First published in 1961 by Stackpole Books, Street without Joy is a classic of military history. Journalist and scholar Bernard Fall vividly captured the sights, sounds, and smells of the brutal and politically complicatedconflict between the French and the Communist-led Vietnamese nationalists in Indochina. The French fought to the bitter end, but even with the lethal advantages of a modern military, they could not stave off the Viet Minh insurgency of hit-and-run tactics, ambushes, booby traps, and nighttime raids. The final French defeat came at Dien Bien Phu in 1954, setting the stage for American involvement and a far bloodier chapter in Vietnams history. Fall combined graphic reporting with deep scholarly knowledge of Vietnam and its colonial history in a book memorable in its descriptions of jungle fighting and insightful in its arguments.

"The 1964 to 2005 editions have the same pagination : 408 pages : illustrations, maps ; 22-23 cm ; the earlier editions have the following pagination : 1963 edition : 379 pages : illustrations, maps, diagrams ; 23 cm. ; 1961 edition : 322 pages : illustrations, maps ; 23 cm." Includes maps of: Operations in North Vietnam, 1950-52; Battle of Vinh-Yen; Defense of Mao-Khe; Battle on the Day River; Hell of Hoa-Binh, November 1951- February 1952; Death at Tu-vu; Failure at Xom-Pheo; Struggle for the Highlands; Operation Lorraine - the Offensive; Ambush at Chan-Muong; Counterattack at Chan-Muong; Operation Lorraine - the Withdrawal; Communist Spring Offensive, 1953; End at Muong-Khoua; Street Without Joy; Net Closes - D-Day, Nightfall; Campaigns of Mobile Group 100; End of Mobile Group 100; Ambush at Dak Ya-Ayun; Ambush at Kilometer 3; Slaughter at Chu-Dreh Pass; Guerrilla Warfare in Indochina, 1953-54; Communist PW Camp System; Death March Routes; Agony of Dien Bien Phu; War in Laos, 1959-64; Revolutionary War in North Vietnam, 1953; Communist Operations, 1962-1964; Convoy Ambush in Theory; Convoy Ambush in Reality; Escape from Thanh Tan Island, March 28, 1962. All the years have the same publisher : Stackpole ; with the exception of the 1972 edition : Schocken Books (New York). "Originally published : Harrisburg, PA : Stackpole co., 1961. Includes : "A military bibliography of Indochina"-- pages 398-403.

Introduction -- Foreword -- Author's preface -- How war came -- Set-piece battle : I -- Set piece battle : II -- Diary : milk run -- Laos outpost -- Diary : the women -- "Street without joy" -- Diary : inspection tour -- End of a task force -- Diary : the men -- Death march -- Why Dien Bien Phu? -- The loss of Laos -- The second Indochina War -- The future of revolutionary war.