The A Shau Valley played a critical yet poorly understood role in the decade-long battle for South Vietnam. This work, relying heavily on primary sources, tells the story of the many campaigns during the struggle for control of this critical area, a major terminus of the Ho Chi MInh Trail and the most important North Vietnamese base in the northern half of the country. A Shau was the base from which the enemy infiltrated and supplied Hue City during the 1968 Tet battles and was also the site of the famous battle for "Hamburger Hill" in May 1969.