Download or read book The Last Valley written by Martin Windrow and published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson. This book was released on 2011-12-01 with total page 510 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Stalingrad in the jungle: the battle that doomed the French Empire and led America into Vietnam In winter 1953-54 the French army in Vietnam challenged its elusive enemy, General Giap's Viet Minh, to pitched battle. Ten thousand French paras and légionnaires, with artillery and tanks, were flown to the remote valley of Dien Bien Phu to build a fortress upon which Giap could smash his inexperienced regiments. The siege which followed became a Stalingrad in the jungle, and its outcome shocked the world.