The translated version of a book titled “Victory at Any Cost: The Genius of Viet Nam's Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap" by American historian Cecil B. Currey is recently released to mark military genius- General Vo Nguyen Giap’s 103th birthday.

“Vo Nguyen Giap is a military genius indeed. During his military career, he mapped out strategies and tactics which helped his country defeat the mightiest invaders,” commented Currey, who pointed out that his book principally delves into the circumstances and factors that helped Giap nurture and develop his singular military skills.

Along with highlighting dominant historical events and Giap’s momentous turning points, the book, considered a definitive biography of one of history's greatest generals, also provides profound analyses of the reasons why Giap grew into one of the 20th century’s military geniuses.

Cecil B. Currey (1923-2013) is a military history professor who lectured at the University of South Florida for 34 years. The book is the last one of his series on Vietnam, which also includes “Self-destruction: The Disintegration and Decay of the United States Army during the Vietnam Era” (1981) and “The Unquiet American” (1988).

In order to write “Victory at Any Cost”, which was revised by Giap’s family and office before being published, Currey did extensive research on thousands of various materials, including conversations with several Vietnamese people and Americans. The most notable conversation is the one with Giap himself. Giap welcomed Currey and answered many of his questions and provided him with many precious photos, which are included in the book, in Dec 1988 when Giap was 77 years old.

“Readers will realize Currey’s perspectives and opinions on the war which are quite distinctive from what we’ve already known and learn a lot from the undiscovered materials presented in the book,” Senior lieutenant-general Nguyen Huy Hieu commented on the book.

Born in 1911, Vo Nguyen Giap is an exceptional, revered military leader. Being the Vietnamese People’s Military’s first general and Commander-in-chief, Giap led several historic wars and battles, including the Vietnam war (1960–1975).