The Darkest Summer: Pusan and Inchon 1950: The Battles That Saved South Korea--and the Marines--from Extinction

by Bill Sloan

The Darkest Summer is the dramatic story of the first three months of the Korean War as it has never been told before. A narrative studded with gripping eyewitness accounts, it focuses on the fateful days when the Korean War's most decisive battles were fought.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Military Fiction, Military History, Asia, War, Audiobook

400 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 11, 2009

About the author

Bill Sloan is a respected military historian, former newspaper reporter/editor and author of more than a dozen books, including Brotherhood of Heroes: The Ultimate Battle. He lives in Dallas, Texas

Reviews

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Darkest Summer gets 3 Stars for a decent account of the most difficult days of the Korean War from the start in June 1950 to the capture of Seoul at the end of Septrember 150. The author continues the story briefly to the retreat from the Yalu in the West and from Chosin in the East. The book is a mixture of first hand accounts and excerpts from other books. He provided enough maps to keep track of the major actions which is appreciated. This is a very pro-US Marine and often denigrating of the US Army. Very dismissive of the Army’s performance. MacArthur and his butt-buddy Maj Gen Almond come in for mostly appropriate scorn. He does give major props to MacArthur for the Inchon landings.
Truman and Johnson come in for some serious, well-deserved criticism for cutting the US armed forces to 8.5% of the strength at the end of WWII in 1945. Problem is that the public wanted it too:
The attitude on Capitol Hill closely mirrored the public mood. With the full approval of President Truman and much of Congress, Defense Secretary Louis Johnson was busily downsizing, and demoralizing, the US. military establishment with drastic budget cuts. Many political leaders-and even some generals and admirals-believed that America’s clear superiority in nuclear weapons was enough to prevent any serious armed threat to US. power anywhere in the world.

America’s vast conventional war machine and huge armies that had defeated the Nazis and Japanese in World War II were now considered obsolete relics of the past. The same military that had paid in blood for the Allied victory was new cast as a self-indulgent national villain, guilty of wanton waste and senseless duplication, and thus a deserving target of federal cost cutters.

Task Force Smith is given an impossible mission to stop the invading forces as far north as possible. And the men and the equipment are not going to be up to the task:
The Korean War was barely ten days old, and these soldiers were about to become the first American GIs to meet the onrushing and hitherto undefeated North Koreans in face-to-face combat. Only five days removed from the leisurely “good life” of duty in Japan, where a six-bit carton of cigarettes from the PX would buy a weekend’s worth of food, sake, and sexual favors, the men had been rushed to Korea aboard C-54 transports. Now they were cold, wet, disheveled, mosquito-bitten, confused, and exhausted from ninety-plus hours of stop-and-start travel by plane, train, truck, bus, and foot. Some were sick from drinking tainted local water, and all were repulsed by the pervasive stench of human excrement used to fertilize the ubiquitous Korean rice paddies.

There were exactly 548 Americans in this small, isolated band, including Brad Smith. For antitank firepower, they had Colonel Perry’s lone battery of 105-millimeter howitzers, a couple of 75-millimeter recoilless rifle squads, a pair of 4.2-inch mortars, and a few handheld, small-caliber bazookas. One of the 105 crews had exactly six rounds of high-explosive antitank (HEAT) ammunition, constituting one-third of all that could be found in Japan before the artillery unit shipped out. The rest of the gunners had none at all.

Clutching obsolete World War II-vintage 2.36-inch bazookas, three of Brad Smith’s platoon leaders-Second Lieutenants Carl Bernard, Jansen Cox, and Ollie Connor-waited with their gunners until the tanks were practically in their laps before opening fire. Crouched in a ditch on the eastern side of the main road, Cox and Bernard allowed the first two tanks to pass their position, then struck at the rear of the T-34s, where their armor was alleged to be thinner and more vulnerable.

Bernard’s bazooka scored eight straight hits on one tank without causing discernible damage. Meanwhile, Connor’s fired twenty-two rounds at a point-blank range of fifteen yards from the top of a rocky knob with a similar lack of results. Some of the rounds were old and exploded prematurely, showering the American gunners with fragments that inflicted small but painful wounds.

“The seats in hell closest to the fire should be reserved for the Army officers who knew those 2.36-inch bazookas didn’t work and didn’t alert our soldiers to their inability to kill tanks,” said Bernard, still incensed nearly six decades later. “They sent us that junk and kept the larger, much more effective 3.5=inch rocket launchers back in the States.”
In 1950, the Marines are barely clinging on to their existence as a fighting organ of the US Armed Forces. Truman (and many others including Eisenhower) wanted to make them obsolete:
In response to a congressman’s suggestion that the Marines should have a permanent representative on the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Truman himself delivered a stinging slap to the Corps. “For your information,” the president responded tartly, “the Marine Corps is the Navy’s police force, and as long as I’m president, that’s what it will remain. They have a propaganda machine that’s almost the equal of [Soviet Premier Joseph] Stalin’s.”

But the author goes on to show Korea would be the event that ensured the survival of the Corps. The Marines become the fire brigade in the most desperate days around Pusan. They go from one critical situation to the next in the debilitating heat of southern Korea:

The entire eastern front looked to be hovering on the verge of collapse. If there was any small shred of hope remaining, it lay with the Marines. As a British military observer attached to the 24th Division observed in a wire dispatched on the morning of August 16, as Craig’s brigade prepared for its new mission,

“The situation is critical, and Miryang may be lost. The enemy has driven a division-sized salient across the Naktong. More will cross the river tonight. If Miryang is lost . . . we will be faced with a withdrawal from Korea. I am heartened that the Marine brigade will move against the Naktong salient tomorrow. They are faced with impossible odds, and I have no valid reason to substantiate it, but I have the feeling they will halt the enemy….

“These Marines have the swagger, confidence, and hardness that must have been in Stonewall Jackson’s Army of the Shenandoah. They remind me of the Coldstreams at Dunkirk. Upon this thin line of reasoning, I cling to
the hope of victory.”

When the Marines reached Miryang, however, they were dragging their heels rather than swaggering. To a man, they were drained, hungry, caked with dirt, and red-eyed from lack of sleep.
A first-hand account of action near Sachon as the Marines try to hold the NKPA back:
Except for occasional sniper fire, Kosong proper was relatively secure, and a makeshift aid station was set up in an abandoned schoolhouse to treat victims of wounds and heat prostration. Between patients, Corpsman Herb Pearce and a friend, feeling fairly relaxed after the high-tension events of the morning, took a break to grab a quick C ration lunch.

Within the next few minutes, as Pearce recalled nearly sixty years later, both the grim humor-and the abject horror-of the war would be driven home to him in an awesome, unforgettable way.

“The two of us were standing there several feet apart, spooning down our C rations, when a sniper fired a single round in our direction,” Pearce said. “I don’t think he was actually aiming at us, but we could hear the bullet coming with a high-pitched whine that reached a real crescendo as it passed directly between us, missing each of us by two or three feet at best.”

Pearce and his friend stared at one another for a moment as the sound tailed off. Then, without saying a word, his friend carefully set down his can of C rations, dropped his pants, squatted on the ground, and answered nature’s call then and there.

“I fell on the ground laughing,” said Pearce, “but I understood exactly how the poor guy felt. I also realized for the first time that it was really physically possible to have the you-know-what scared out of you.”

A short time later, as Pearce moved out toward Sachon with the recoilless gun platoon to which he was attached, one of a pair of enemy antitank guns opened fire from a hidden position above the road. The shell struck a jeep-ambulance driven by Pearce’s friend and fellow corpsman William H. Anderson, killing him instantly.

Pearce was approximately fifty feet away when the shell hit, and as he ran toward the ruined jeep, he saw his friend’s mangled body sprawled in the road. “He never knew what hit him,” Pearce said, “and that was my only comfort-that he never suffered. The shell hit him in the upper abdomen and almost cut him in half.”

On the road to Sachon, trouble happens. Marines are tough and calm under fire…mostly:

Tobin, accompanied by two runners, had made it less than 100 yards up the road when an enemy machine gunner opened up on the trio, forcing them to seek cover behind the meager protection of a rice paddy dike. As they hunkered down in the fetid water, Tobin noticed one of his runners shaking violently.

“What’s the matter with you, son?” Tobin demanded.

“I’m…I’m scared, sir.”

Tobin scowled at the kid. “Shape up, lad,” he said. “You know Marines are never scared.”

The words had scarcely left Tobin’s lips when the enemy machine gunner zeroed in on them, and a hail of bullets began eating away at the top of the dike and kicking up mud and water around the three Marines. “On second thought, son, I see what you mean,” Tobin said. “Let’s get the hell out of here!” They ran like rabbits for the ditch on the far side of the road. Miraculously, all three made it safely. After catching their breath, they began inching their way forward.

[Jerome Otte · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great general history of the Korean War’s opening months, with an emphasis on the defense of the Pusan perimeter and the landing at Inchon, although it doesn’t present anything new.

Sloan begins with the five years following the end of the last war, when a large priority of the Truman administration was budget-cutting and how the armed forces and especially the Marine Corps suffered from it. At the same time, the regular Army was under-equipped, poorly trained, and short on morale, and it fares poorly in Sloan’s narrative compared to his coverage of the Marines. Sloan then moves on to the fall of Seoul and all of the battles on the way to the retreat to Pusan, and finally to the landing at Inchon, the Pusan breakout and the liberation of Seoul (the rest of the war is treated in a brief summary towards the end). The coverage of these engagements is vivid.

The book has only a few problems. At one point Sloan writes that Bill Dean was a “senior adviser” to the South Korean constabulary, even though he was the military governor. He writes that 7th Infantry Division deployed to Korea in July (not September?) and writes that Task Force Kean had four divisions. Leven C. Allen is called “Frank A. Allen.” And at one point Sloan accepts the tale of black soldiers of the 555th Field Artillery Battalion threatening a battalion commander at the Bloody Gulch, even though the 555th was an all-white battalion. He also writes that the Wake Island meeting was “entirely Truman’s idea,” although it was actually cooked up by his aides.

A journalistic but well-written history.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first book I have ever read about the Korean War and it made me realize just how much I did not know.
Popsugar Challenge 2019: Two books that share the same title (2)

[Al Berry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bill Sloan writes in his own particular style which combines tactical, operational and strategic levels of a conflict. I felt here he bogged down in minutiae a little too much. Despite the title the book focuses not just on the Summer and McArthur’s most Brilliant Landing at Inchon, But also probably his biggest mistake of making a mad dash to the Yalu, under the false belief that the Red Chinese would not intervene.

[Oliver · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting history of the first three months of the Korean conflict. What it makes clear is how close North Korea came to conquering the entire peninsula and how gritty fighting by the available Marine divisions helped stem the attack and set the stage for the Inchon landing. Also makes clear that in 1950 the U.S. Army was woefully prepared for any serious military action and that the upper echelons of leadership were incompetent. Eye-opening.

[Jay · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book read like a text book. It was interesting though. I learned a lot about the Korean War.

[Zinger · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book starts right in with a "view from the ground" of the beginning of the Korean War. You get a play by play report of what the men went through in this war. It also gives credit and praise to the Marine Corps for their roll in the early part of the conflict, that very well might have caused the war from being a complete and quick victory for the North Koreans. The US service men and South Koreans were really unprepared for this conflict, not because they didn't see it coming, but because the Truman Administration and Secretary of State George Marshall wanted them to be "unprepared".

I would have given the book 5 stars, but I think any book that doesn't address the political environment just prior to and during this conflict doesn't do justice to the real story.

Here are some of my notes from Edward Griffin's The Fearful Master and Ralph Epperson's The Unseen Hand about the Korean War.

In 1944, the Council on Foreign relations (CFR) wrote a confidential memorandum for the State Department that began the process of involving the U.S. in a war with Korea. It read: “The sovereignty fetish is still so strong in the public mind that there would appear to be little chance of winning popular assent to American membership in anything approaching a superstate organization. Much will depend on the kind of approach which is used in further popular education…”

The memorandum also states, “…a further difficulty was cited namely that difficulty arising from the Constitutional provision that only Congress may declare war. This argument was countered with the contention that a treaty would override this barrier, let alone the fact that our participation in such police action as might be recommended by the international security organization need not necessarily be construed a war.”

The treaty was the United Nations Treaty (1945). There were 47 CFR members in the American delegation at the U.N. Conference in San Francisco.

During these times, some individuals were raising the alarm of Communist agents in high places in the U.S. Government. Frank Murphy, a US Supreme Court Justice had met with Congressman Martin Dies, the Chairman for the House Committee of Un-American Activities and told him of some of the information he knew. A few years later he went into a hospital for a heart attack, and just before being released, suddenly died. Congressman Dies was convinced that he was murdered.

James Forrestal, America’s first Secretary of Defense also started sounding the alarm of communists in high places. Watching the events as WWII closed and seeing America consistently yield to the Russians in every important matter explained it as such: “These men are not incompetent or stupid. They are crafty and brilliant. Consistency has never been the mark of stupidity. If they were merely stupid, the would occasionally make a mistake in our favor.”

Forrestal fought the White House and State department over every capitulation we gave to the Soviets. He fought with Marshall about stopping Chaing Kai-shek from fighting the Communist takeover in China. Needless to say, he was a thorn in the side of those seeking to subvert America and other liberty loving countries of the world. Forrestal had also talked with a friend about the up coming war in Korea that would catch U.S. soldiers unprepared and it would be a bloodbath. This was 15 months before North Korean invasion.

Pres. Roosevelt asked him to resign. Shortly afterwards he was taken to the Bethesda Naval Hospital where he mysteriously fell from the window of his room on the 16th floor.

In 1947, President Truman issued Executive Order #9835, establishing a federal loyalty program that forbade the employment of loyalty risks. A letter was sent to Secretary of State George Marshall by the Senate Committee on Appropriations informing him of a large number of State Department employees that are involved in “a deliberate, calculated program carried out, not only to protect Communist personnel in high places, but to reduce security and intelligence protection to a nullity.” The report was completely ignored by Marshall.

This got Senator McCarthy involved in the fight to expose the treason. After being smeared by the establishment’s media, McCarthy, like Forestall, died a mysterious death in the same hospital in 1957.

Carrol Quigley’s Tragedy and Hope, says that the Korean War had a unique place in history “for the first time, a world organization voted to use collective force to stop armed aggression.”

At the Potsdam and Yalta conferences at the ending of WWII, Churchill, Stalin, and Roosevelt divided Korea into a North and South. North Korea quickly built up a huge army, supplied with tanks, airplanes, and heavy artillery by the Soviets. The Soviets also sent high ranking military advisors to help with the invasion. South Korea had a smaller army sparsely supplied with older light infantry equipment from the U.S. This decision was made by the State Department under George Marshall. Despite repeated reports of a huge military buildup in North Korea, and reports of impending attacks, Marshall did not want the South Koreans heavily armed. His reasoning was to not worry North Korea about invasion- thus leaving South Korea open to invasion.

In 1950, Senator McCarthy told the American public that it was at the Yalta conference that Roosevelt and Stalin planned, not only the Korean War, but also the Vietnam War that was to follow some 12-15 years later. “Here was signed the death warrant of the young men who were dying today in the hills and valleys of Korea. Here was signed the death warrant of the young men who will die tomorrow in the jungles of Indochina.”

Two days after the invasion by the North, the Chinese in Taiwan were about to jump in the fight by attacking the Communist forces in mainland China but were severely reprimanded by President Truman from getting involved, “…I am calling on the Chinese government in Formosa to cease all air and sea operations against the mainland”. Truman then ordered the America’s Seventh Fleet into the Straits of Formosa to block Chaing Kai shek’s forces in Taiwan from attacking the communists in China. As General Douglas McArthur stated “This released the two great Red Chinese armies assigned the coastal defense of central China and made them available for transfer elsewhere…It gave their Korean war plans a tremendous impetus, because Red China could now enter the Korean War at an time she chose without fear of being attacked on her flank and rear by the Nationalist troops on Formosa.”

Formosa was a member of the United Nations, and could have been part of the “police force” yet they were again prohibited from assisting by the U.S. when they offered to send 33,000 troops as an advance force when the conflict first erupted.

Despite reports of a Chinese buildup across the Yalu River, the State Department again stated that there was no possibility of Chinese intervention in the war.

The chain of command under the US Constitution for any military officer leads upward through the Executive Branch of the government and ends with the President who is the ultimate authority for military decisions. But under the treaty binding the US to the United Nations, the command chain went past the President into an office in the United Nations known as the Undersecretary for Political and Security Council Affairs who reported directly to the Secretary General. At the time of the Korean War, this post was filled by Constantine Zinchenko, of Russia.

No wonder Generals MacArthur and Walton Walker are both on record for having suspicions of having a leak in command above them and why the enemy often knew ahead of time the operations that were to be used.

When MacArthur realized that the Red Chinese were about to enter the war, he ordered the bridges crossing the Yalu River to be bombed, but his orders were reversed by Secretary of State George Marshall. He was also denied bombing of North Korean strategic military positions. MacArthur later had this to say about this order, “it was the most indefensible and ill-conceived decision ever forced on a field commander in our nation’s history.” House Mimority Leader Joseph Martin expressed his dismay at the Administration’s lack of desire to win with this statement, “If we are not in Korea to win, this Administration should be indicted for the murder of thousands of American boys.”

Congressman Martin later wrote to MacArthur asking some questions, in MacArthur’s response he had the line “There is no substitute for victory”. President Truman after reading the letter decided to relive MacArthur of command. Truman told the American people that “With deep regret, I have concluded that General of the Army Douglas MacArthur is unable to give his wholehearted support to the policies of the U.S. Government and of the United Nations in matters pertaining to his official duties.” Without a hearing, or opportunity for defense, MacArthur was replaced by General Matthew b. Ridgeway, a member of the Council of Foreign Relations.

Ridgeway later became the first US Army commander in history to sign an armistice without victory.

“Never before has this nation been engaged in mortal combat with a hostile power without military objective, without policy other than restrictions governing operations, or indeed without even formally recognizing a state of war.” General MacArthur.

Results of the Korean War:
1)The war helped Red China solidify control of its people who were becoming ripe for revolt because of famine and harsh living conditions.

2)The US lost considerable prestige by becoming the paper tiger that could not even defeat tiny North Korea.

3)The US sacrificed tens of thousands of American lives and billions of dollars because other nations in the UN did not want America to fight back in earnest.

4)The US further conditioned the people to the idea of having having future control of America’s military forces under the control of the UN.

5)For the first time in American military history, the US was not victorious.


Get US out of the UN!

[Casey · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book covering the initial months of the Korean War, from the beginning through to the regaining of Seoul, with a lengthy postscript about the initial Chinese Intervention and the departure of MacArthur. It is mostly a narrative about the Marines, with the occasional inclusion of various Army units involved. Though the described actions of the Army units are usually shown as a disparity in fighting spirit and quality as compared to the Marines. The Navy and Air Force only appear as ancillary units supporting the ground combat which is the center of the book. Usually I find it difficult to read a book both filled with continuous coverage of specific small units and heavy with the larger historical picture. But this book managed to pull that two-method treatment off in style, with smooth transitions from the 3-4 individuals who were the center of the narrative to the generals and politicians making the decisions that dominated those individuals' lives. A good source if you want to learn more about how the ground war in Korea was fought, the Marines' role in stabilizing the Pusan perimeter, and the complicated assault that was Inchon; though fans of both Truman and MacArthur should be ready for harsh commentary.

[LaMar Stellfox · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am definitely a little biased as I have read three other books by Bill Sloan and find his work interesting, personal, engaging, and highly readable history. Most of his military history focuses on actions and engagements by units of the United States Marine Corps. Even though I have become very familiar with the Korean War, I found this account of the crucial months of ill-preparedness, hubris, errors, and sacrifice to reinforce the USMC's situation within the new DoD and how their level of preparedness, training, and fitness went a very long way in preventing an even bigger disaster on the Korean peninsula. Captain Ike Fenton has been interviewed a few times and his experiences recounted by other authors and Mr. Sloan adds to CPT Fenton's story with some more of his relating his many harrowing experiences as a Marine Rifle Company Commander, as well as the many other participants he interviewed. No revelations here, however, a very good accounting of the Marine experience within the UN and US command structure and the Marines' (as well the US Army's and UN forces') heroism and sacrifice during this critical period of the Korean War.

[PG Pariseau · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're looking for a general book on the Korean War this is not it, but it is a good combat history focused on the Marines up through the recapture of Seoul in September of 1950. Possibly deserves 3.5 stars, but it was a good read that made up for its limitations as a history.

The accounts of the fighting are generally both clear and gripping. A few actions are mentioned but slighted; this may be a function of availability of sources as the author is reliably thorough in most places. The gaps are just noticeable as the author generally narrates any fighting he references. The coda chapter following the post-war lives of some of the main actors we encounter during the book is often quite touching. The whole work is a bit of a love-letter to the Corps, and uses foreshadowing too often. But I'd certainly take a look at this if you want to learn more about the fighting at the Pusan Perimeter and Inchon, and I wouldn't hesitate to check out the author's other books if I get interested in the subjects.

[Bruce · Rating 5 out of 5]

KOREA-A HELLISH PLACE TO FIGHT! Sloan, in a short analysis brings the uneducated reader a very quick analysis of the "HOW, WHEN, WHERE, WHAT, WHO, AND WHY" the Korean War occurred. Having served in Korea north of Seoul at Corp HQ in intelligence in 1968 before modern changes, I visited some of the locations mentioned in this very exciting book which described the bravery, the strategies, and the suffering of the 3,500 Marines. There are few words that I can adequately describe Korea where the fighting occurred. I still remember working with the ROK army in those mountains-it must have been a living hell to fight in those canyons and mountain tops as they were nearly vertical. But it all came alive for me to remember how I admired those who fought there and Sloan did a very good job without too much drama. I highly recommend this book about how proud we should all be for the US Marines who saved the wonderful people of South Korea from extinction.

[Joseph · Rating 3 out of 5]

A real good solid story on the beginning events of the Korea War. It really was about the first 30 days or so. I read some other comments from people who said it read like a text book. I agree, but disagree. There were so many quotes and references that there was enough story telling in it. The author pulls no punches in showing how the Army was not trained well and they had bad leadership. The Marines, who Truman wanted to get rid of when he sent in office, saved the day for sure.

The reason it is not a 4 star was because I got lost at times on where certain events, battles, etc were taking place. The chapters didn't do a good job of separating where things were happening. So, I was constantly trying to backtrack and/or at times just kept reading to try to figure it out. After a while that was a negative point of the book.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Guess I'm on a Korean War kick right now. After the Shaara book, I was interested in reading some true nonfiction on the war. I discovered I already had this book on my Kindle. This was a good complement to the Shaara book as it focused on the early part of the war, including the horrible fighting as the North Koreans shattered unprepared UN forces, bottling them up in the Pusan region. It then does a good job detailing the Imchon landing and the Battle for Seoul. This is the main focus of the book. It briefly describes the Chosin campaign, but that's where Shaara focused, so I had a pretty good understanding of that. Now, I have a nonfiction book on the Chosin campaign to start, which should give me a pretty good coverage.

[James Dunn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great material, missed opportunity

This book seemed to be mostly regarding the Marines and their role in stopping the North Korean onslaught. That's a great story that's been told before and more completely in far better books. It barely had any insight to the ROK or Army forces and what their role was in the conflict. It just seemed incomplete and a bit cobbled together. Fascinating story material but a miss as a analysis of what happened.

[Ben Sutphen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing scope--the author manages to capture the overall strategic approach of MacArthur in Korea, convey the political dynamics, and paint the viewpoints of top Generals, while expertly weaving the experiences of company grade officers and NCOs. Definitely worth reading.

[Mary Fitzgerald · Rating 4 out of 5]

Detailed account of the beginning of the Korean War. Korea divided by China and US fter end of WWII at 39th parallel because US wasn't paying attention but wa.ted the south because it had industry a d farm land.

[Vincent Andersen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent, no nonsense account of a brilliant and incredibly lucky campaign in Korea.

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book!

[wally walter · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very lengthy account of on phase of the Korean war

[Evan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Author excels as a journalist in reporting the facts, but lacks as a historian analyzing cause and effect. The book was very powerful, however, for describing the brutality of battle. I’m rewatching old war films (eg A Bridge Too Far) with this new context. Average is 3 stars - 3 stars for writing style, 2 for analysis, 5 for the facts and interviews.

[Irish Sharky · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful history of the Korean War from the early days to the time that we lost control. I have served in Korea three times and found this book to be very interesting and educational.

[Rob Kitchin · Rating 3 out of 5]

On June 25 1950 communist North Korean troops invaded South Korea advancing quickly. Seoul fell shortly after and the well-armed invaders made steady progress down the Korean peninsula. The US and United Nations pledged political and military support to South Korea, with US troops mobilised from Japan for war, with others shipping from the US and Mediterranean. Given the huge downsizing of the US military post Second World War and their relatively easy postings US troops were ill-prepared for combat and they fared poorly in their initial encounters with the North Koreans. As the supply lines were extended and more US and UN troops arrived, the battlefront stabilised around Pusan at the foot of the peninsula. The job of pushing back the North Koreans largely fell to the US marines, a branch of the military threatened at the time with being phased out. The Darkest Summer tells the story of the US marines battles in Korea in 1950, mainly focusing on battles on the Pusan perimeter and the daring amphibious assault at Inchon near to Seoul. While the book discusses each encounter and provides eye-witness testimony, it largely skims over the wider political landscape and military strategy and also the battles undertaken by UN or South Korean troops. Indeed, it is a very US-centric account of the first phase of the Korean War. As such, while it was interesting and one got a sense of the battles from a soldier’s point of view it is somewhat myopic and narrowly framed.

[Shawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Author Bill Sloan does a commendable job blending the personal stories of a number of individuals with the bigger picture narrative of the early stages of the Korean War, primarily from a U.S. Marine Corps perspective. The vivid descriptions of a variety of combat actions at the individual level help to convey to the reader the broad range of emotions and experiences of those involved. Mr. Sloan also makes it clear just how unprepared the U.S. was to become involved in Korea in 1950, and how significant the U.S. Marine Corps' contribution was to keeping a very bad situation from turning into an all out disaster. Although the book does not cover any real new ground on the history of the Korean War, it does capture the meaningful and priceless narratives of those who participated. The book also provides yet another solid example of the importance maintaining combat ready expeditionary forces to protect national interests through the application of violence when nessessary. (audiobook read)

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Darkest Summer has all the hallmarks of good battlefield journalism. Bill Sloan combines intimate portraits of several extraordinary units and operations with a solid foundation in the broader history of the Korean War from an American perspective. Several heroes emerge from this text as well as illuminating reportage on some of the poorer decisions and darker moments within the American/UN command. See David Halberstam's The Coldest Winter for a closer look at the collapse of UN victory along the Yalu River. Sloan focuses primarily on the defense of the Pusan Perimeter as well as the daring landing at Inchon that turned the tide in the opening months of the Korean Conflict.

[PDXReader · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't know why high school history books can't be written like this! The Darkest Summer is an enthralling and detailed account of two early and crucial battles of the Korean War. I was very pleased I'd read it. I wouldn't say it reads like a novel - it's a bit too fact-based for that - but I still found it quite entertaining. If you like Stephen Ambrose's WWII books, this one may very well be right up your alley.

[Milt]

This was an excellent rendentition of the shortsighted, careless, politicaly inept thinking process that caused the needless death of thousands of young men. It also chronicles how personal courage, effective leadership, and the collective will of Marines saved a valued part of our armed forces from political destruction. This well written, well documented, insightful bookj makes the "forgotten war" unforgettable.

[Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good, quick, read of a pair of campaigns. The political threat to the Marine Corps is dealt with early and swiftly, as the 1950 mobilization takes over. Then, it is a close focus on the 5th Marines as they participate in the two fights. Lots of it comes from interviews with those who were there.

[Pete Williamson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hard to put down even though it was a challenge to follow all the names, places and unit designations. The more I learn about the Korean War, the more I am surprised by how little I know about it (thanks to M*A*S*H) and how little it's talked about these days. Made this former Corpsman proud of his Marines.

[Terry Quirke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Covered a lot of ground I already knew but at the human level, this is all told essentially from the troops point of view with only limited input on the larger strategic and political decisions going on at the time. Not a complaint, other books cover those in much more detail, here you are down in the trenches with the troops having to deal with the real world consequences of those decisions.

[Charles Boyd · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. Sloan did an excellent job in his research and using dialogue from interviews with former soldiers. It made the book feel like you could have been there taking part in some of these conversations. I will probably check out his other two books regarding WW2 also.