Valley of the Shadow: The Siege of Dien Bien Phu by Kevin Boylan and Luc Olivier. What makes this book so valuable is their access to Vietnamese research never before published. This illustrates n new view of the siege. My Dien Bien Phu retrospective will now place Boylan and Olivier’s work as the most detailed order of battle.
Bernard Fall’s Hell in a Very Small Place: The Siege of Dien Bien Phu remains the most essential work. Valley of the Shadow compliments and introduces those new Vietnamese insights. This provides the West with deeper sights as we approach a 70 year remembrance of the siege.
Boylan and Olivier also shed insight to Navarre’s initial plan. Amazingly, he wanted to cancel the entire operation at the last possible minute. Yet firm dates for the Geneva Conference already in place. France hoped for a repeat of their victory at Na San and a strong negotiation advantage.
Interestingly, Valley of the Shadow reflects upon the pompous views of French officers. Their suggestions following Na San, that the Viet Minh would simply fall victim a second time proved so foolish.
Boylan and Olivier offer a few new details to attack plan “Fast Strike, Fast Victory” proposed by Giap. Planned for January, Giap modified to “Steady Fight, Steady Advance.” As victory was within reach, Strike Fast would be delivering a final blow to the French command HQ.
Dedicating a full chapter to the opening 72 hours of the siege provides richer insights. Most importantly, new datasets help confirm early Viet Minh’s attack victories.