The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War - Hardcover

Halberstam, David

4.21

8,766 ratings by Goodreads

9780230709904: The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0230709907 ISBN 13: 9780230709904

Publisher: Macmillan, 2008

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MINT CONDITION BRAND NEW HARD COVER BOOK, 1st EDITION UNREAD WITH DUSTJACKET THE COLDEST WINTER: America And The Korean War by DAVID HALBERSTAM Description of book: Up until now, the Korean War has been the black hole of modern American history. The Coldest Winter changes that, giving readers a masterful narrative of the political decisions and miscalculations on both sides. He charts the disastrous path that led to the massive entry of Chinese forces near the Yalu, and that caught Douglas MacArthur and his soldiers by surprise. He provides astonishingly vivid and nuanced portraits of all the major figures -- Eisenhower, Truman, Acheson, Kim, and Mao, and Generals MacArthur, Almond, and Ridgway. At the heart of the book are the individual stories of the soldiers on the front lines who were left to deal with the consequences of the dangerous misjudgments and competing agendas of powerful men. We meet them, follow them, and see some of the most dreadful battles in history through their eyes. As ever, Halberstam was concerned with the extraordinary courage and resolve of people asked to bear an extraordinary burden. Contemporary history in its most literary and luminescent form, The Coldest Winter provides crucial perspective on the Vietnam War and the events of today. ISBN: 978-0-230-70990-4

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Product Description:

Up until now, the Korean War has been the black hole of modern American history. The Coldest Winter changes that, giving readers a masterful narrative of the political decisions and miscalculations on both sides. He charts the disastrous path that led to the massive entry of Chinese forces near the Yalu, and that caught Douglas MacArthur and his soldiers by surprise. He provides astonishingly vivid and nuanced portraits of all the major figures -- Eisenhower, Truman, Acheson, Kim, and Mao, and Generals MacArthur, Almond, and Ridgway. At the heart of the book are the individual stories of the soldiers on the front lines who were left to deal with the consequences of the dangerous misjudgments and competing agendas of powerful men. We meet them, follow them, and see some of the most dreadful battles in history through their eyes. As ever, Halberstam was concerned with the extraordinary courage and resolve of people asked to bear an extraordinary burden. Contemporary history in its most literary and luminescent form, The Coldest Winter provides crucial perspective on the Vietnam War and the events of today.

Review:

'David Halberstam makes sobering sense of one of modern history's less well-known and less well-understood wars.'
-- Birmingham Post

'It is a remarkable piece of storytelling, about the first 10 months of the Korean saga... -- The Sunday Times

'This is military history at its best.'
-- Literary Review

'This masterfully constructed and grippingly written book'
-- Daily Telegraph

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