The Indochina War is one of those which leaves the soul divided. French soldiers who had left their youth and their freedom there had felt deeply abandoned.
They had, on their return to mainland France, been welcomed with stones by CGT dockers. Why did France decide to go, if not for the sake of its own people, but for the benefit of the world? The story of the war is told in the book, The Indochinese War, by Jean-Paul Sartre, which is published by Verso.