The Origins of the Korean War, Volume II: The Roaring of the Cataract, 1947-1950

The Origins of the Korean War #2

by Bruce Cumings

In continuing his argument that the Korean War was civil and revolutionary in character, Bruce Cumings examines the internal political-economic development of the two Korean states and the consequences, for Korea, of Cold War rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union. He investigates the intense border fighting and internal political instability that preceded the Northern invasion and challenges the notion of sudden Soviet-sponsored intervention. He also discusses how American foreign policy first applied the containment doctrine to Southern Korea, and went beyond it to a "rollback": doctrine aimed at eliminating communism in North Korea.

This study uses diplomatic, military, and intelligence documents, and captured North Korean materials. It covers the impact of the revolution in China and of renewed Japanese industrialization on Korean politics and American foreign policy. It also offers an explanation of China's entry into the war in light of the longstanding ties between Chinese and Korean guerrillas.

Genres: History, War, Nonfiction, Military History

975 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

A specialist in the history of Korea, Bruce Cumings is the Gustavus F. and Ann M. Swift Distinguished Service Professor in History, and former chair of the history department at the University of Chicago.

Reviews

[Douglas Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although twice as long as the original textbook, this volume is of paramount importance, as it expands its scope into the politics of CPC/KMT civil war as well as what was happening in Washington during the time, and delves briefly about the war itself and its aftermath.

Anyone who wants to learn as much as they can about the Korean War (and are not yet proficient enough in Korean) should really just stick to this volume or at least have it as a reference for anything else that they read. Although some new information has been revealed after the fall of the Soviet Union, the overall narrative of how the war developed out of American imperialism is intact, as well as the treachery and Japanese collaborator roots of the entire ROK government and apparatus.

Most valuable for me, as someone somewhat now acquainted with the subject, was the detail in the players in Washington, how different interest groups and the China lobby may have influenced certain decisions, how various capitalists were eyeing industries and exploitation in Korea, and how the Japanese collaborators were able to usurp power from the South Korean left by using the influence of their previous colonial masters to link with their new ones.

Surprisingly, Cumings seems most sympathetic to the DPRK in this volume (as later on in his career, he seems to take more of a centrist liberal leaning approach when writing about the country). At the end, he posits that asking who started the Korean War is the wrong question designed to entirely distract us from the real question: how the Korean War was started, a question that virtually no one in America knows today, in a war that has become the first "Forgotten" event engineered by the CIA.

[Gaby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quite honestly, the first part of the book can be applicable to pretty much anything besides the context of the Korean War here. So helpful, insightful, informative. Definitely one of a kind in this area.

Skimmed thoroughly and read it for an assignment, but I would definitely love to revisit it again and give it more time for the information to sink in and go through my head.

“This will often prompt domestic opponents to charge that the executive is the agent not just of domestic but of foreign interests … In some sense the postwar American president has also been the executive of the world.”

[Port Moresby · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an amazing book! It’s clear why nearly every book about the Korean War or referencing the Korean War cites Bruce Cumings work.

[Kiley holliday · Rating 5 out of 5]

By far and away, the best book written on the Korean War!