American historians have covered the details of the military's role(s) of the conflict over the past 40+ years quite well. Researching at the National Archives has produced reams of data concerning our involvement. Author Logevall moved beyond domestic sources, examining foreign sources, a more challenging task for any historian. For the American reader, facts about France's politics and strategic goals are unknown or not a matter of great interest. But put together in narrative form, these facts bring to the surface the power of knowledge that helps one understand the how and why of 10 years of American involvement in a bloody war that cost 58,000 American lives, in addition to the 10's of thousands of French and Vietnamese lives, both military and civilian.
Ho Chi Minh and his chief general, Nguyen Giap, are revealed to be the great men of Vietnam independence, the architects of the long struggle to throw off the colonial yoke of a western European power. The activities of these two men and their lieutenants are chronicled in detail as events unfold over decades before and after WW II.
The Japanese role in Indochina gets its due on the pages of the story as French overseers in Tonkin and Cochin seek compromise with the military forces of Japan as they move south into Malaya with their eyes on Indonesia and Singapore. Politicians in Paris make attempts to pacify wary voters while trying to retain a grip on the French colonial empire.
Slowly, but surely, the tide turns against the French. With few options, mounting criticisms, and mounting casualties, the end of the conflict arrives in the form of a spectacular defeat at Dien Bien Phu, in the obscure valley in the country's northwest, near the Laotian border.
more in part III
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