The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War
Encyclopedia
The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War is a book published after the death of the author David Halberstam
. The book, written more than half a century after the war, looks at the war from a different perspective than previously written works on the war by various authors.
Other books on the Korean War are usually straight military histories and focus on the battles, the military mistakes, the soldiers and airmen, the heroes and heroic actions, and other military-related issues of the war. This book covers the major battles of the winter in 1950-51, but most of the chapters cover the politics and national leaders in the USA, the USSR, China, and North and South Korea. Halberstam writes many pages building up to the sacking of Douglas MacArthur
by President Truman. He explains the delay and the reasons why MacArthur had to go. Indeed, a fair characterization of this part of the book would be that it seeks to reduce as much as possible the status of MacArthur as an American general, portraying him as a man dominated largely by fantasy, and unwilling or unable to respond to the situation on the ground. Halberstam also comments on the efforts of Stalin to continue the war, even at the expense of China, the Soviet Union's then ally, and the United States.
Quotes pay homage to an earlier Korean War author T. R. Fehrenbach
, and The Coldest Winter mentions Fehrenbach's combat experience, something that Fehrenbach never mentions for himself in his seminal work, This Kind of War.
David Halberstam
David Halberstam was an American Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, author and historian, known for his early work on the Vietnam War, his work on politics, history, the Civil Rights Movement, business, media, American culture, and his later sports journalism.-Early life and education:Halberstam...
. The book, written more than half a century after the war, looks at the war from a different perspective than previously written works on the war by various authors.
Other books on the Korean War are usually straight military histories and focus on the battles, the military mistakes, the soldiers and airmen, the heroes and heroic actions, and other military-related issues of the war. This book covers the major battles of the winter in 1950-51, but most of the chapters cover the politics and national leaders in the USA, the USSR, China, and North and South Korea. Halberstam writes many pages building up to the sacking of Douglas MacArthur
Douglas MacArthur
General of the Army Douglas MacArthur was an American general and field marshal of the Philippine Army. He was a Chief of Staff of the United States Army during the 1930s and played a prominent role in the Pacific theater during World War II. He received the Medal of Honor for his service in the...
by President Truman. He explains the delay and the reasons why MacArthur had to go. Indeed, a fair characterization of this part of the book would be that it seeks to reduce as much as possible the status of MacArthur as an American general, portraying him as a man dominated largely by fantasy, and unwilling or unable to respond to the situation on the ground. Halberstam also comments on the efforts of Stalin to continue the war, even at the expense of China, the Soviet Union's then ally, and the United States.
Quotes pay homage to an earlier Korean War author T. R. Fehrenbach
T. R. Fehrenbach
T. R. Fehrenbach is an American author and former head of the Texas Historical Commission. He graduated from Princeton University in 1947, and has published at least 18 non-fiction books, including best seller Lonestar: A History of Texas and Texans and This Kind of War, about the Korean War...
, and The Coldest Winter mentions Fehrenbach's combat experience, something that Fehrenbach never mentions for himself in his seminal work, This Kind of War.