Conflict: The History Of The Korean War, 1950-1953

by Robert Leckie

In June 1950 Communist forces poured across the 38th Parallel (the arbitrary, militarily indefensible line of latitude separating the Communist North from the independent Republic of Korea) to unite the country by force. Three bloody, bitter years of fighting ensued during which the seesawing fortunes of this frustrating war thwarted North Korea's ambitions while treating the ill-equipped, overconfident UN peacekeeping forces, mostly Americans, no less harshly. Conflict examines the war in all its military, political, and human the battles at Pusan Perimeter, at Inchon, at Chosin Reservoir, at Heartbreak Ridge; significant figures like Syngman Rhee, Kim Il Sung, Ridgway, MacArthur, and Truman; controversies like MacArthur's dismissal, the difficulties of P.O.W. exchanges, and charges of brainwashing and germ warfare; as well as penetrating analyses of the performance of the American soldier, and the war's effect on the U.S. military and our national psyche. As such, Conflict stands as an unsurpassed, vivid contribution to history.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Military History

496 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1962

About the author

Leckie was born on December 18, 1920, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He grew up in Rutherford, New Jersey. He began his career as a writer in high school, as a sports writer for ''The Bergen Evening Record'' in Hackensack, New Jersey.

On January 18, 1942, Leckie enlisted in the United States Marine Corps.He served in combat in the Pacific theater, as a scout and a machine gunner in H Company, 2nd Battalion 1st Marines Regiment 1st Marine Division (United States). Leckie saw combat in the Battle of Guadalcanal, the Battle of Cape Gloucester, and had been wounded by blast concussion in the Battle of Peleliu. He returned to the United States in March 1945 and was honorably discharged shortly thereafter.

Following World War II, Leckie worked as a reporter for the Associated Press, the ''Buffalo Courier-Express'', the ''New York Journal American'', the ''New York Daily News'' and ''The Star-Ledger''. He married Vera Keller, a childhood neighbor, and they had three children: David, Geoff and Joan According to Vera, in 1951 he was inspired to write a memoir after seeing ''South Pacific '' on Broadway and walking out halfway through. He said "I have to tell the story of how it really was. I have to let people know the war wasn't a musical His first and best-selling book, ''Helmet for My Pillow'', a war memoir, was published in 1957. Leckie subsequently wrote more than 40 books on American war history, spanning from the French and Indian War (1754–1763) to Operation Desert Storm (1991). Robert Leckie died on December 24, 2001, after fighting a long battle with Alzheimer's Disease.

Reviews

[Jacob Harrison · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book took me a really long time to read, and it’s not because it’s lengthy in content but rather because it’s middle part really drags. This book is 400 pages, I read the first 100 pages in a day, and the last 100 pages in a day, but the middle just seemed to be bogged down in tedious details, so much so that it took me weeks to get through it. I still learned more about the Korean War than I knew before however, and it is an important part in history overlooked nowadays by most people. It marked the end of an old era and the start of a new one. It molded the concept of a limited war, as opposed to total war which was used in WWI and WWII. This was critical because to employ total warfare post WWII-era would entail using atomic weapons which would in turn ensure mutually assured destruction by either the Russians or Chinese.

The author does a good job introducing Kim Il-Sung and Syngman Rhee. I never knew that Kim Il-Sung was educated in the Soviet Union, or that he was one of many indoctrinated communists installed by the Soviets to create a puppet government. Likewise I didn’t know that Syngman Rhee was educated in Western schools and thought, which created him to be a man determined to see his homeland become a democratic and free nation. The author also does a good job contrasting communist and UN treatments of prisoners and conduct during the war. And it is also clearly illustrated that the Korean War was no doubt a victory for the United States and United Nations allies. Many people today like to say we lost because we failed to unite the peninsula. However it should be reminded that the goal of the Korean War was the deter communist aggression, and to return South Korea to its people, which we succeeded in doing. It also demonstrated to the world that civilized democratic nations would stand in solidarity against aggressors to them. Furthermore all one needs to do to prove the Korean War was a victory is simply look to what has become of South Korea, it is one of the freest most prosperous countries in all of Asia and the world, a clear contrast as to what North Korea has become under communist/socialist rule.

All in all, not an amazing book but it’s good in certain areas. Although it feels a little tedious. The soldiers who fought this war should always be remembered and thanked for their service and devotion to freedom and democracy, they stand as an example to us all.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

My grandfather (who died in 2004) fought in the British army during the Korean War. He was nearly killed by a Chinese machine-gunner so as you can imagine I am very interested in this particular war.

The Korean War is often nicknamed 'The Forgotten War' no-one really seems to talk about it much. The main reason I suppose is that technically the war was neither won nor lost. A stalemate began in the 50s and is still running today.

The war began in 1950 when the Communist forces of North Korea invaded their democratic neighbour South Korea. The UN sent forces from many nations to assist the South Koreans including the US, Great Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The UN quickly pushed back the North Korean soldiers who were not as experienced, well trained or well equiped as they but things took a turn for the worse when the Chinese got involved...all in all the fighting lasted for 3 years and nearly ended in a nuclear war. Once the Chinese were involved the UN dared not openly confront them so a stalemate began at what is now known as the 38th parallel.

This book contains a good amount of information on this brutal but largely forgotten war but sadly concentrates mostly on the US contribution and (in typical American style) neglects to mention alot of the hard work put in by other nations.

I own two other books on the Korean War which I will also review. One of them is particularly interesting to me as it focusses exclusively on the commonwealth forces contribution to the war and was written not long after the war ended. The other is written by the famous British historian Max Hastings

[RYD · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a good reminder of how brutal and back-and-forth the Korean War was. On its downside, I don’t think it does justice to just how crazy Douglas MacArthur was, some of its writing is a little cliche, and author Robert Leckie clearly embraces U.S. assumptions that soon proved so disastrous in Vietnam.

For instance, this about South Korean strongman Syngman Rhee, who was hardly the noblest of American allies: “The single passionate purpose of Syngman Rhee was to build a free and democratic state in Korean.”

[Ken Sena · Rating 4 out of 5]

When it comes to books about war, there are generally two types of books: a history of the war, which usually encapsulates the entire geopolitical landscape, details on the belligerents, information on battles, victories, losses, and a perspective framing of both sides and the regular people caught up in it; on the flip side you have a war history, that details the geopolitical landscape somewhat, gives some details on the belligerents (but mostly from the perspective of the side the author agrees with), and spills more ink on the pure mechanics of the war, which divisions, regiments, platoons, where was the front line on such and such date, who are the principle generals and their personalities. “Conflict: A History of the Korean War” by Robert Leckie is decidedly the latter.

I began the book with a real reservation for a war history written by a former U.S. Marine, fearing that his obvious bias for the United States would cloud any real objectivity, but I was pleasantly surprised by his clear eye for the authoritarian bent of Syngman Rhee.

This is not to say that Leckie was not a product of his time, “Conflict” is rife with inaccuracies, such as the apocryphal rumor that the Kim Il Sung historically understood as the founder of North Korea was not born Kim Il Sung, but rather assumed the name of a dead but respected general, and infused with general disregard for the Korean people and their culture and especially critical of the army of the Republic of Korea. Beyond these shortfalls, I found Leckie’s perspective to be refreshing in its narrow focus. Sometimes you want a basic history of the literal military conflict, its major battles, and key players. Especially a conflict as little discussed as the Korean War, which helped create the model of U.S. intervention in the Cold War and beyond.

[Aaron Fountain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mr. Leckie presented the conflict in Korea with clarity and preciseness. The details switched back and forth between the situation in Korea, America's perspective, and the views of other world powers. The fight between MacArthur and Truman was represented wholly, yet it failed to deliver in terms of how it interfered with the Korean conflict. The book was also in need of an editor; the copy I own is from 1962, and many words were plagued with minute errors. However, the author concisely conveyed the situation in Korea to the mentality of the world at the time, as well as the fight between the United States and Communist ideals. In all, the book was enjoyable, even though there were some simple typos among other things.

[Michael Barsoum · Rating 4 out of 5]

كتاب عن ( حرب لا يمكننا ربحها و لا خسارتها ولا حتى الخروج منها ) حسب وصف احد الجنود الامريكيين للحرب الكورية ، حيث كانت كل الاطراف الكورية سواء من الشمال او الجنوب مجرد دمى فى ايدى الاتحاد السوفيتى و الولايات المتحدة ، و فى سبيل توحيد شبه الجزيرة الكورية قتل الاخوة بعضهم بسلاح غربى و شرقى و فى النهاية لم تتوحد كوريا بل انقسمت للابد...الكتاب جيد جدا و ان عابه كثرة التفاصيل التى لا تهم الا العسكريين و قلة الخرائط التوضيحية

[Joanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was attention grabbing. It was interesting for the most part. Some parts were uninteresting.