Full Description
A ground-breaking history of this global conflict including the errors and miscalculations made on both sides.
Korea: War Without End examines the stand-off between East and West in Korea that ultimately defined the second half of the 20th century. It provides a critical analysis of the lack of preparation by the West for war; the results of the North Korean invasion in June 1950; the counter-stroke by MacArthur in September and then the strategic overreach which led to communist China's involvement on the North Korean side, and the rapid escalation to consideration of the use of nuclear weapons.
Through meticulous analysis of all the source material, this book details the chaos of political decision-making at the war's outset and as it progressed. The Korean War was not planned as a Communist offensive against the West. In turn, the East did not understand the principle at the core of the Western response to Kim Il-sung's aggression, namely a refusal to appease an aggressor, the key mistake the West considered to be at the heart of the rise of Nazi Germany and militaristic Japan in the 1930s.
Korea: War Without End also considers the effect of the fighting on civilians. While the war was a proxy one between East and West, the people of Korea suffered immensely, with approximately 3 million war fatalities and a larger proportional civilian death toll than World War II. This is the definitive history of the conflict that is long overdue.
Contents
Notes to the Reader
List of Illustrations and Maps
Chronology
Introduction
PART 1: THE FIRST WAR FOR KOREA
Prologue - Sergeant Collins' Baptism of Fire at Pyeongtaek
1. Who Started It, and Why?
2. From a Clear Blue Sky
3. Blitzkrieg, In Mun Gun Style
4. The Pusan Perimeter
5. The Masterstroke at Inchon
PART 2: THE SECOND WAR FOR KOREA
Prologue - Captain Muñoz and the Ambush of the 2nd Division Below Kunu-ri
6. To the Yalu, or Bust
7. Cataclysm
8. The End of the Proconsul
PART 3: RETURN TO THE STATUS QUO ANTE BELLUM
Prologue - The Imjin River Adventures of a National Service Subaltern
9. The Imjin River: The 'Korean Kohima'
10. How to End a War
Reflections
Order of Battle, US Eighth Army
Acknowledgements
Bibliography
Index
