The Korean War: 1950-53

by Brian Catchpole

From the American attempts to take back Pusan from the North Korean communist forces at the outset of the war in 1950, to the U.S. assault on Inchon and capture of Seoul, to the final bloody battles of Pork Chop, Old Baldy, and the Hook in 1953, this military history authoritatively chronicles the conflict that became America's first unwinnable foreign war and gravely demonstrated the limits of the West's power in the East.

Genres: History, War

384 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1900

Reviews

[Creighton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven't really read much on the Korean War, the last thing I read was a magazine from Strategy & Tactics Quarterly that went through the Korean War, and that set off an interest. I decided to read this, and I ended up enjoying it, I think it did the trick for me. Most of the book was devoted to the military aspect of the war, which I liked; it wasn't drearily dry in covering this aspect. There were several interludes where the author talked about things like public opinion on the war, the air war, partisan warfare. What I found interesting is that Mr. Catchpole is from England, and I liked that he talked about the contributions of other nations in Korea, and that he devoted a whole chapter to the contribution of commonwealth forces, but I did feel that sometimes he wrote more about these forces than the American or ROK forces. I can't say whether I'd recommend this book yet in that I still haven't read much in terms of books on the Korean conflict.

[Hotrats · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written. Covers many areas of the war I had not considered such as the use of propaganda on both sides and it usefulness.

[Matyáš · Rating 1 out of 5]

Never in my life I've read a more one-sided and cold warrior-like history book written by a Western scholar. And it was written in 2001, in a time when (one could presume) the Cold War sentiments have passed - at least in academia! The suffering of UN forces is described in great detail, while the fact that Chinese soldiers were actually freezing to death in large numbers is just mentioned on one page. The author tries to persuade you how terrible it had to be for the allied POWs in captivity: They had to read Lenin and Mao to be able to exchange correspondence with their relatives and get better food (at a time where the Chinese were struggling to feed themselves). The North Koreans and Chinese are almost always reffered to only as the anonymous enemy, swarmimg the brave allied heroes like insects. The dehumanizing effect itself is not so significant as the more powerful tool is portraying the UN troops as brave chaps, citing their miraculous exploits and explaining in detail which medals they got etc. Definitely a great dissapointment, especially as the eastern sources are more accessible today than ever. What has to be said, though, is that the author really goes into detail concerning weaponry and battle tactics as well as the day-to-day lives of UN troops.

[Jemma · Rating 3 out of 5]

was in a bit of a reading slump during this book, so it took a while to finish. nevertheless, an interesting read.

a lot of the book is based on the ground side of the war, but you come to expect that going into a book like this. however, i did enjoy the sections on the air war, as that is for me personally the most riveting section in all wars.

the book includes some talk on strategy, and the public opinion of the war alongside propaganda, which is good as that is a topic often brushed over.

the section of the book devoted primarily to the commonwealth forces particularly interested me, especially the contributions mentioned of new zealanders - however, the ROK and us forces were less covered in this book i found, despite being crucial.

the book was also one sided, however. barely mentioning the suffering of the chinese. as this conflict was some time ago now, i expect we should be able to look past them being on the other side of the war and include some details on that, even if not many.

[Pavel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Skvěle se čte a je neskutečně zajímavá. Chybí ale dle mého názoru více mapek, aby se člověk lépe orientoval.

[Marty · Rating 4 out of 5]

A basic book if you want to learn what the korean war was about. This book goes into the causes, and details into the individual battles. Good analysis of specific factors influencing the outcome. Things I didn't know: there had been a discussion on using nuclear weapons!!! That 54,000+ Americans died.....the largest deaths among the North Korean and Chinese troops.....And that basically there was no change in the situation in the peninsula, except the devastation and deaths. How Japan benefited....as this became the foundation days for the Toyota, Mitsubishi empires.....with billions of dollars used to buy their products...a major part of the post WWII development. And the aggressive posture of China, with Russian back up, to spread theh communistic form of government, in some ways regardless of the costs, was concerning.
Now need to re read stuff on Vietnam.

[Trawets · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Korean War has been called the "forgotten war", and certainly it was one that I was ignorant about. However as Korea has been in the news recently, I thought it time to remedy that. Brian Catchpole gives a very detailed, but readable account of the conflict.
I was surprised at just how mobile the first part of the war was, followed by a static later half, during which much slaughter took place, reminiscent of WWI. I was also surprised at how truley international the UN forces were, with significant contributions from countries such as Turkey, Colombia,Ethiopia and the Philippines, as well as the US, Britain and the Commonwealth.
At a time when the war in Afghanistan, rightly, takes up so much media attention, I was humbled to read of this far more significant but "forgotten" war.