Korea: War Without End - Hardcover

A ground-breaking history of this global conflict, including the errors and miscalculations made on both sides.

Korea: War Without End examines the stand-off between East and West in Korea that ultimately defined the second half of the 20th century. It provides a critical analysis of:

• The lack of preparation by the West for war
• The results of the North Korean invasion in June 1950
• The counter-stroke by MacArthur in September
• The strategic overreach which led to communist China's involvement on the North Korean side
• The rapid escalation to consideration of the use of nuclear weapons

Through meticulous analysis of all the source material, this book details the chaos of political decision-making at the war's outset and as it progressed. The Korean War was not planned as a Communist offensive against the West. In turn, the East did not understand the principle at the core of the Western response to Kim Il-sung's aggression: a refusal to appease an aggressor, the key mistake the West considered to be at the heart of the rise of Nazi Germany and militaristic Japan in the 1930s.

Korea: War Without End also considers the effect of the fighting on civilians. While the war was a proxy one between East and West, the people of Korea suffered immensely, with approximately 3 million war fatalities and a larger proportional civilian death toll than World War II.

This is the definitive history of the conflict that is long overdue.