Newmarket Press 1st printing, First Edition, NY, 1988. xxvi, 337 p., photos, maps, appendix, biblio, index, 8vo; Very Good with some age related speckling to Page edges, inside tight and clean copy. Very Good DJ This account of the intervention into the Korean war of the Chinese People's Liberation Army is told from the point of view of the Chinese. The author did much of his research inside China, interviewing participants, and presents vivid portraits of the soldiers and such figures as Mao Zedong and Douglas MacArthur. Korea was the focus of the first great East-West confrontation, and the war cost over 140,000 American lives. The crucial intervention of the Chinese and their near victory brought the super-powers to the brink of nuclear war. Written by a British newspaper reporter who covered the latter stages of the war, this book contains narrative from extensive interviews with participants in the Korean War, including many Chinese, which differentiates it from most other accounts. A portion of the book is devoted to the political underpinnings of Chinese intervention. The author provides supporting evidence for recent conclusions by figures such as U.S. General Matthew Ridgeway, that the initial N. Korean invasion was carried out without advance knowledge by China, which then hastily sent ill-equipped troops into battle after UN forces defeated North Korea. But most of the book is comprised of gripping individual experiences of the battlefield from the perspective of the Chinese foot solider. Whether it be destroying tanks by close assault, surviving the ever-present American airstrikes, or the amazing bluff of marching Chinese commandos masquerading as South Koreans directly into a US battalion headquarters, any reader with an interest in wartime accounts will be well rewarded by time spent with this book.
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