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Rating: Summary: giap's mouthpiece Review: Currey obviously fawns on Giap. Currey has shown no criticil analysis at all in either confirming or refutting Giap's claims. He simply passes them on. At times one cannot tell whether one is reading Currey or Giap.
Rating: Summary: giap's mouthpiece Review: Currey obviously fawns on Giap. Currey has shown no criticil analysis at all in either confirming or refutting Giap's claims. He simply passes them on. At times one cannot tell whether one is reading Currey or Giap.
Rating: Summary: An interesting and vital book Review: Giap cannot be considered but a genius of war, capable of hurting the great American superpower by using small war tactics and a resolve to stay the course. I found the research compelling even thogh this is indeed a pro-Giap study. I highly recommend this book for being sympathetic to a non-western and anti-American (militarily anyway) figure. It is easy to read, altrhough somewhat lacking in concrete biography. And it is good at explaining tactics.
Rating: Summary: A Must Read Account For Students of Military History Review: Vietnam history is one of invasion, going back a thousand years. Chinese, Khmer, French, Japanese, and finally the Americans. The Vietnamese have struggled with all of these. If one puts Vietnamese history into this context, one starts to realize that there is no other story like the Vietnamese saga.General Giap is a figure that must be studied by any serious student of warfare history. Giap was a arduious student of Napoleon, very serious, totally dedicated to his cause. While the fighting spirit and mettle of the Viet Minh cannot be understated, Giap's victory at Dien Bien Phu was nothing short of spectacular, using his army of barefoot soldiers. His grasp of logistics, and his sense of flexability on the battlefield are unsurpassed in modern warfare. His victory gave hope to colonial peoples all over the world, and signaled the end of colonialism. He proved the indiginous people could defeat a modern, powerful army. He fought the riches, most technologically advanced nation ever known to a standstill. I have totally enjoyed Cecil Curry's book on Giap. Curry's book does not try to glorify the man, nor does he make him out to be an evil communist. He simply tries to tell his story, and why Giap is the genius he is. Also, Curry goes into the excesses of the Vietnamese communist, as well as that of the French, Vietnamese oposition, and the Americans: He never tries to gloss over anything. Curry has some interviews with Giap, which makes the book even more interesting. This book should be read by anyone who loves military history, whether professionally or not. Any officer in any army could learn something here. Love him or hate him, Giap was a formidable foe, both to his foreign enemies, and those at home. History will remember Giap, and Curry's book will be the definitive source on his story for a long time to come.
Rating: Summary: A Must Read Account For Students of Military History Review: Vietnam history is one of invasion, going back a thousand years. Chinese, Khmer, French, Japanese, and finally the Americans. The Vietnamese have struggled with all of these. If one puts Vietnamese history into this context, one starts to realize that there is no other story like the Vietnamese saga. General Giap is a figure that must be studied by any serious student of warfare history. Giap was a arduious student of Napoleon, very serious, totally dedicated to his cause. While the fighting spirit and mettle of the Viet Minh cannot be understated, Giap's victory at Dien Bien Phu was nothing short of spectacular, using his army of barefoot soldiers. His grasp of logistics, and his sense of flexability on the battlefield are unsurpassed in modern warfare. His victory gave hope to colonial peoples all over the world, and signaled the end of colonialism. He proved the indiginous people could defeat a modern, powerful army. He fought the riches, most technologically advanced nation ever known to a standstill. I have totally enjoyed Cecil Curry's book on Giap. Curry's book does not try to glorify the man, nor does he make him out to be an evil communist. He simply tries to tell his story, and why Giap is the genius he is. Also, Curry goes into the excesses of the Vietnamese communist, as well as that of the French, Vietnamese oposition, and the Americans: He never tries to gloss over anything. Curry has some interviews with Giap, which makes the book even more interesting. This book should be read by anyone who loves military history, whether professionally or not. Any officer in any army could learn something here. Love him or hate him, Giap was a formidable foe, both to his foreign enemies, and those at home. History will remember Giap, and Curry's book will be the definitive source on his story for a long time to come.
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