Book Review: Victory at Any Cost: The Genius of Viet Nam’s Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap

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by Cecil B. Currey

Washington: Brassey's, 1997. xxii, 401pp. Illus, maps, notes, bibliog, index. $25.95. ISBN:1-57488-056-X

Although in many ways a useful and interesting work, this life of the Vietnamese communist commander leaves something to be desired as a military biography. Thus, while we are told that Giap was a close student of Napoleon (an odd hero for a communist), we never do learn if he ever had any practical military training. Nevertheless, there are some very useful insights into Giap’s understanding of the nature of war, and, on a more practical level, his direction of the wars against the French and the US. A useful work, and certainly better than anything else currently available on this most interesting commander.

Reviewer: A. A. Nofi   


Buy it at Amazon.com

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