Street Without Joy

The French Debacle in Indochina

De: Bernard B. Fall

Narrado por: Derek Perkins

In this classic account of the French war in Indochina, Bernard B. Fall vividly captures the sights, sounds, and smells of the savage eight-year conflict in the jungles and mountains of Southeast Asia from 1946 to 1954. The French fought well to the last, but even with the lethal advantages of airpower, they could not stave off the Communist-led Vietnamese nationalists, who countered with a hit-and-run campaign of ambushes, booby traps, and nighttime raids. Defeat came at Dien Bien Phu, in 1954, setting the stage for American involvement and opening another tragic chapter in Vietnam's history.

©1964 Bernard B. Fall (P)2013 Tantor

Still great after all these years.

What did you love best about Street Without Joy?

It showed how a great military force that adapted to the terrain still got beaten. The French forces were made up of so many brilliant soldiers and they were creative in dealing with their enemies, but were undone by political factors that they did face, but not as well as their enemies.

Great..

This book is just as great as I was told it was. I recommend it. If it’s not on the West Point reading list…it should be.

Great book, lousy narrator

What did you love best about Street Without Joy?

Dr. Fall wrote an excellent and factual account that is an excellent read. I have been in many of the locations and walked, or drove, over the ground.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Perhaps Perkins was using British pronunciation but his Vietnamese pronunciation really sucks. I found it very distracting and at times a bit hard to follow. Too bad, there are plenty of ways to get correct pronunciation.

Great Book!

Easy to follow. Narrator was easy to understand and I love when he lent his accent to the french parts.

overall good

the narrator is hard to listen to. very matter of fact and mono toned. but overall a very good book

Classic Vietnam battle tactics.

Narration: clear and good match for content.

Content: nothing to add to evaluations made by virtually all other reviewers. Knowing of French debacle should have steered Johnson and his supporters clear of the Vietnam war. They should have been prosecuted for their deceiving the American people into prosecuting a senseless war..

Factually correct

Where does Street Without Joy rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

a nine out of 10 compared to other audio books

What did you like best about this story?

Facts seemed correct

Which scene was your favorite?

When the soldiers were watching the woman cook and realized she was cooking more than she needed and they figured out there were tunnels where the enemy was hiding.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

not really

Great...except for one thing

I've really enjoyed reading this classic on the French Indochina War, but one thing would make it MUCH more enjoyable.
Unlike the US conflagration in that far away land, much of the French conflict occurred in northern Vietnam. So it has been quite difficult for me to visualize the towns, topography, etc. while listening to the narrative. A PDF copy of maps (topography, campaigns, etc.) would make this wonderful book far more enjoyable.

Mr. Infantry was right!

I read about this book in Hackworth's "About Face". He was of the opinion that American military leaders should have learned from this book and not repeated the same mistakes the French were making. I especially like the chapter on Revolutionary Warfare and "The Lesson" that references Algeria and mentions French aid to Washington during our own Revolutionary War. If you enjoy this check out a movie called "The Battle of Algiers", it's a good one. Every time the rebels are on the attack they play these cool tribal sounding drums. Anyway, good book and I am glad I finally read it after all these years.

A masterpiece!

Would you listen to Street Without Joy again? Why?

Absolutely. Whether you knew the background of French colonialism or not, when a book is narrated so well as this, you will believe the storyline. I read "Saigon" by Anthony Grey back in the 70's and since discovering Audible.com I wanted to know more. Of what was available this book seemed the best and I was not disappointed.

What other book might you compare Street Without Joy to and why?

A Savage War of Peace.

Which scene was your favorite?

Every single one.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I wasn't able to this time, but to answer the question, yes!

Any additional comments?

Another masterstroke by Audible.com.