually led to the surrender of the remaining French-led forces, this iconic battle provided the climax of the First Indochina War.In late 1953, the seventh year of France's war against the Viet Minh insurgency in its colony of Vietnam, the C-in-C, General Navarre, was encouraged to plant an 'air-ground base' in the Thai Highlands at Dien Bien Phu, to distract General Giap's Vietnam...

The French Indochina War (1946–54) was the largest of the first generation of post-World War II wars of decolonization as Vietminh insurgents sought to topple their French colonial masters.It was also unique in that the insurgency evolved from low-level guerrilla activity to mobile operations by a large conventional army which finally defeated a large European-led expeditionary force, supported by artillery, armour and airpower. The war's progress was almost entire...

Warriors: Fighting men and their uniforms is a journey through the whole span of military history using illustrations of the uniforms of warriors from ancient times to the present day.From ancient times to the present day, the world's finest warriors have been marked out by a stunning variety of dress, tactics and equipment. This splendid collection of artwork and commentaries illustrates famous combatants from all the ages of military history, bringing th...

The decision, in Spring 1948, to form two battalions of Foreign Legion paratroopers was prompted by the requirement for enlarged airborne forces in Indochina, and the healthy recruitment then employed by the Legion.There were some initial doubts. The Legion were known to be magnificent heavy infantry, but were felt by some to lack the flexibility and agility demanded by independent airborne operations. In the Legion itself there were some misgivings over the possib...