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ROK Drop’s 10 Best Books About the Korean War
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1. This Kind of War: The Classic Korean War History – I chose this book written by T.R. Fehrenbach as the best book because it provides a complete history of the war written in a very readable format. Unlike other Korean War books that can get weighed down in details, this book tells specific battles and incidents from the war in a storyline format that is very readable and easy to follow for people newly studying the war.
2. The Coldest Winter – David Halberstam provides one of the newest books written about the war with him completing this book in April 2007. Shortly after completing the book Halberstam was tragically killed in a car accident. Before his death Halberstam considered this the best book he had ever written for good reason considering the concise and thought provoking information included in the book. Halberstam’s book uses the most newly declassified documents as well as a wealth of veteran’s interviews from both sides of the conflict to write a book that explores the miscalculations by major figures such as Mao, Stalin, Truman, MacArthur, etc. before and then during the war that the soldiers on the ground were left to suffer through. This book makes a great complementary reading to This Kind of War considering the level of detail it goes into exploring key figures and decisions that are discussed more generally in Fehrenbach’s book.
3. From Pusan to Panmunjom – This book is the best read about the Korean War from the perspective of the South Korean Army. Most histories of the Korean War are American centric with South Korean military contributions often minimized and even derided. This book written by respected ROK Army General Paik Sun-yup clearly shows the contributions of the South Korean military during the war and the bravery of many ROK Army units despite the difficult conditions they faced compared to their better trained and equipped American allies.
4. To the Last Round – This book is simply the best book available that looks at the British experience during some of the early battles of the Korean War. The book is written by Seoul based journalist Andrew Salmon who faithfully reconstructs the British battles at Happy Valley and along the Imjim River. Salmon does a great job of providing detailed information for the military minded reader while at the same time being a great storyteller which makes this book a good page turner for the non-military audience.
5. East of Chosin – This book was written by US Army historian Roy Appleman who also wrote one of the official US Army histories of the Korean War, South to the Naktong, North to the Yalu. Appleman is not the best story teller in this book, but being a military historian he provides important details about the Chosin Reservoir campaign to include the often overlooked history of the US Army units that fought in the campaign. So if you are looking for a book on the Chosin Reservoir campaign that isn’t Marine centric this is it.
6. The Korean War – This book by the British author Max Hastings provides a complete history of the war from almost an insiders perspective due to the many veteran interviews that Hastings conducted that included former Chinese soldiers. He also explores the politics of the time that led to the Korean War and why it made this war unwinnable in conventional terms.
7. MacArthur’s War: Korea and the Undoing of an American Hero – The author of this book Stanley Weintraub served as a lieutenant during the Korean War who was ultimately tasked at the small unit level to implement many of policies the infamous General Douglas MacArthur implemented during the Korean War. It is these policies such as failing to anticipate the Chinese entering the war, that Weintraub gives a scathing criticism of in this book.
8. The Secrets of Inchon – This book only came about when memoirs from Navy Lt. Eugene Clark were found in a safe in 1998 by his family after his death. His memoirs would eventually be published in a 2002 book written by Franklin Clark. This book depicts how Lt. Clark led a small force of Korean partisan fighters in their effort to gather intelligence and set conditions for the successful Inchon Landing Operation. Out of all the books this one would make for the best 2 hour action movie considering the heroics of Clark and his men depicted in the book.
9. No Gun Ri: A Military History of the Korean War Incident – This book by a then West Point Historian Major Robert Bateman does more than simply expose the many lies and inaccuracies from the original No Gun Ri reporting done by the Pulitzer Prize winning Associated Press team. The book also looks at the readiness of US units that deployed from Japan to fight in the war and what a nightmare the opening weeks of the war were for these ill prepared and poorly equipped units.
10. Colder Than Hell: A Marine Rifle Company at Chosin Reservoir – This book was written by Chosen Reservoir veteran Joseph Owen that tells the tale of the Chosen Reservoir from the small unit perspective instead of the large scale overviews usually given to the Chosen Reservoir campaign. His experiences fighting not only the Chinese, but the terrain, the weather, “bug outs”, among a host of other issues during the campaign is gripping reading. There isn’t a better book that depicts a battle from the Korean War at the small unit level.
Note: There are plenty of more books out there about the Korean War with official US military histories available on line for free. Please share in the comments section what are some of your favorite books about the Korean War?
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