Joseph Sherman 1st visits Saigon, the capital of French colonial Cochin-China, in 1925 on the hunting expedition with his father, a US senator. He is lured again and again as a traveler, a soldier, and then being a reporter by his fascination for the exotic land and for Lan, a mandarin’s girl he cannot ignore. Over five years Joseph’s life turns into enmeshed with the politics intrigues of two of Saigon’s most important families, the People from france colonist Devrauxs, as well as the indigenous Trans-and undoubtedly with Vietnam’s turbulent, battle torn fate. He’s there when the hatred of a million coolies increases against the French, so when the French Foreign Legion fights it’s bloody last stand at Dien Bien Phu.