The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War @ richardeward.com

The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War
by David Halberstam
from Hyperion

Customer Reviews:

• Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0

• Skip it.
  Halberstam must have spent considerable effort expanding this out to 600+ pages. His insights are repeated, ad nauseum, throughout the text. The narrative switches back and forth; between US pols, Tokyo and scant coverage of the battlefield itself. Each transition is burdened with fluff, and the seemingly endless repetition of notions presented earlier. He also lacked the ability to temper the influence of his own politics on the writing - even the portrayal of simple facts seems consistently nuanced. The... more info

• Remarkable Book
  This was the first book solely dedicated to the Korean War that I had read. Reading it was a powerful experience in many ways, especially when reading of the battles and the struggle for survival as experienced by the men in combat. Halberstam is good in following ordinary soldiers and officers in their respective units and how they dealt with critical situations. The leaders from all sides get a good analysis too. Gen. MacArthur doesn't come off looking good, and for good reasons. While his bold plan at... more info

• When American and China fought
  This book is not so much a history of the Korean War but more a meditation of the role of the war in the development of America's response to the cold war. There is a outline of the operations of the war but most of the narrative deals with the early battles and China's intervention. The last two years of the war are dealt with very briefly indicating that the Americans were able to develop tactics to use their superior firepower to turn the conflict into a draw.
  The attraction of the book is that it... more info

• Once again, Halberstam is predictably great.
  Belongs on the shelf with the rest of Halberstam's great books: The Best and the Brighttest et al.
  Thank you, David, for another great read, another wonderful and accurate critique. R.I.P.
  Sgt Jackson, USMC 1988-2001

Similar Products: