Featured battle : Dien Bien Phu

Part of French Indochina

Date : 13 March 1954 - 07 May 1954

A complete defeat of the French forces, besieged in a fortified position deep in the North Vietmanese jungle by the Viet Minh soldiers under General Giap. The French, in particular batallions of the Foreign Legion, held out for 56 days against incredible odds in an increasingly precarious position, surrounded and starved of supply and reinforcement before weight of numbers, artillery and skillfull concentration of force overwhelmed them. It spelt the end of French involvement in the region.

The Duke of Wellington in 100 Objects

Gareth Glover
This is the third book of the 100 objects series that I have read and the format is truly inspired. As with his Napoleon book Gareth Glover gives us the story of each of the hundred objects in their context and in doing so writes a brief broad brush history of the life of Arthur Wesley/Duke of Wellington The objects are dealt with individually but the whole is structured in chronological order. Every item has two or three pages which makes this book easy to pick up at odd moments for a ‘little read’ but be warned it is easier to pick up than to put down. One may intend to read one section but then sees the picture of the next item so one reads on and ten minutes soon becomes half an hour.
The range of the objects chosen is very wide from ivory miniatures to monuments on mountains, from violin to Tipu’s cannon. This is an illustrated biography that visits many bye ways in the Duke’s life.
The publication is of a high quality; the photographs are beautifully presented. Although I am not keen on black print on some rather dark pages the overall effect lends an antique feel to the book.
There is one surprising omission in that there isn’t any acknowledgement of where many of the objects are now. It would be nice to know on the off chance that one could visit the place.
This book will appeal to a wide range of readers and we recommend it highly.

Frontline Books, 2020