Max Hastings' "The Korean War, Volume 2": A Comprehensive Overview of the Conflict (New York, 1955, p. 4)

Malcolm Higgins: The war that is forgotten except by the participants. Close to nuclear war with China vs US. Little known country then but newsworthy now because of a megalomaniac in charge of the North.
Hastings does a fantastic job on the history and the 'settlement' at the 38th parallel. Very good read and very detailed. Read his Cuban crisis book and was enthralled by it so chose this one to follow it. We'll done Max!!

United Kingdom on Oct 25, 2023

Michael Stockley: It has pages

Germany on Sep 21, 2023

Jens G Rosenkrantz Jr: Max Hastings is probably THE authority on the major 20th Century wars. The Korean "conflict" was a war the Americans wanted to forget because it started with the Chinese and North Koreans almost pushing the US/UN troops off the peninsula and then ended with a draw and Mcarthur's sacking. Further, we didn't learn important combat lessons which mistakes were made again in Vietnam 10 years later with another war that most soldiers in the field didn't understand why they were there.

United States on Jun 29, 2023

Bogdan Duica: je suis tres content

France on Jun 03, 2023

Steven M. Anthony: I read a broad assortment of genre, from science fiction, to biography to literary fiction. One of my favorites is history and military history in particular. In reviewing my library, I noted a couple of works by Max Hastings and noted that I had rated them very highly.

His book, Retribution, was an outstanding treatment of the final year of the World War II Pacific theater. Vietnam, an Epic Tragedy, was equally as well done. That being the case, I purchased a couple of other Hastings works, including this treatment of the Korean War.

Sadly, this was nowhere near quality of the two books cited above. Consider, Retribution, which deals with only the final year in the Pacific theater, clocks in at a hardcover 688 pages. His book on the Vietnam War extends for almost 900 hardcover pages. This book on the Korean War is a paperback 389 pages. Simply too short and cursory a treatment for such an important event.

It is not a terrible book, but would serve as more of a beginner’s guide to the conflict. It gives you all the important events and personalities, but little of the detail that made the earlier two books so outstanding.

United States on Jan 25, 2023

J. Groen: This is a Britain's view of the Korean War provided by a good British author. Consequently, the book focuses on the British involvement in the war and the British opinion on aspects of the war. The British involvement includes the battle on the Imjin River in early 1951 when the Chinese attacked the main British brigade with a large contingent. The author also covers British opinion on the use of nuclear weapons against China when this country first entered the war and after the start of the Eisenhower administration in 1953. The author claims that the US came a lot closer to using nuclear weapons that we originally thought, since the US joint chiefs and General MacArthur wanted to use them, but President Truman did not (and later President Eisenhower did not). I recommend this book because it is refreshing to see the viewpoint of the Korean War from our British allies.

United States on Dec 13, 2022

Pierfrancesco Di Giuseppe: Hastings è un grande scrittore su temi bellici, io ho letto quasi tutti i suoi libri... scrive in maniera fluida e che prende il lettore, difficile lasciar giù un suo libro
il tema di questo è ormai quasi dimenticato, merita invece interesse in quanto caratterizzò un'epoca e spiega molte evoluzioni dell'Oriente; in particolare l'ascesa della Cina, che iniziò con la sconfitta dell' US Army sul fiume Yalu...

Italy on Nov 30, 2021

SaintjokerSaintjoker: look

Sweden on Jul 18, 2021

HMS Warspite: At less than 350 pages, Max Hastings' "The Korean War" isn't really long enough to be comprehensive. It is, however, perhaps the most balanced account of a still-controversial war. The author's willingness to see all sides of the conflict also allows him to reasonably weigh the effects of their respective actions, from the U.S. decision to send troops to Korea in September 1945, and to send them back in June 1950, to the Chinese decision to send their own troops into Korea that winter, to the collective decision, painfully arrived at, to sign an armistice in July 1953.

The author takes a roughly chronological approach to the conflict, with a couple of side chapters devoted to U.S. special operations and the air war. Among the takeaways for interested readers are a running assessment in the narrative of how lessons learned and not learned in Korea would affect conflicts down the road, especially in Indochina, and not just for the United States. The author's status as a Brit allows him a friendly but fair perspective. Very well recommended.

United States on Oct 22, 2018

R. M. Peterson: Fewer books probably have been written about the Korean War than any other war in American history (whether or not officially declared by Congress). That certainly is so if the metric is books per number of American deaths. In Korea, over 33,000 Americans were killed (about 60% of the death toll in Vietnam, where war was waged for three times as long). Why is the Korean War so little known? A fascinating question, and one which surely sticks in the craw of the thousands of still living veterans of the War.

As I was among those inexcusably ignorant about the Korean War, I decided to embark on a modest self-education program, beginning with THE KOREAN WAR by Max Hastings. I am pleased to report that the book, even after twenty-five years, is an excellent general introduction to the War.

Hastings is British, and his book certainly highlights British participation more than an American writer's probably would. But Hastings recognizes, and his book reflects, the vastly greater role of the United States in the prosecution of the War. (In contrast, Great Britain and the Commonwealth countries lost 1,263 killed. Of course, it also should be mentioned that the South Korean...

United States on Oct 27, 2012