Review by Choice Review
Haruki (emer., Univ. of Tokyo) has published works on Russian history as well as North Korea, thus bringing strong credentials to this well-researched, dispassionate book. For years, left-wing historians have viewed the Korean Conflict as a civil war that the US should have avoided. Using recently released Russian documents, the author demonstrates that the Korean Conflict was Stalin's war. This work is noteworthy chiefly for the perspectives of the combatant leaders--Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, Kim Il Sung, Harry Truman, and Syngman Rhee. The emphasis thus is on the war's political and diplomatic history, with just brief reference to the military. It is truly excellent in showing the effects of the war, clearly demonstrating that the chief beneficiaries were Japan and Taiwan; both reaped rewards politically and economically at no cost to themselves. Extensive documentation, a recent bibliography, a good index, and adequate maps are strengths. A glossary explaining the endless barrage of Korean and Chinese names would have been useful, as well as pictures of the war's leading figures. Still, this book belongs with other classic works on the conflict, such as Max Hastings's The Korean War (CH, Jul'88) and Bruce Cumings's The Korean War: A History (2010). Summing Up: Essential. Upper-division undergraduates and above. M. O'Donnell formerly, CUNY College of Staten Island
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Booklist Review
*Starred Review* Western historians often view the Korean War through the prism of the Cold War, which can reduce Koreans, north and south, into players and pawns in a much larger chessboard. This excellent work by a Japanese historian reminds readers that it was Koreans who bore the brunt of the suffering, fighting, and dying. In its origins and in the initial phase of the Korean conflict, it was a civil war, triggered by the ambitions of two contemptible leaders. In the North, Kim Il Sung had already begun imposing a brutal, totalitarian regime. In the south, Syngman Rhee, proclaimed by some Americans as a democratic champion, was a highly authoritarian and inflexible politician. Both men were determined to unite their nation by military force. Following the North Korean invasion and the American intervention, the war was internationalized, and Wada Haruki eloquently recounts the roles played by political and military leaders on both sides. His description of the peace negotiations is particularly riveting as American negotiators were as frustrated by their South Korean allies as they were by their opponents. This fine rendering of the conflict provides an important perspective on an unresolved war.--Freeman, Jay Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review
Although 19 nations were involved militarily in the Korean War, Wada (former director, Univ. of Tokyo Inst. of Social Science) focuses his attention primarily on the actions of the Koreas, China, the Soviet Union, and the United States in this first English translation of his highly esteemed Japanese history of the war. He provides an in-depth analysis of the decisions various government and military officials from those countries made during the course of the war, revealing in detail the disputes that allies on both sides had during the armistice talks. The author's use of Soviet documents helps to shed light on the decision-making processes of the Soviet Union, China, and North Korea. Readers will also learn the ways in which Japan and Taiwan participated in and were impacted by this conflict. VERDICT This meticulously researched work will serve as valuable reading to students and scholars of both the Korean and the Cold War. For a book that includes personal accounts of how the conflict affected individuals on the ground and provides a more extensive examination of how this war impacted subsequent events, see Sheila Miyoshi Jager's Brother at War: The Unending Conflict in Korea.-Joshua Wallace, South Texas Coll. Lib., McAllen (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Choice Review
Review by Booklist Review
Review by Library Journal Review
