Why this book:  Selected by my SEAL book club at my recommendation, after hearing so much good about it.  I read rather than listened to this book – and having the print copy has the advantage of photos.  This is also the 5th book by Hampton Sides that I’ve read – and each has been memorable and impressive.

Summary in 3 Sentences:The book begins with some background on what led to the Korean War, a brief look at the Inchon landing and other early successes and mistakes the US made at the beginning of the war fighting the North Koreans,  that led to the US invasion of the North and ultimately the Chinese entry into the war. The bulk of the book is about how the 1st Marine Division was assigned the mission of getting to the Yalu river to complete the conquest of North Korea, but enroute, were surrounded at the Chosin Reservoir by Chinese forces, and through amazing, courage, initiative, and lots of killing and suffering on both sides, the Marines were able to escape almost certain annihilation.  The book describes the battle through the eyes and experiences of a number of participants at every level of the battle, to includes some of the Chinese perspective.  

My Impressions: What an amazing story of suffering and courage.  And so well told.  After reading this, one can only say “God Bless the United States Marine Corps” for their courage and resilience under the most horrific of conditions.  Sides gives us the perspectives and personal stories of a wide variety of players in this drama – heroes as well as villains.  Villains were not only the Chinese but also American Generals MacArthur and Almond who underestimated the threat of Chinese involvement, and cavalierly and without serious consideration of risks and contingencies, sent the Marines into what ended up being a hell-hole.  

Sides interviewed dozens of veterans of the Korean war and included the personal stories of a number of them.  He also did not forget the Korean people and included the experiences and perspectives of a Korean family. These personal stories amplified the depth and drama of the almost hopeless situation that the Marines were put into by the poor decisions of Generals  Almond and MacArthur. 

The marines were cut off from support and resupply, separated into groups that were unable to reinforce each other and were attacked and surrounded by a huge force of the Chines army  that had not been detected earlier.  Thirty thousand Marinces and other UN forces were in serious danger of being annihilated by a Chinese force four to five times their size, but were able to slip out of the noose that was tightening around them by the amazing courage, initiative and resilience of the troops and their leaders.

In addition to the Chinese, the marines had to deal with extremely cold weather – regularly regreat battle and exceptional courage by  chapter in American history. 

The leading hero in this story was Marine Maj General Oliver Smith, whose calm and deliberate leadership resulted in the Marines being able to escape almost certain destruction.  The leading villain was Army Lt General Edward Almond, Smith’s superior who refused to acknowledge the risks that Smith brought to his attention, as General Almond would accept no challenge to his plan and uncompromising goal of marching a division though mountainous, inaccessible terrain to get to the Yalu River.  Right behind Almond on Sides’ list of villains was Gen MacArthur who directed the campaign from Tokyo and who would show up in Korea for brief photo ops, and then abruptly return to Japan.

At the conclusion of the book, Sides provides an epilogue to tell us what happened to the many characters we got to know in the drama of the battle and narrow escape from the Chosin Reservoir.  In his acknowledgments, he provides an impressive list of people, meetings, and other resources that shaped his story and experiences writing this book.  He also recommends a good list of books for further reading on this epic battle.   

Hampton Sides is a fabulous narrative story teller and writer of popular history.  This book deserves its place along with the other four books of his I’ve read (Blood and Thunder, Kingdom of Ice, Ghost Soldiers, and The Wide, Wide Sea) as inspiring history, bringing little known stories of our past to life.  He is so well known and widely read, he has done our country a service in writing this book and putting a spotlight on this great battle and exceptional courage and performance by Americans in war.  This battle, like the Korean War is often overlooked by Americans – but never by Marines!