The History Book Club discussion

MacArthur's Korean War Generals

by Stephen R. Taaffe (no photo)

Synopsis:

Wedged chronologically between World War II and Vietnam, the Korean War which began with North Korea's invasion of South Korea in June of 1950 possessed neither the virtuous triumphalism of the former nor the tragic pathos of the latter. Most Americans supported defending South Korea, but there was considerable controversy during the war as to the best means to do so and the question was at least as exasperating for American army officers as it was for the general public.

A longtime historian of American military leadership in the crucible of war, Stephen R. Taaffe takes a close critical look at how the highest ranking field commanders of the Eighth Army acquitted themselves in the first, decisive year in Korea. Because an army is no better than its leadership, his analysis opens a new perspective on the army's performance in Korea, and on the conduct of the war itself.

In that first year, the Eighth Army's leadership ran the gamut from impressive to lackluster, a surprising unevenness since so many of the high-ranking officers had been battle-tested in World War II. Taaffe attributes these leadership difficulties to the army's woefully unprepared state at the war's start, army personnel policies, and General Douglas MacArthur's corrosive habit of manipulating his subordinates and pitting them against each other.

He explores the personalities at play, their pre-war experiences, the manner of their selection, their accomplishments and failures, and, of course, their individual relationships with each other and MacArthur. By explaining who these field, corps, and division commanders were, Taaffe exposes the army's institutional and organizational problems that contributed to its up-and-down fortunes in Korea in 1950 1951. Providing a better understanding of MacArthur's controversial generalship, Taafee's book offers new and invaluable insight into the army's life-and-death struggle in America's least understood conflict.

This is a book I would like to read.

Glad that I posted it, Betsy!

Although not about the Korean War, it is a must read to understand what made North and South Korea what they are today as a result of that war.

The Two Koreas: A Contemporary History

by Don Oberdorfer (no photo)

Synopsis:

Don Oberdorfer has written a gripping narrative history of Korea's travails and triumphs over the past three decades. The Two Koreas places the tensions between North and South within a historical context, with a special emphasis on the involvement of outside powers.

Battle at the 38th Parallel: Surviving the peace Talks at Panmunjom

by Joseph E. Gonsalves (no photo)

Synopsis:

Battle at the 38th Parallel is a first-hand account of the war experiences of a U.S. Army rifle company--Company E, 17th Regiment, 7th Infantry Division--during the closing months of the war. Their story has been meticulously recreated through research conducted at the National Archives, extensive interviews and the personal recollections of the author.

A near run thing due to the inexperience of the Americans at this major battle of the Korean War.

Fire Support in the Pusan Perimeter

by Major John D. Dill (no photo)

Synopsis:

Five years after emerging victorious from World War II, the United States became embroiled in the Korean War. In August of 1950, despite the relative industrial and technological disadvantages suffered by the enemy North Korean Peoples’ Army, the American Eighth Army was nearly defeated and pushed into the sea while trying to defend a toehold on the Korean peninsula around the port of Pusan. The poorly trained and equipped U.S. soldiers and marines defending the Pusan Perimeter relied heavily on fire support assets to stem the tide and defeat the North Korean attack.

This monograph asks if the fire support, including both artillery and air fires, provided to the Eighth Army Infantry and Armor units was effective. It also examines the reasons for the success or failures of fire support by contrasting the use of fire support by different Army and Marine Corps units as they defended the perimeter. Additionally, the monograph addresses the question of how the force development process shaped the success or failure of the Pusan fire support effort. Finally, the monograph discusses lessons from the Pusan defense that are applicable to current fire support and force development.

The monograph concludes that the fire support effort in the Pusan campaign was effective. However, because of the force reductions and training lapses that occurred after World War II in the United States Army and Air Force, it was not as effective as it could have been. The time taken to relearn the lessons of World War II and to rebuild units to doctrinal war time strength needlessly cost lives. The Pusan perimeter fight contains valuable lessons for current fire support leaders as they grapple with challenges similar to those faced by their predecessors in the summer of 1950.

An upcoming book:
Release date: October 2, 2018

On Desperate Ground: The Marines at The Reservoir, the Korean War's Greatest Battle

by Hampton Sides

Synopsis:

On October 15, 1950, the vainglorious General Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander of U.N. troops in Korea, convinced President Harry Truman that the communist forces would be utterly defeated by Thanksgiving. The Chinese, he said with near certainty, would not intervene in the war.

As he was speaking, 300,000 Chinese soldiers began crossing the border. Led by the 13,000 men of the 1st Marine Division, the Americans moved far north into the trap Mao had set for the arrogant MacArthur at the Chosin Reservoir. What followed was one of the most heroic - and harrowing - operations in American military history. Faced with annihilation, and temperatures plunging to 20 degrees below zero, the surrounded Marines fought through the enemy forces with ferocity, ingenuity and nearly unimaginable courage.

Hampton Sides's superb account of the battle relies on years of archival research and interviews with scores of Marines and Koreans who survived the siege. While expertly chronicling the follies of the American leaders, this is an immediate, grunt's-eye view of history, enthralling in its narrative pace and powerful in its portrayal of what ordinary men are capable of in the most extreme circumstances.

Thank you Jerome

Another:
Release date: January 7, 2020

The Hijacked War: The Story of Chinese POWs in the Korean War

by David C. Chang (no photo)

Synopsis:

The Korean War lasted for three years, one month, and two days―but armistice talks occupied more than two of those years, as 14,000 Chinese prisoners of war refused to return to Communist China, effectively hijacking the negotiations and thwarting the designs of world leaders at a pivotal moment in Cold War history.

In The Hijacked War, David Cheng Chang vividly portrays the experiences of Chinese prisoners in the dark, cold, and damp tents of Koje and Cheju islands in Korea and how their decisions derailed the high politics being conducted in the corridors of power in Washington, Moscow, and Beijing. The Truman-Acheson administration's policies of voluntary repatriation and prisoner reindoctrination for psychological warfare purposes―the first overt and the second covert―had unintended consequences. The "success" of the reindoctrination program backfired when anti-Communist Chinese prisoners persuaded fellow Chinese prisoners to renounce their homeland, derailing negotiations between the U.S. and China and changing the course of the Cold War in East Asia.

Drawing on newly declassified archival materials from China, Taiwan, and the United States and interviews with surviving Chinese and North Korean prisoners of war, Chang depicts the struggle over prisoner repatriation that dominated the second half of the Korean War, from late 1951 to July 1953, in the prisoners' own words.

Thank you Jerome

Another:
Release date: November 19, 2019

MiG Alley: The US Air Force in Korea, 1950–53

by Thomas McKelvey Cleaver (no photo)

Synopsis:

Of the many myths that emerged following the end of the Korean War, the prevailing one in the West was that of the absolute supremacy of US Air Force pilots and aircraft over their Soviet-supplied opponents. The claims of the 10:1 victory-loss ratio achieved by the US Air Force fighter pilots flying the North American F-86 Sabre against their communist adversaries, amongst other such fabrications, went unchallenged until the end of the Cold War, when Soviet records of the conflict were finally opened.

From that point onwards, a very different story began to emerge. Far from decisive American victories over an unsophisticated opponent, the aerial battles of the Korean War were, at least in the early years, evenly matched affairs, fought to an approximate 1:1 victory-loss ratio. Though the Soviet victories declined over the following years, this had more to do with home politics than American tactics.

In addition to the aerial combat over MiG Alley, this title covers the full range of US Air Force activities over Korea, including the failed strategic bombing campaign and the escalating nuclear threat. Incorporating first-hand accounts from those involved, both US and Soviet, this new history of the US Air Force in Korea reveals the full story of this bitter struggle in the Eastern skies.

Wow a lot of new releases. Thank you

Holding the Line: The Naval Air Campaign in Korea

by Thomas McKelvey Cleaver (no photo)

Synopsis:

Naval and air power was crucial to the United Nations' success in the Korean War, as it sought to negate the overwhelming Chinese advantage in manpower. In what became known as the 'long hard slog', naval aviators sought to slow and cut off communist forces and support troops on the ground. USS Leyte (CV-32) operated off Korea in the Sea of Japan for a record 93 continuous days to support the Marines in their epic retreat out of North Korea, and was crucial in the battles of the spring and summer of 1951 in which the UN forces again battled to the 38th Parallel.

All of this was accomplished with a force that was in the midst of change, as jet aircraft altered the entire nature of naval aviation. Holding the Line chronicles the carrier war in Korea from the first day of the war to the last, focusing on front-line combat, while also describing the technical development of aircraft and shipboard operations, and how these all affected the broader strategic situation on the Korean Peninsula.

Thank you, Jerome.

Once again, thank you very much Jerome for your wonderful adds.

An upcoming book:
Release date: March 23, 2021

Sabres, MiGs and Meteors: The Air War Over Korea

by Michael Napier (no photo)

Synopsis:

The aerial aspect of the Korean War was the first large-scale combat between high-performance jet aircraft. It marked the transition between the piston-engined aircraft of WWII and the jet aircraft of modern times, and established tactics and doctrine that are still valid today.

There have been no major accounts written about the air war over Korea for about 20 years, and those that were written in earlier decades have tended to describe only one side or aspect of the conflict. Sabres, MiGs and Meteors draws all the threads together to provide a comprehensive account of the air war over Korea, including the parts played by the North Korean, Chinese and Soviet air forces as well as the US Air Force, US Navy, US Marine Corps and the air forces of the UK (including the Fleet Air Arm), Australia, Canada and South Africa.

The book examines the Korean War chronologically, following the course of the major campaigns of the land war. It begins with the initial operations by the North Korean People's Army Air Force (KPAF) and continues with details of the campaigns and sorties by the Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) and the USAF fighter, ground attack and interdiction units, as well as the USN, RN and USMC (and later RAN) units of the naval Task Force 77. It also looks at flying boat operations by the RAF and USN. As the war developed, reinforcements came from the USA, Australia and South Africa on one side and China and the USSR on the other, and US forces were also augmented by aircrew from both the UK and Canada. The introduction of the MiG-15 in late 1950 was countered by that of the F-86 and the story of jet versus jet combat became a central theme of the conflict over Korea. The air war was also notable for the introduction of the Forward Air Controller (known in Korea as 'Mosquito') who directed air attacks close to the front line, and for the widespread use of napalm. The parts played by each participating unit are described in detail both in the context of the war in general and of the air campaign in particular.

Thank you for the add Jerome.

Another:
Release date: October 8, 2024

The Farthest Valley: Escaping the Chinese Trap at Chosin Reservoir 1950

by Joseph Wheelan (no photo)

Synopsis:

The Farthest Valley relates the harrowing experience of 9,000 Marines who were surrounded by 60,000 Chinese soldiers in a remote North Korean valley west of Chosin Reservoir in November 1950 during the early months of the Korean War. The two Marine regiments were the tip of the spear of General Douglas MacArthur’s United Nations end-of-war offensive into northeast Korea. This is the history of the fierce battles waged in below freezing temperatures around the Chosin Reservoir, but The Farthest Valley  differs from earlier books on the subject in three key respects: It will focus in on the Chinese perspective, looking in detail at the Chinese offensive on battlefields around the reservoir into the fighting in the Yudam-ni valley west of Chosin. There, the Fifth and Seventh Marine Regiments were besieged by the 9th Army Group of the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army. Had the 9th Group’s commander, Song Shisun, committed the preponderance of his 150,000-man force to the annihilation of the Marines, he very likely would have succeeded. But he did not; he instead attacked every American regiment around Chosin Reservoir. It was a mistake; the dispersion of Song’s 12 divisions permitted the Fifth and Seventh Marines to escape from his trap after a week of brutal combat. The regiments then led the U.N.’s X Corps’ historic withdrawal to Hungnam. It can be argued that without the fighting acumen of the Fifth and Seventh Regiments, the epic retreat to the northeastern Korean coast could not have happened.

Secondly, the The Farthest Valley will incorporate freshly published Chinese military documents that have not appeared in other books on the Chosin Reservoir battle. As a consequence, The Farthest Valley will provide the rare balanced account, while keeping the spotlight trained on the fate of the Fifth and Seventh Marines and the 9th Army Group forces that attacked them.

Finally, The Farthest Valley  will explore the battle for survival as a separate service branch that faced the Marine Corps in 1950, when the military was being downsized. But its conduct at Chosin Reservoir lifted the threat of extinction and assured the Corps’s survival under the Department of the Navy. No recent book about the Chosin Reservoir campaign has thoroughly explored this subject.

Written by the son of a veteran of the Chosin campaign, this is an emotive, thrilling history of two Marine Regiments who fought in the worst conditions imaginable and the Chinese forces who opposed them.

That sounds like a excellent read, Jerome. Thank you for sharing details about this future release. I'd like to read more about the military downsizing aspect that you mentioned. Onto the tbr list it goes!

Vanessa (Newville PA) wrote: "That sounds like a excellent read, Jerome. Thank you for sharing details about this future release. I'd like to read more about the military downsizing aspect that you mentioned. Onto the tbr list ..."

No problem, Vanessa! That topic is covered quite a bit in this book, I think you might find it interesting:

by Clay Blair Jr. (no photo)

(I hope you like big books, though, lol)

Thanks for the second recommendation, Jerome! That'll be a good one for the long cold winter months.

An upcoming book:
Release date: May 20, 2025

Korea: War Without End

by Richard Dannatt

Synopsis:

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.

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.

Another:
Release date: November 4, 2025

A Task Force Called Faith: The Untold Story of the U.S. Army Soldiers Who Fought for Survival at Chosin Reservoir―and Honor Back Home

by Steve Vogel

Synopsis:

Interservice rivalry is as old as the Republic, although nothing shines a light on that better than a single battle during the Korean War. A Task Force Called Faith is the untold story of the rivalry between the US Army and US Marines in the battle of the Chosin Reservoir in 1950. For seven decades, the Marines have been hailed as valiant heroes and the Army grunts as cowards. In A Task Force Called Faith, Steve Vogel sets the record straight. What he's learned is the culmination of twenty years of research and outrage, first as a reporter for The Washington Post and now as a leading military historian.

At Chosin, an Army force of 2,300 soldiers--a unit known as Task Force Faith--positioned on the east side of the reservoir to protect the Marines' flank but was overwhelmed by a Chinese force eight times its size. Almost 90 percent of the Army soldiers were killed, captured, or wounded. Yet, for all the years since the battle, the survivors of Task Force Faith have endured a dramatically different fate than their military brethren as they have been subject to accusations of cowardice and incompetence. The survivors and their families have long sought to clear their names of those terrible charges and reclaim the honor they won at the frozen lake.

A Task Force Called Faith does just that.