Korean War

Updated with maps, photographs, and battlefield diagrams, this special fiftieth anniversary edition of the classic history of the Korean War is a dramatic and hard-hitting account of the conflict written from the perspective of those who fought it. Partly drawn from official records, operations journals, and histories, it is based largely on the compelling personal narratives of the small-unit commanders and their troops. Unlike any other work on the Korean War, it provides both a clear panoramic overview and a sharply drawn "you were there" account of American troops in fierce combat against the North Korean and Chinese communist invaders. As Americans and North Koreans continue to face each other across the 38th Parallel, This Kind of War commemorates the past and offers vital lessons for the future.

David Halberstam's magisterial and thrilling The Best and the Brightest was the defining book for the Vietnam War. More than three decades later, Halberstam used his unrivalled research and formidable journalistic skills to shed light on another dark corner in our history: the Korean War. The Coldest Winter is a successor to The Best and the Brightest, even though in historical terms it precedes it.Halberstam considered The Coldest Winter the best book he ever wrote, the culmination of forty-five years of writing about America's postwar foreign policy.Up until now, the Korean War has been the black hole of modern American history.The Coldest Winter changes that. Halberstam gives us a masterful narrative of the political decisions and miscalculations on both sides. He charts the disastrous path that led to the massive entry of Chinese forces near the Yalu, and that caught Douglas MacArthur and his soldiers by surprise. He provides astonishingly vivid and nuanced portraits of all the major figures -- Eisenhower, Truman, Acheson, Kim, and Mao, and Generals MacArthur, Almond, and Ridgway. At the same time, Halberstam provides us with his trademark highly evocative narrative journalism, chronicling the crucial battles with reportage of the highest order.At the heart of the book are the individual stories of the soldiers on the front lines who were left to deal with the consequences of the dangerous misjudgments and competing agendas of powerful men. We meet them, follow them, and see some of the most dreadful battles in history through their eyes. As ever, Halberstam was concerned with the extraordinary courage and resolve of people asked to bear an extraordinary burden.The Coldest Winter is contemporary history in its most literary and luminescent form, and provides crucial perspective on the Vietnam War and the events of today. It was a book that Halberstam first decided to write more than thirty years ago and that took him nearly ten years to write. It stands as a lasting testament to one of the greatest journalists and historians of our time, and to the fighting men whose heroism it chronicles.Includes an Afterword by Russell BakerTributes to David HalberstamDavid Halberstam died at the age of 73 in a car accident in California on April 23, 2007, just after completing The Coldest Winter. Legendary for his work ethic, his kindness to young writers, and his unbending moral spine, Halberstam had friends and admirers throughout journalism, many of whom spoke at his memorial service and at readings across the country for the release of The Coldest Winter. We have included testimonials given at his memorial service by two writers who made their reputations at the same newspaper where he won a Pulitzer Prize for his Vietnam War reporting, The New York Times: Anna Quindlen ...David occupied a lot of space on the planet. Perhaps he felt the price he must pay for that big voice, that big reach, that big reputation, was that his generosity had to be just as large. Most of us, when we take to the road and meet admiring strangers, vow afterward to answer the note pressed into our hands or to pass along the speech we promised to the person whose daughter couldn't be there to hear it. But with the best will in the world we arrive home to deadlines, bills, kids, friends, all the demands of a busy life. We mean to be our best selves, but often we forget. David did it. He always did it. The note, the call, the book, the advice. When I mentioned this once he dug his hands deep intothe pockets of his grey flannels, set his mouth at the corners, looked down and rumbled, "Well, but it's so easy." That's nonsense. It's not easy. But it is important, and why he has been remembered with enormous affection by ordinary readers all over this country, and why each of us who live some sort of public life would do well, with all due respect to Jesus, to ask ourselves about those small encounters: what would David do ... Read her full tributeDexter Filkins .

The epic story of ''George Company,'' one of the Korean War's most decorated yet unrecognized companies.

''If I were God, what would you want for Christmas?'' With a thousand-yard stare, a haggard and bloodied marine looked incredulously at the war correspondent who asked him this question. In an answer that took ''almost forever,'' the marine responded, ''Give me tomorrow.''

After nearly four months of continuous and bloody combat in Korea, such a wish seemed impossible. For many of the men of George Company, or ''Bloody George'' -- one of the Forgotten War's most decorated yet unrecognized companies -- this would be their last day.

This is the epic story of George Company, Spartans for the modern age. After storming ashore at Inchon and fighting house-to-house in Seoul, America's last reserve unit found itself on the frozen tundra of the Chosin Reservoir facing an entire division of Chinese troops. Little did this small band of men -- green troops who had been rushed through training to bring fresh forces to the war -- know they would soon be saviors. This is their story, and it will never again be forgotten.

Chosin
Heroic Ordeal of the Korean War
Eric Hammel

Told from the point of view of the men in the foxholes and tanks, outposts and command posts, this is the definitive account of the epic retreat under fire of the 1st Marine Division from the Chosin Reservoir.

The author first sketches in the errors and miscalculations on the part of the American high command that caused the Marines to be strung out at the end of a narrow road scores of miles from the sea. He then plunges right into the action: the massing of Chinese forces in about ten-to-one strength; the Marines' command problems due to the climate and terrain and high-level over confidence; and the onset of the overwhelming Chinese assault.

With a wealth of tactical detail and small-unit action Chosin: Heroic Ordeal of the Korean War is the most complete book written to date on this iconic battle. Author Eric Hammel's masterful account offers invaluable perspective on war at the gut level.

Praise for Chosin

"Hammel's book is full of accounts of the stuff that legends are made from. It is a cliffhanger of a story, and he tells it master-fully. Readers should be warned: Just as in the campaign itself, where there was no rear echelon and everyone was a combatant, so too, if you go into Yudam-ni with the Marines you had better be prepared to be with them all the way on to Hungnam and freedom." —Sea Power Magazine

"This is a view over the foxhole's rim. It concentrates on the superlative effort, suffering and courage of the young enlisted Marines, sailors and soldiers who glared at the quilted uniformed enemy and refused to be stared down ... a factual, revealing and penetrating look at war at its worst and men at their best." —The San Diego Union

"The author's weaving of men, crises, and numbing cold leaves the reader in awe of this feat of arms in which soldiers and Marines fought an epic struggle to survive. . . . Hammel's book is highly recommended." —Infantry Magazine

"Involves the reader emotionally in a kaleidoscope of different, individual perceptions—from officers in their headquarters to riflemen shivering in the foxholes ... to the small-unit actions that, in their totality, shaped the ultimate course of the battle." —Military History Magazine

The Korean War is known to many as the ‘forgotten war’. Resulting from a ‘tug-o-war’ between major world powers and the division of one country, the war would be a haunting legacy that would continue to plague Koreans and the United Nations for generations.

Despite an armistice, that legacy would create a tragic path that continues, even to this day, to keep two nations on the brink of war, where peace, it seems, is more about continued sparring than ending the heart-wrenching and sometimes inhumane existences of so many millions of suffering peoples.

With a history of varied offensives, battles, sieges, raids and operations, some of which were successful and others which did nothing to aid the situation, the road that led Koreans and others to war must be understood in order to plan a peaceful future that both North and South Koreans can one day enjoy.

What follows is a short history of the war, the key figures, and the battles and politics involved.

CHILD ON THE HOME FRONT By Robert Ross Talley Every good story should have elements of anxiety, drama, suspense or mystery, excitement, adventure, romance and comic relief. This book has all of the above. It doesn't get much more suspenseful than waiting and preparing for a possible enemy air raid or invasion at the beginning of World War II. It doesn't get more dramatic than being forcefully uprooted from homes and businesses and then being relocated to internment camps if you were a Japanese-American citizen. Yet just because there was a war on didn't mean a kid couldn't get into mischief, like trying to drive a streetcar away from the car barn for adventure. And who hasn't had an anxiety attack about going on your first date? Or how about being knocked to the ground by a snarling military German Shepard police dog for excitement? What was so mysterious about the Army's occupation of the Polo Grounds in Golden Gate Park? Growing up is hard enough for a young boy in normal times. But doing so on the home front during a major war like World War II, or even a smaller one like the Korean War, presents even more challenges. You'll enjoy reading about the adventures of this sometimes funny, sometimes bratty, but always entertaining, "Child on the Home Front"! Some might even say "Wild Child on the Home Front", but you decide for yourself.