What’s a good recommendation for a top to bottom overview of the Korean War?

A buildup, why it happened, then an overview during the war with details of the battles and their repercussions with an aftermath.

I’ve got Hampton Sides’ On Desperate Ground: The Marines at the Reservoir on deck, but want a broader overview of the whole conflict before focusing on the Chosin Reservoir.

Any recs?

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Posted by Mud_Till_May

Member since Aug 2014

9685 posts

Posted on 9/9/20 at 3:32 pm to Frac the world

Korean war vet

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Posted by Ace Midnight

Between sanity and madness

Member since Dec 2006

89531 posts

Posted on 9/11/20 at 8:43 pm to Frac the world

quote:
I’ve got Hampton Sides’ On Desperate Ground: The Marines at the Reservoir on deck, but want a broader overview of the whole conflict before focusing on the Chosin Reservoir.

Sadly, there are probably more good books on Chosin than single volume books on the entire war (particularly if you want good "prelude to war" stuff, too).

Vietnam is easy - Stanley Karnow's Vietnam - not perfect by any measure, but outstanding and the first place anyone should start.

Korea - a couple of single volumes that sort of hit the breadth you're looking for - Max Hastings The Korean War (almost a long executive summary, but well done) or Fehrenbach's This Kind of War, which is from an individual soldier's (the author) perspective - but neither really fit the bill.

Sadly, I don't think anything does for Korea.

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Posted by DR93Berlin

Member since Jul 2020

864 posts

Posted on 9/12/20 at 1:11 pm to Frac the world

The Coldest Winter by David Halberstam or The Forgotten War by Clay Blair. I really enjoy Halberstam as a writer so I’d check that one out first. Max Hastings has a solid account of it as well.

This post was edited on 9/12/20 at 1:15 pm

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