Bernard B. Fall fue un distinguido corresponsal de guerra e historiador especializado en Indochina a mediados del siglo XX. Con una profunda comprensión de las sociedades locales y una mirada crítica hacia las tácticas militares, predijo con acierto los fracasos de Francia y Estados Unidos en las guerras de Vietnam. Su obra se caracteriza por un agudo enfoque analítico, impulsado por el deseo de comprender las complejas fuerzas políticas y sociales que dan forma a la región. La dedicación de Fall a la verdad y su presencia en el frente cimentaron su legado como un observador vital de la guerra moderna.
The 1954 battle of Dien Bien Phu ranks with Stalingrad and Tet for what it ended (imperial ambitions), what it foretold (American involvement), and what it symbolized: A guerrilla force of Viet Minh destroyed a technologically superior French army, convincing the Viet Minh that similar tactics might prevail in battle with the U.S.
- Reprint of an all-time classic on the Vietnam War Originally published in 1961, before the United States escalated its involvement in South Vietnam, Street without Joy offered a clear warning about what American forces would face in the jungles of Southeast Asia: a costly and protracted revolutionary war fought without fronts against a mobile enemy. In harrowing detail, Fall describes the brutality and frustrations of the Indochina War, the savage eight-year conflict-ending in 1954 after the fall of Dien Bien Phu-in which French forces suffered a staggering defeat at the hands of Communist-led Vietnamese nationalists. With its frontline perspective, vivid reporting, and careful analysis, Street without Joy was required reading for policymakers in Washington and GIs in the field and is now considered a classic.