The forgotten war : America in Korea, 1950-1953 : Blair, Clay, 1925-1998 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive (original) (raw)

xv, 1136 pages, 48 unnumbered pages of plates : 25 cm

Military history of the Korean War that combines battlefield level detail with command-level history as well as the domestic and international political dimensions of the war

The Korean war was a turning point in the ideolgoical struggle between Communism and the West; Cold War turned into Hot War, the first all-out armed conflict between the world's superpowers. This book is a masterwork of military history that combines battlefield-level detail with command-level history as well as the domestic and international political dimensions of the war. It explores every phase of the war: the slaughter of the first undertrained troops to arrive in Korea; the Eighth Army's desperate early retreat to the Pusan Perimeter and its heroic stand there; The dramatic amphibious landing at Ichon; the massive entry of the Chinese Communist forces; the controversial retreat of the Eighth Army and its eventual victorious comeback. As in all American wars, the main weight of the fighting was carried by the infantry: Army soldiers and U.S. Marines. The contributions of the Marines has been generously told in other books and films. The far greated and decisive contribution of the Army soldiers, who suffered 85 percent of the casualities, has never been told in full, until this book, which tells the whole story of the Army's first crucial year in Korea. Every noteworthy battle is described in vivid detail, listing mistakes as well as the triumphs. Also described are troop movements and tactics, along with the personalities and characters of the commanders at all levels, and how these influenced the progress of the war. This book is sheds new light on every aspect of the Korean war, and stands as the definitive account of the American Army in Korea. -- Publisher description

Maps on lining papers

Includes bibliographical references (pages 985-1083) and indexes

pt. 1, Eve of war : -- Washington, 1949-1950 -- Tokyo and Seoul, 1949-1950 -- pt. 2, Drawing a line : -- Momentous decisions -- Fantastical deployments -- pt. 3, Retreat to the Pusan perimeter : -- Taejon lost -- "Stand or die" -- pt. 4, Defending the perimeter : -- Pusan saved -- Taegu saved -- Magnificent victory -- pt. 5, The liberation of South Korea : -- Seoul recaptured -- Pursuit and exploitation -- pt. 6, The invasion of North Korea : -- Crossing the 38th Parallel -- On to the Yalu -- pt. 7, Drastic miscalculations : -- The Chinese strike -- "Land happy" -- pt. 8, Disaster and retreat : -- The second Chinese offensive -- Shocking losses -- A ray of sunshine -- pt. 9, Ridgway to Korea : -- A "defeated" army? -- The third Chinese offensive -- pt. 10, Counterattacks : -- "Eighth Army in good shape" -- The fourth Chinese offensive -- pt. 11, Return to the 38th Parallel : -- Killer and ripper -- Courageous, Tomahawk, and Rugged -- pt. 12, Van Fleet to Korea : -- MacArthur sacked -- The fifth Chinese offensive -- pt. 13, Red China checked : -- The sixth Chinese offensive -- Stalemate -- The talking war