The Korean War, 1950-53

Front Cover
Constable, 2000 - History - 372 pages

In June 1950 the North Koreans invade South Korea. Truman is reluctant to intervene, but two weeks later a UN resolution is passed setting up a unified command. The South Korean Army and the hastily-assembled and ill-equipped American reinforcements from Japan are driven back. The war is transformed by General MacArthur's amphibious assault. The momentous decision is made to strike north across the 38th Parallel towards the border with Manchuria. Quite unexpectedly, a 'new kind of war' erupts as 1.3 million Chinese troops pour over the border swamping UN positions.
Thus began the struggle which did not end until the armistice in 1953 and which saw the world teeter on the brink of a Third World War. To mark the 50th anniversary of the outbreak of the first and only war fought by the United Nations against a communist aggressor nation, this book provides a gripping account of a conflict in a faraway peninsula where young men battled and often died for principles they barely understood.

From inside the book

Contents

The Outbreak of War
1
The Defence of the Pusan Perimeter 1950
19
Inchon and Beyond
37
Copyright

17 other sections not shown

Other editions - View all

Common terms and phrases

About the author (2000)

Brian Catchpole is a Korean War veteran and the author of many books including Twentieth Century Germany, The Modern World and Britain; Clash of Cultures and Balloons to Buccaneers. He lives in Yorkshire.

Bibliographic information