“The Last Valley” is very tragic. Before you start reading, you already know what the outcome will be but I found myself (strangely enough) hoping for a different outcome. How terribly the French troops suffered during that siege. I can’t even begin to think of how awful it must have been.
In some respects, I think the decline of France (in the post WWII years) started there. As I once read somewhere “France lost its backbone in Indochina and it lost its soul in Algeria” - or something similar to that.
Yeah, I felt the same way... it really draws you in. The French soldiers fought so well, and showed such resolve, determination, and confidence even to the last-- heartbreaking. It was a tragic situation, with so many lessons to be learned, both at the policy, operational, and tactical level.