The Korean War by Max Hastings (1987-11-01)

Max Hastings is an excellent writer, and a very good historian. Having said that, some of the content has been overtaken by more recent information made available by the Russian and Chinese governments.

The Korean War has always been one of those events in history that I have been aware of to some extent, but not to the level that I know of the second world war, space race, or roman history. I've always been somewhat interested in the Korean War though, it just doesn't get the same amount of coverage that other similar or proximate events receive.I'm a big fan of Max Hastings writing, I've read and or listened to most of his books, and this writing on the Korean War is just as in depth and well researched as I have come to expect from my previous experiences from his works. This book is well worth the read

Interesting history of the Korean War from a British perspective.

Way too British-centric a history of the Korean War. Little from the North Korean side or China. Too much from Britain. That said, a serviceable, but flawed, history of the conflict.

The Korean War was a conflict mainly between the states of North Korea and South Korea fought between 1950 and 1953. It was an early conflict in the emerging Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States. The United States, through the United Nations, supported the nominally capitalistic South Korea with the Chinese and Soviets supporting the communist North. The war began when North Korea invaded and attempted to destroy South Korea. The invasion was opposed by the United States and other Western powers.This book is a general overview of the war starting with the beginnings as the Soviet Union and the United States occupied the Korean peninsula, which was previously occupied by Japan for decades. Hastings guides the reader through the various ups and downs of the conflict including the start of it, the political decisions in the United Nations, the Truman administration, and the British government that led to the intervention to stop the North Korean agression, and the remainder of the conflict including the peace negotiations that eventually ended the war in 1953.The book makes heavy use of various sources to tell the story of the war. Not only are big picture sources used such as the general conduct of the war as told from the generals' perspectives, but also numerous front line soldiers have their story told as well. This really helps the book give an up close and personal perspective of what it was like to have participated in the war and the kind of hardships these men faced.An unexpectedly interesting aspect of the war covered in this book is the British perspective, probably due to the fact that the author himself is British. Typical narratives of the war are usually dominated by the actions of U.S. forces, but several countries contributed under the flag of the United Nations. I thought this gave an interesting perspective of the war than is usually told. Hastings also looks at points for comparison to the later Vietnam War and how some lessons were not well learned.This book was an interesting read about the Korean War. I would recommend this to those interested in history.