100 Best Korean War Books of All Time

We've ranked the best korean war books using expert recommendations, sales data, and millions of reader ratings. At Shortform, we know books. Our book guides are the best in the world. Learn why.

The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War book cover1

The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War

David Halberstam

5.0
"In a grand gesture of reclamation and remembrance, Mr. Halberstam has brought the war back home."---The New York Times

David Halberstam's magisterial and thrilling The Best and the Brightest was the defining book about the Vietnam conflict. More than three decades later, Halberstam used his unrivaled research and formidable journalistic skills to shed light on another pivotal moment in our histor
Bill Rasmussen portrait Recommended by Bill Rasmussen.
On Desperate Ground: The Epic Story of Chosin Reservoir--The Greatest Battle of the Korean War book cover2

On Desperate Ground: The Epic Story of Chosin Reservoir--The Greatest Battle of the Korean War

Hampton Sides

5.0
"On Desperate Ground is first-rate narrative history. Hampton Sides' characters are richly drawn, his background history engrossing, and his battle scenes bone-chillingly realistic--a great read."
--Daniel James Brown, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Boys in the Boat

From the New York Times bestselling author of Ghost Soldiers and In the Kingdom of Ice , a chronicle of the extraord
The Korean War book cover3

The Korean War

Max Hastings

4.8
It was the first war we could not win. At no other time since World War II have two superpowers met in battle.

Now Max Hastings, preeminent military historian takes us back to the bloody bitter struggle to restore South Korean independence after the Communist invasion of June 1950. Using personal accounts from interviews with more than 200 vets—including the Chinese—Hastings follows real officers a
This Kind of War: The Classic Military History of the Korean War book cover4

This Kind of War: The Classic Military History of the Korean War

T. R. Fehrenbach

4.7
Updated with maps, photographs, and battlefield diagrams, this special fiftieth anniversary edition of the classic history of the Korean War is a dramatic and hard-hitting account of the conflict written from the perspective of those who fought it. Partly drawn from official records, operations journals, and histories, it is based largely on the compelling personal narratives of the small-unit com
The Last Stand of Fox Company: A True Story of U.S. Marines in Combat book cover5

The Last Stand of Fox Company: A True Story of U.S. Marines in Combat

Bob Drury

4.7
November 1950, the Korean Peninsula: After General MacArthur ignores Mao’s warnings and pushes his UN forces deep into North Korea, his 10,000 First Division Marines find themselves surrounded and hopelessly outnumbered by 100,000 Chinese soldiers near the Chosin Reservoir. Their only chance for survival is to fight their way south through the Toktong Pass, a narrow gorge that will need to be held
Devotion: An Epic Story of Heroism, Friendship, and Sacrifice book cover6

Devotion: An Epic Story of Heroism, Friendship, and Sacrifice

Adam Makos

4.6
NATIONAL BESTSELLER - From America's "forgotten war" in Korea comes an unforgettable tale of courage by the author of A Higher Call.

Devotion tells the inspirational story of the U.S. Navy's most famous aviator duo, Lieutenant Tom Hudner and Ensign Jesse Brown, and the Marines they fought to defend. A white New Englander from the country-club scene, Tom passed up Harvard to fly fighters for his co
Give Me Tomorrow: The Korean War's Greatest Untold Story--The Epic Stand of the Marines of George Company book cover7

Give Me Tomorrow: The Korean War's Greatest Untold Story--The Epic Stand of the Marines of George Company

Patrick K. O'Donnell

4.6
An epic story of valor and sacrifice by a legendary Marine company in the Korean War brought to gripping, cinematic light by an acclaimed historian ("Gives the brave Marines of George Company long overdue recognition"--New York Post)
"What would you want if you could have any wish?" asked the photojournalist of the haggard, bloodied Marine before him. The Marine gaped at his interviewer. The photo
The General vs. the President: MacArthur and Truman at the Brink of Nuclear War book cover8

The General vs. the President: MacArthur and Truman at the Brink of Nuclear War

H. W. Brands

4.5
From master storyteller and historian H. W. Brands, twice a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, comes the riveting story of how President Harry Truman and General Douglas MacArthur squared off to decide America's future in the aftermath of World War II.

At the height of the Korean War, President Harry S. Truman committed a gaffe that sent shock waves around the world. When asked by a reporter about t
9

The Frozen Hours: A Novel of the Korean War

Jeff Shaara

4.5
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - The master of military historical fiction turns his discerning eye to the Korean War in this riveting novel, which tells the dramatic story of the Americans and the Chinese who squared off in one of the deadliest campaigns in the annals of combat: the Battle of Chosin Reservoir, also known as Frozen Chosin.

June 1950. The North Korean army invades South Korea, intent on
A People's History of the United States book cover10

A People's History of the United States

Howard Zinn

4.4
Preview Summary
"A wonderful, splendid book--a book that should be ready by every American, student or otherwise, who wants to understand his country, its true history, and its hope for the future." --Howard Fast

With a new introduction by Anthony Arnove, this edition of the classic national bestseller chronicles American history from the bottom up, throwing out the official narrative taught in schools—with its em
Lisa Ling portraitAlex Honnold portrait Recommended by Lisa Ling and Alex Honnold.
Lisa Ling portrait
Lisa Ling

I credit this book with propelling me to dig deeper, and to not always believe the narrative. [source]

Alex Honnold portrait
Alex Honnold

Totally changed the way I look at politics. [source]

The Darkest Summer: Pusan and Inchon 1950: The Battles That Saved South Korea--and the Marines--from Extinction book cover11

The Darkest Summer: Pusan and Inchon 1950: The Battles That Saved South Korea--and the Marines--from Extinction

Bill Sloan

4.4
The Darkest Summer is the dramatic story of the first three months of the Korean War as it has never been told before. A narrative studded with gripping eyewitness accounts, it focuses on the fateful days when the Korean War’s most decisive battles were fought and the Americans who fought them went— however briefly—from the depths of despair to the exultation of total conquest. Drawing on exclusiv
12

Breakout: The Chosin Reservoir Campaign, Korea 1950

Martin Russ

4.4
On General Douglas MacArthur's orders, a force of 12,000 U.S. Marines were marching north to the Yalu river in late November 1950. These three regiments of the 1st Marine Division--strung out along eighty miles of a narrow mountain road--soon found themselves completely surrounded by 60,000 Chinese soldiers. Despite being given up for lost by the military brass, the 1st Marine Division fought its
The Korean War: A History book cover13

The Korean War: A History

Bruce Cumings

4.4
A BRACING ACCOUNT OF A WAR THAT IS EITHER MISUNDERSTOOD, FORGOTTEN, OR WILLFULLY IGNORED

For Americans, it was a discrete conflict lasting from 1950 to 1953. But for the Asian world the Korean War was a generations-long struggle that still haunts contemporary events. With access to new evidence and secret materials from both here and abroad, including an archive of captured North Korean documents,
Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea book cover14

Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea

Barbara Demick, Karen White, et al

4.4
Nothing to Envy follows the lives of six North Koreans over fifteen years—a chaotic period that saw the death of Kim Il-sung, the unchallenged rise to power of his son Kim Jong-il, and the devastation of a far-ranging famine that killed one-fifth of the population.

Taking us into a landscape most of us have never before seen, award-winning journalist Barbara Demick brings to life what it means to
Hyeonseo Lee portrait Recommended by Hyeonseo Lee.
American Caesar: Douglas MacArthur 1880-1964 book cover15

American Caesar: Douglas MacArthur 1880-1964

William Manchester

4.4
The bestselling classic that indelibly captures the life and times of one of the most brilliant and controversial military figures of the twentieth century.
"Electric...Tense with the feeling that this is the authentic MacArthur...Splendid reading." -- New York Times
Inspiring, outrageous... A thundering paradox of a man. Douglas MacArthur, one of only five men in history to have achieved the ran
16

About Face: The Odyssey Of An American Warrior

Colonel David H. Hackworth, Julie Sherman

4.4
Called “everything a twentieth century war memoir could possibly be” by The New York Times, this national bestseller by Colonel David H. Hackworth presents a vivid and powerful portrait of a life of patriotism.

From age fifteen to forty David Hackworth devoted himself to the US Army and fast became a living legend. In 1971, however, he appeared on television to decry the doomed war effort in Vietna
Jocko Willink portrait Recommended by Jocko Willink.
In Mortal Combat: Korea, 1950-1953 book cover17

In Mortal Combat: Korea, 1950-1953

John Toland

4.3

A brilliant history of the Korean War based on the real experiences of soldiers from both sides

Pulitzer Prize–winning author John Toland reports on the Korean War in a revolutionary way in this thoroughly researched and riveting book. Toland pored over military archives and was the first person to gain access to previously undisclosed Chinese records, which allowed him to investigate Chairman Ma

18

Colder Than Hell: A Marine Rifle Company at Chosin Reservoir

Joseph R. Owen

4.3
"A MUST READ . . . This book [is] one of the best on that war in Korea. . . . A wonderful account of common, decent men in desperate action."
--Leatherneck

During the early, uncertain days of the Korean War, World War II veteran and company lieutenant Joe Owen saw firsthand how the hastily assembled mix of some two hundred regulars and raw reservists hardened into a superb Marine rifle company known
Valleys of Death: A Memoir of the Korean War book cover19

Valleys of Death: A Memoir of the Korean War

Bill Richardson and Kevin Maurer

4.3
"Richardson never pulls his punches in these vivid descriptions." --Publishers Weekly Caught in the Chinese counterattack at Unsan-one of the deadliest American battles of the Cold War Era-Colonel Bill Richardson led an Alamo like defense of the few survivors before being taken prisoner. The North Koreans marched them through sub-zero weather without food, shelter, or medical attention to the area
Truman book cover20

Truman

David McCullough

4.3
The Pulitzer Prize–winning biography of Harry S. Truman, whose presidency included momentous events from the atomic bombing of Japan to the outbreak of the Cold War and the Korean War, told by America’s beloved and distinguished historian.

The life of Harry S. Truman is one of the greatest of American stories, filled with vivid characters—Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin, Eleanor Roosevelt, Bess Wallac
Marine! The Life of Chesty Puller book cover21

Marine! The Life of Chesty Puller

Burke Davis

4.3
From commanding the Horse Marines in Peking to leading the Inchon landing, Puller became a legend in his own time. Now, Davis offers a no-holds-barred biography of this courageous hero--the only marine in history ever to win five Navy Crosses.
22

War Trash

Ha Jin

4.3
War Trash, the extraordinary new novel by the National Book Award–winning author of Waiting, is Ha Jin’s most ambitious work to date: a powerful, unflinching story that opens a window on an unknown aspect of a little-known war—the experiences of Chinese POWs held by Americans during the Korean conflict—and paints an intimate portrait of conformity and dissent against a sweeping canvas of confronta
Bruce Cumings portraitHarry Wu portrait Recommended by Bruce Cumings and Harry Wu.
Bruce Cumings portrait
Bruce Cumings

Ha Jin’s novel is obviously based on either his experience or his father’s experience of the Korean War. There are some very stark and striking descriptions. He didn’t have access to South Korea, but he has this wonderful ability to treat everybody fairly and to listen to the songs of women guerrillas that were captured by South Korean prison camps and enjoy listening to them. He does the same thing with North Korean and Chinese soldiers and the civilians who were caught up in the battle. [source]

Harry Wu portrait
Harry Wu

It’s written by a young Chinese author who came to the United States. He wrote this book in his second language and still won lots of awards for it, which is very impressive. I think this is a really good book to show the West more about what is going on in China. People think that it’s all about economic growth but there is so much more to our history than that. [source]

23

MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors (M*A*S*H, #1)

Richard Hooker

4.3
Before the movie, this is the novel that gave life to Hawkeye Pierce, Trapper John, Hot Lips Houlihan, Frank Burns, Radar O'Reilly, and the rest of the gang that made the 4077th MASH like no other place in Korea or on earth. The doctors who worked in the Mobile Army Surgical Hospitals (MASH) during the Korean War were well trained but, like most soldiers sent to fight a war, too young for the job.
24

Sergeant Reckless: The True Story of the Little Horse Who Became a Hero

Patricia McCormick

4.3
The inspiring true story of Reckless, the brave little horse who became a Marine.

When a group of US Marines fighting in the Korean War found a bedraggled mare, they wondered if she could be trained to as a packhorse. They had no idea that the skinny, underfed horse had one of the biggest and bravest hearts they’d ever known. And one of the biggest appetites!

Soon Reckless showed herself more than w
25

The Coldest War: A Memoir of Korea

JAMES BRADY

4.3
America's "forgotten war" lasted just thirty-seven months, yet 54,246 Americans died in that time -- nearly as many as died in ten years in Vietnam. On the fiftieth anniversary of this devastating conflict, James Brady tells the story of his life as a young marine lieutenant in Korea.

In 1947, seeking to avoid the draft, nineteen-year-old Jim Brady volunteered for a Marine Corps program that made h
26

The Forgotten War: America in Korea, 1950-1953

Clay Blair

4.3
The definitive book on the Korean War. Like no book before, it combines enormous battlefield-level detail with command-level military history and domestic and international politics. 32 pages of black-and-white photographs. 15 maps.
27

The Bridges at Toko-ri

James A. Michener

4.3
In one of his beloved early bestsellers, Pulitzer Prize–winning author James A. Michener crafts a tale of the American men who fought the Korean War, detailing their exploits in the air as well as their lives on the ground. Young and innocent, they arrive in a place they have barely ever heard of, on a ship massive enough to carry planes and helicopters. Trained as professionals, they prepare for
28

Home

Toni Morrison

4.3
America's most celebrated novelist, Nobel Prize-winner Toni Morrison extends her profound take on our history with this twentieth-century tale of redemption: a taut and tortured story about one man's desperate search for himself in a world disfigured by war.

Frank Money is an angry, self-loathing veteran of the Korean War who, after traumatic experiences on the front lines, finds himself back in r
29

Pachinko

Min Jin Lee

4.2
In the early 1900s, teenaged Sunja, the adored daughter of a crippled fisherman, falls for a wealthy stranger at the seashore near her home in Korea. He promises her the world, but when she discovers she is pregnant--and that her lover is married--she refuses to be bought. Instead, she accepts an offer of marriage from a gentle, sickly minister passing through on his way to Japan. But her decision
Emma Watson portraitGail Kelly portrait Recommended by Emma Watson and Gail Kelly.
30

East of Chosin: Entrapment and Breakout in Korea, 1950

Roy E. Appleman

4.2
In November, 1950, with the highly successful Inchon Landing behind him, Gen. Douglas MacArthur planned the last major offensive of what was to be a brief "conflict": the drive that would push the North Koreans across the Yalu River into Manchuria. In northern Korea, US forces assembled at Chosin Reservoir to cut behind the North Korean forces blocking the planned march to Manchuria. Roy E. Applem
31

The Island of Sea Women

Lisa See

4.2
Mi-ja and Young-sook, two girls living on the Korean island of Jeju, are best friends who come from very different backgrounds. When they are old enough, they begin working in the sea with their village’s all-female diving collective, led by Young-sook’s mother. As the girls take up their positions as baby divers, they know they are beginning a life of excitement and responsibility—but also danger
32

Retreat, Hell! (The Corps, #10)

W.E.B. Griffin

4.2
It is the fall of 1950. The Marines have made a pivotal breakthrough at Inchon, but a roller coaster awaits them. While Douglas MacArthur chomps at the bit, intent on surging across the 38th parallel, Brigadier General Fleming Pickering works desperately to mediate the escalating battle between MacArthur and President Harry Truman. And somewhere out there, his own daredevil pilot son, Pick, is los
The Hunters book cover33

The Hunters

James Salter

4.2
With his stirring, rapturous first novel--originally published in 1956 --James Salter established himself as the most electrifying prose stylist since Hemingway. Four decades later, it is clear that he also fashioned the most enduring fiction ever about aerial warfare.

Captain Cleve Connell arrives in Korea with a single goal: to become an ace, one of that elite fraternity of jet pilots who have do
Ryan Holiday portrait Recommended by Ryan Holiday.
Chosin: Heroic Ordeal of the Korean War book cover34

Chosin: Heroic Ordeal of the Korean War

Eric Hammel

4.2
The epic retreat-under-fire of the First Marine Division from the Chosin Reservoir in the depths of a North Korean winter--from the point of view of the men, the foxholes and tanks, command posts and hospital wards.
35

George Marshall: Defender of the Republic

David L. Roll

4.2
The extraordinary career of George Catlett Marshall—America’s most distinguished soldier–statesman since George Washington—whose selfless leadership and moral character influenced the course of two world wars and helped define the American century.

Winston Churchill called him World War II's "organizer of victory." Harry Truman said he was "the greatest military man that this country ever produced
The Secrets of Inchon book cover36

The Secrets of Inchon

Eugene Franklin Clark, Thomas Fleming

4.2
This first-hand account of a crucial, but little-known, covert mission of the Korean War offers a revealing and remarkable story of wartime courage-from the very man who led the mission.

According to his colleagues, Commander Eugene Franklin Clark had "the nerves of a burglar and the flair of a Barbary Coast Pirate." And in August 1950, when General MacArthur made the unpopular decision to invade
37

Pork Chop Hill

S. Marshall

4.2
Renowned military historian S.L.A. Marshall was in Korea in 1953, deep in enemy territory when Pork Chop Hill was overrun with Red Chinese troops. A handful of U.S. GIs on the frontline fought the Chinese and won. His classic account of the battle is a distinguished contribution to the literature of war (The New York Times).
38

The Marines of Autumn

James Brady

4.2
War has been the inspiration of such great novels as The Red Badge of Courage and A Farewell to Arms, and daring feats of courage and tragic mistakes have been the foundation for such classic works. Now, for the first time ever, the Korean War has a novel that captures that courage and sacrifice.

When Captain Thomas Verity, USMC, is called back to action, he must leave his Georgetown home, career,
39

The Korean War

Matthew B. Ridgway

4.2
In December 1950 General Matthew B. Ridgway replaced General Walton Walker as commander of the Eighth Army, and in April 1951 he succeeded Douglas MacArthur as supreme commander of the United Nations forces in Korea and supreme commander of the United States Far East Command. In this spirited book, General Ridgway describes how he took a dispirited army and rebuilt it in a few short months, leadin
Chesty: The Story of Lieutenant General Lewis B. Puller, USMC book cover40

Chesty: The Story of Lieutenant General Lewis B. Puller, USMC

Jon T. Hoffman

4.2
Featured on the Commandant of the Marine Corps' Reading List and the Chief of Naval Operation's "Naval Power" Reading List

The Marine Corps is known for its heroes, and Lieutenant General Lewis B. Puller has long been considered the greatest of them all. His assignments and activities covered an extraordinary spectrum of warfare. Puller mastered small unit guerrilla warfare as a lieutenant in Hait
41

To the Last Round: The Epic British Stand on the Imjin River, Korea 1951

Andrew Salmon

4.2
Unraveling the chain of events that led to one of the most startling military encounters during the Korean War, this exhaustive account details how the Cold War abruptly ended with the Communist invasion of South Korea and explains in full the disastrous results that followed. Focusing on the inspirational story of Britain’s 29th Infantry Brigade, this fascinating documentation details China’s sho
Such Men as These: The Story of the Navy Pilots Who Flew the Deadly Skies Over Korea book cover42

Such Men as These: The Story of the Navy Pilots Who Flew the Deadly Skies Over Korea

David Sears

4.2
In 1951, James Michener went to Korea to report on a little known aspect of America’s stalemated war: naval aviators. His research inspired a novel about these pilots and became an overnight bestseller and, perhaps, the most widely-read book ever written about aerial combat. Using Michener’s notes, author David Sears tracked down the pilots to tell their riveting, true-life stories. From the icy w
Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War book cover43

Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War

Robert Coram

4.2
John Boyd may be the most remarkable unsung hero in all of American military history. Some remember him as the greatest U.S. fighter pilot ever -- the man who, in simulated air-to-air combat, defeated every challenger in less than forty seconds. Some recall him as the father of our country's most legendary fighter aircraft -- the F-15 and F-16. Still others think of Boyd as the most influential mi
Ryan Holiday portrait Recommended by Ryan Holiday.
In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl's Journey to Freedom book cover44

In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl's Journey to Freedom

Yeonmi Park

4.2
Human rights activist Park, who fled North Korea with her mother in 2007 at age 13 and eventually made it to South Korea two years later after a harrowing ordeal, recognized that in order to be "completely free," she had to confront the truth of her past. It is an ugly, shameful story of being sold with her mother into slave marriages by Chinese brokers, and although she at first tried to hide the
Without You, There Is No Us: My Time with the Sons of North Korea's Elite book cover45

Without You, There Is No Us: My Time with the Sons of North Korea's Elite

Suki Kim

4.2
A haunting memoir of teaching English to the sons of North Korea's ruling class during the last six months of Kim Jong-il's reign

Every day, three times a day, the students march in two straight lines, singing praises to Kim Jong-il and North Korea: Without you, there is no motherland. Without you, there is no us. It is a chilling scene, but gradually Suki Kim, too, learns the tune and, without not
Andrew Chen portrait Recommended by Andrew Chen.
46

Scorched Earth, Black Snow: Britain and Australia in the Korean War, 1950

Andrew Salmon

4.2

In late summer 1950, under-equipped, under-gunned British and Australian troops joined United Nations forces defending a South Korea reeling from invasion by the communist North. As the tide turned, 27th Infantry Brigade – 1st Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, 1st Middlesex and 3rd Royal Australian Regiment – spearheaded the counterattack into North Korea, decimating North Korea’s army. Meanwhil

47

High Tide in the Korean War: How an Outnumbered American Regiment Defeated the Chinese at the Battle of Chipyong-Ni

Leo Barron

4.2
By early 1951, American forces and their UN allies had been driven more than 100 miles down the Korean peninsula by the Chinese. The situation was bleak when Gen. Matthew Ridgway ordered a last stand at the village of Chipyong-ni. There a single regiment (the 23rd Infantry) of fewer than 5,000 U.S. soldiers defeated a Chinese division of 25,000 men in what has been called the Gettysburg of the Kor
The Frozen Chosen: The 1st Marine Division and the Battle of the Chosin Reservoir book cover48

The Frozen Chosen: The 1st Marine Division and the Battle of the Chosin Reservoir

Thomas McKelvey Cleaver

4.1
The Frozen Chosen is an account of the breakout from the Chosin Reservoir in North Korea by the 1st Marine Division from November to December 1950, following the intervention of Red China in the Korean War. Fought during the worst blizzard in a century, it is considered by the United States Marine Corps to be "the Corps' finest hour." Fourteen Medals of Honor, a record for any American battle, and
A River in Darkness: One Man's Escape from North Korea book cover49

A River in Darkness: One Man's Escape from North Korea

Masaji Ishikawa

4.1
The harrowing true story of one man’s life in—and subsequent escape from—North Korea, one of the world’s most brutal totalitarian regimes.

Half-Korean, half-Japanese, Masaji Ishikawa has spent his whole life feeling like a man without a country. This feeling only deepened when his family moved from Japan to North Korea when Ishikawa was just thirteen years old, and unwittingly became members of the
50

The Forgotten Highlander: An Incredible WWII Story of Survival in the Pacific

Alistair Urquhart

4.1
This is the extraordinary and moving tale by an ex-POW and last surviving member of the Gordon Highlanders regiment that was captured by the Japanese in Singapore.
Presidents of War: The Epic Story, from 1807 to Modern Times book cover51

Presidents of War: The Epic Story, from 1807 to Modern Times

Michael Beschloss

4.1
From a preeminent presidential historian comes a groundbreaking and often surprising narrative of America’s wartime chief executives

It sometimes seems, in retrospect, as if America has been almost continuously at war. Ten years in the research and writing, Presidents of War is a fresh, magisterial, intimate look at a procession of American leaders as they took the nation into conflict and mobilize
Bill Gates portraitTom Hanks portrait Recommended by Bill Gates and Tom Hanks.
Bill Gates portrait
Bill Gates

CEO/Microsoft

My interest in all aspects of the Vietnam War is the main reason I decided to pick up this book. By the time I finished it, I learned a lot not only about Vietnam but about the eight other major conflicts the U.S. entered between the turn of the 19th century and the 1970s. Beschloss’s broad scope lets you draw important cross-cutting lessons about presidential leadership. [source]

Tom Hanks portrait
Tom Hanks

Actor, author

Once again, Beschloss captures our Presidents in terms both historic and human, showing that whoever holds the office will fearlessly—or fearfully—impact our world. [source]

52

The War for Korea, 1950-1951: They Came from the North

Allan R. Millett

4.1
In The War for Korea, 1945-1950: A House Burning, one of our most distinguished military historians argued that the conflict on the Korean peninsula in the middle of the twentieth century was first and foremost a war between Koreans that began in 1948. In the second volume of a monumental trilogy, Allan R. Millett now shifts his focus to the twelve-month period from North Korea's invasion of South
Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West book cover53

Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West

Blaine Harden

4.1
A New York Times bestseller, the shocking story of one of the few people born in a North Korean political prison to have escaped and survived.

North Korea is isolated and hungry, bankrupt and belligerent. It is also armed with nuclear weapons. Between 150,000 and 200,000 people are being held in its political prison camps, which have existed twice as long as Stalin's Soviet gulags and twelve times
Brothers at War: The Unending Conflict in Korea book cover54

Brothers at War: The Unending Conflict in Korea

Sheila Miyoshi Jager

4.1
Sixty years after North Korean troops crossed the 38th parallel into South Korea, the Korean War has not yet ended. Sheila Miyoshi Jager presents the first comprehensive history of this misunderstood war, one that risks involving the world’s superpowers—again. Her sweeping narrative ranges from the middle of the Second World War—when Korean independence was fiercely debated between Roosevelt, Stal
55

The Great Leader and the Fighter Pilot: The True Story of the Tyrant Who Created North Korea and The Young Lieutenant Who Stole His Way to Freedom

Blaine Harden

4.1
From the New York Times bestselling author of Escape From Camp 14, Blaine Harden tells the riveting story of Kim Il Sung's rise to power, and the brave North Korean fighter pilot who escaped the prison state and delivered the first MiG-15 into American hands

In The Great Leader and the Fighter Pilot, New York Times bestselling author Blaine Harden tells the riveting story of how Kim Il Sung grabbed
Aquariums of Pyongyang: Ten Years in the North Korean Gulag book cover56

Aquariums of Pyongyang: Ten Years in the North Korean Gulag

Pierre Rigoulot

4.1
An account of the brutish conditions in North Korea. The Aquariums of Pyongyang is a heartbreaking story of survival. It is to be understood that the story is not unique in that there are thousands of families in North Korea being persecuted and starved even today. That there are still operating concentration camps as well as the implementation of the 3-generation rule, wherein everyone in the fam
Andrei Lankov portrait Recommended by Andrei Lankov.
57

Rethinking the Korean War: A New Diplomatic and Strategic History

William Stueck

4.1
Fought on what to Westerners was a remote peninsula in northeast Asia, the Korean War was a defining moment of the Cold War. It militarized a conflict that previously had been largely political and economic. And it solidified a series of divisions--of Korea into North and South, of Germany and Europe into East and West, and of China into the mainland and Taiwan--which were to persist for at least
58

Under Fire (The Corps, #9)

W.E.B. Griffin

4.1
After the epic struggle of World War II, W.E.B. Griffin’s bestselling chronicle of the Marine Corps enters a new stage of modern warfare—with new weapons, new strategies, and a new breed of warrior—on the battlefields of Korea…

In 1950, Captain Ken McCoy’s report on North Korean hostilities meets with so much bureaucratic displeasure that he is promptly booted out of the Corps—and just as promptly
About Face book cover59

About Face

Colonel David H. Hackworth US Army Ret.

4.1
Sgt. Reckless: America's War Horse book cover60

Sgt. Reckless: America's War Horse

Robin Hutton

4.1
New York Times Bestseller!

She wasn't a horse—she was a Marine.

She might not have been much to look at—a small "Mongolian mare," they called her—but she came from racing stock, and had the blood of a champion. Much more than that, Reckless became a war hero—in fact, she became a combat Marine, earning staff sergeant's stripes before her retirement to Camp Pendleton. This once famous horse, recogni
The End of Everything: How Wars Descend into Annihilation book cover61

The End of Everything: How Wars Descend into Annihilation

Victor Davis Hanson

4.1
62

Single Handed: The Inspiring True Story of Tibor "Teddy" Rubin--Holocaust Survivor, Korean War Hero, and Medal of Honor Recipient

Daniel M. Cohen

4.1
From a World War II concentration camp to the Korean War to the White House, this is the story of Tibor “Teddy” Rubin, the only Holocaust survivor ever to receive a Medal of Honor...

After being captured by Nazis and living through a year in the Mauthausen concentration camp, young Hungarian immigrant Tibor Rubin arrived in America, penniless and barely speaking English. In 1950, he volunteered f
Hellhound on His Trail: The Stalking of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the International Hunt for His Assassin book cover63

Hellhound on His Trail: The Stalking of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the International Hunt for His Assassin

Hampton Sides

4.1
On April 23, 1967, Prisoner #416J, an inmate at the notorious Missouri State Penitentiary, escaped in a breadbox. Fashioning himself Eric Galt, this nondescript thief and con man—whose real name was James Earl Ray—drifted through the South, into Mexico, and then Los Angeles, where he was galvanized by George Wallace’s racist presidential campaign.

On February 1, 1968, two Memphis garbage men were
Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA book cover64

Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA

Tim Weiner

4.1
For the last sixty years, the CIA has managed to maintain a formidable reputation in spite of its terrible record, burying its blunders in top-secret archives. Its mission was to know the world. When it did not succeed, it set out to change the world. Its failures have handed us, in the words of President Eisenhower, “a legacy of ashes.”

Now Pulitzer Prize–winning author Tim Weiner offers the first
Stephen Glain portrait Recommended by Stephen Glain.
65

Indignation

Philip Roth

4.1
Against the backdrop of the Korean War, a young man faces life’s unimagined chances and terrifying consequences.

It is 1951 in America, the second year of the Korean War. A studious, law-abiding, intense youngster from Newark, New Jersey, Marcus Messner, is beginning his sophomore year on the pastoral, conservative campus of Ohio’s Winesburg College. And why is he there and not at the local college
66

The Edge of the Sword

Anthony Farrar-Hockley

4.1
A memoir of the Korean War by the famous soldier who was adjutant of the ‘Glorious Glosters' during the battle on the Imjin River which won the 1st Battalion of the Gloucestershire Regiment immortality.

This book is not an attempt at a personal hero-story, and it is certainly not a piece of political propaganda. It is, above all, an amazing story of human fortitude and high adventure during the Kor
67

Dog Company: A True Story of American Soldiers Abandoned by Their High Command

Roger Hill

4.1
Now with a foreword by Sean Hannity!

The Army does not want you to read this book. It does not want to advertise its detention system that coddles enemy fighters while putting American soldiers at risk. It does not want to reveal the new lawyered-up Pentagon war ethic that prosecutes U.S. soldiers and Marines while setting free spies who kill Americans.
This very system ambushed Captain Roger Hill
The Second World Wars: How the First Global Conflict Was Fought and Won book cover68

The Second World Wars: How the First Global Conflict Was Fought and Won

Victor Davis Hanson

4.1

A definitive account of World War II by America's preeminent military historian

World War II was the most lethal conflict in human history. Never before had a war been fought on so many diverse landscapes and in so many different ways, from rocket attacks in London to jungle fighting in Burma to armor strikes in Libya. The Second World Wars examines how combat unfolded in the air, at sea, and on la
69

The Korean War

Carter Malkasian

4.1
The Korean War was a significant turning point in the Cold War. This book explains how the conflict in a small peninsula in East Asia had a tremendous impact on the entire international system and the balance of power between the two superpowers, America and Russia. Through the conflict, the West demonstrated its resolve to thwart Communist aggression and the armed forces of China, the Soviet Unio
Act of War: Lyndon Johnson, North Korea, and the Capture of the Spy Ship Pueblo book cover70

Act of War: Lyndon Johnson, North Korea, and the Capture of the Spy Ship Pueblo

Jack Cheevers

4.1
In 1968, a small, dilapidated American spy ship set out on a dangerous mission: to pinpoint military radar stations along the coast of North Korea. Packed with advanced electronic-surveillance equipment and classified intelligence documents, the USS Pueblo was poorly armed and lacked backup by air or sea. Its crew, led by a charismatic, hard-drinking ex-submarine officer named Pete Bucher, was mad
71

The Surrendered

Chang-rae Lee

4.1
A stunning story about how love and war inalterably change the lives of those they touch, The Surrendered is elegant, suspenseful, and unforgettable: a profound meditation on the nature of heroism and sacrifice, the power of love, and the possibilities for mercy and salvation.

With his three critically acclaimed novels, Chang-rae Lee has established himself as one of the most talented writers of co
72

A Korean War Memoir

John P. Collins

4.1
In the fall of 1950, I was a college student at Boston University. The Korean War had just begun, and while I had a college deferment, I felt it was unjust that other young people were fighting in Korea while I was in the classroom. Thus, in January 1951, I joined the army paratroopers with the hope of doing my part as a member of an elite fighting force. During a regimental parachute training jum
73

Shadow Strike: Inside Israel's Secret Mission to Eliminate Syrian Nuclear Power

Yaakov Katz

4.1
The never-before-told inside story of how Israel stopped Syria from becoming a global nuclear nightmare―and its far-reaching implications

On September 6, 2007, shortly after midnight, Israeli fighters advanced on Deir ez-Zour in Syria. Israel often flew into Syria as a warning to President Bashar al-Assad. But this time, there was no warning and no explanation. This was a covert operation, with one
Mark Dubowitz portrait Recommended by Mark Dubowitz.
74

Keeping Score

Linda Sue Park

4.1

Both Maggie Fortini and her brother, Joey-Mick, were named for baseball great Joe DiMaggio. Unlike Joey-Mick, Maggie doesn't play baseball—but at almost ten years old, she is a dyed-in-the-wool fan of the Brooklyn Dodgers. Maggie can recite all the players' statistics and understands the subtleties of the game. Unfortunately, Jim Maine is a Giants fan, but it's Jim who teaches Maggie the fine art

75

Enter the Dragon: China's Undeclared War Against the U.S. in Korea, 1950-1951

Russell Spurr

4.1
Reissued to coincide with the 60th anniversary of U.S. involvement in the Korean War, this gripping, dramatic military classic re-creates six pivotal months in the conflict, told from both the Chinese and Allied sides.

The Korean War was, years before Vietnam, the first great East-West military misadventure, eventually engaging sixteen countries under the U.N. flag in war against China and North Ko
76

White Chrysanthemum

Mary Lynn Bracht, Greta Jung

4.1
In the spirit of Lilac Girls, the heartbreaking history of Korea is brought to life in this deeply moving and redemptive debut that follows two sisters separated by World War II.

Korea, 1943. Hana has lived her entire life under Japanese occupation. As a haenyeo, a female diver of the sea, she enjoys an independence that few other Koreans can still claim. Until the day Hana saves her younger sister
77

Forgotten Warriors: The 1st Provisional Marine Brigade, the Corps Ethos, and the Korean War

T. X. Hammes

4.0
When the Korean War broke out in 1950, the Marine Corps was ordered to deploy an air-ground brigade in less than ten days, even though no such brigade existed at the time. Assembled from the woefully understrength 1st Marine Division and 1st Marine Air Wing units, the Brigade shipped out only six days after activation, sailed directly to Korea, was in combat within ninety-six hours of landing and,
78

The Generals: American Military Command from World War II to Today

Thomas E. Ricks

4.0
An epic history of the decline of American military leadership--from the bestselling author of Fiasco and Churchill and Orwell.

While history has been kind to the American generals of World War II--Marshall, Eisenhower, Patton, and Bradley--it has been less kind to the generals of the wars that followed, such as Koster, Franks, Sanchez, and Petraeus. In The Generals, Thomas E. Ricks sets out to exp
Under His Wings: How Faith on the Front Lines Has Protected American Troops book cover79

Under His Wings: How Faith on the Front Lines Has Protected American Troops

Emily Compagno

4.0
80

The Captains (Brotherhood of War, #2)

W.E.B. Griffin

4.0
It was more than an incident. It was a deadly assault across the 38th parallel. It was the Korean War. In the fear and frenzy of battle, those who had served with heroism before were called again by America to man the trenches and sandbag bunkers. From Pusan to the Yalu, they drove forward with commands too new and tanks too old: brothers in war, bonded together in battle as they had never been in
81

A Short History of the Korean War

James L. Stokesbury

4.0
As pungent and concise as his short histories of both world wars, Stokesbury's survey of "the half war" takes a broad view and seems to leave nothing out but the details.
The first third covers the North Korean invasion of June 1950, the Pusan perimeter crisis, MacArthur's master stroke at Inchon and the intervention by Chinese forces that November. At this point, other popular histories of the wa
82

Remembered Prisoners of a Forgotten War: An Oral History of Korean War POWs

Lewis H. Carlson

4.0
The Korean War POW remains the most maligned victim of all American wars. For nearly half a century, the media, general public, and even scholars have described hundreds of these prisoners as "brainwashed" victims of a heinous enemy who had uncharacteristically caved in to their Communist captors or, even worse, as turncoats who betrayed their fellow soldiers. In either case, these boys apparently
83

Korean War Aces

Robert F. Dorr, Chris Davey

4.0
The first virtually all-jet war, the conflict in Korea saw F-86 Sabres of the USAF take on MiG-15s of the North Korean and Chinese air forces. Although the Allied pilots were initially taken aback by the ability of the communist fighter in combat, sound training and skilful leadership soon enabled Sabre pilots to dominate the dogfights over the Yalu River.

In all 39 F-86 pilots achieved ace status
84

Crimson Sky (P)

Jr. Bruning, John R.

4.0
The Korean War was a crossroads in military history. It was the last hurrah for one generation of tactics and technology and the proving ground for the next. The Crimson Sky examines in detail twenty of the most interesting aerial actions of the Korean War, including the first air rescue of a downed pilot, the Battle of Carlson's Canyon, and some of the most spectacular MiG Alley sorties flown by
MiG Alley: The US Air Force in Korea, 1950–53 book cover85

MiG Alley: The US Air Force in Korea, 1950–53

Thomas McKelvey Cleaver

4.0
Of the many myths that emerged following the end of the Korean War, the prevailing one in the West was that of the absolute supremacy of US Air Force pilots and aircraft over their Soviet-supplied opponents. The claims of the 10:1 victory-loss ratio achieved by the US Air Force fighter pilots flying the North American F-86 Sabre against their communist adversaries, amongst other such fabrications,
86

The Fifties

David Halberstam

4.0
The Fifties is a sweeping social, political, economic, and cultural history of the ten years that Halberstam regards as seminal in determining what our nation is today. Halberstam offers portraits of not only the titans of the age: Eisenhower Dulles, Oppenheimer, MacArthur, Hoover, and Nixon, but also of Harley Earl, who put fins on cars; Dick and Mac McDonald and Ray Kroc, who mass-produced the A
Fierce Valor: The True Story of Ronald Speirs and His Band of Brothers (World War II Collection) book cover87

Fierce Valor: The True Story of Ronald Speirs and His Band of Brothers (World War II Collection)

Jared Frederick, Erik Dorr

4.0

Fans of Stephen E. Ambrose’s Band of Brothers will be drawn to this complex portrait of the controversial Ronald Speirs, an iconic commander of Easy Company during World War II, whose ferocious courage in three foreign conflicts was matched by his devotion to duty and the bittersweet passions of wartime romance.Fight Like You Mean to Win His comrades called him “Killer.” Of the elite paratroopers

The Hidden History of the Korean War: 1950–1951 (A Nonconformist History of Our Times, #2) book cover88

The Hidden History of the Korean War: 1950–1951 (A Nonconformist History of Our Times, #2)

I. F. Stone

4.0
In 1945 US troops arrived in Korea for what would become America’s longest-lasting conflict. While history books claim without equivocation that the war lasted from 1950 to 1953, those who have actually served there know better. By closely analyzing US intelligence before June 25, 1950 (the war’s official start), and the actions of key players like John Foster Dulles, General Douglas MacArthur, an
Bruce Cumings portrait Recommended by Bruce Cumings.
89

I Cannot Forget: Imprisoned in Korea, Accused at Home

John Wilson Moore, Judith Fenner Gentry

4.0
Eighteen-year-old Johnny Moore was an energetic, self-confident private first class when he entered combat with a heavy-weapons platoon in Korea. Four and a half months later, after surviving heavy attacks on the Pusan Perimeter and in one of the forward units of the western column advancing on the Yalu River, he was captured by the Chinese infantry.

Moore and other American POWs suffered from star
90

Inch'on 1950: The last great amphibious assault

Gordon L. Rottman, Peter Dennis

4.0
Osprey's study of Inch'on, which was probably the most significant campaign in the Korean War (1950-1953), as well as the last major amphibious assault of division-size conducted in the history of warfare. The odds were stacked against the US troops, with virtually no time for training and many of the divisions unprepared for the conflict. The success of the Inch'on campaign is a testament to the
91

Chickenhawk

Robert Mason

4.0
A true story from the battlefield that faithfully portrays the horror, the madness, and the trauma of the Vietnam War

More than half a million copies of Chickenhawk have been sold since it was first published in 1983. Now with a new afterword by the author and photographs taken by him during the conflict, this straight-from-the-shoulder account tells the electrifying truth about the helicopter war
For the Common Defense: A Military History of the United States of America book cover92

For the Common Defense: A Military History of the United States of America

Allan R. Millett, Peter Maslowski

4.0
93

The Miracle of Father Kapaun: Priest, Soldier, and Korean War Hero

Roy Wenzl, Travis Heying

4.0
Emil Kapaun--priest, soldier and Korean War hero-- is a rare man. He is being considered by the White House for a Medal of Honor and by the Vatican for canonization as a saint. As remarkable as this double honor are the non-Catholic witnesses who attest to Father Kapaun's heroism: the Protestants, Jews and Muslims who either served with the military chaplain in the thick of battle or endured with
94

On Hallowed Ground: The Last Battle For Pork Chop Hill

Bill McWilliams

4.0
July 1953. The Korean War had become a bloody stalemate. Peace was imminent but-as bitter fighting continued-each soldier could only ask himself, would he be the last to die? Despite this, a small group of the U.S. 7th Infantry Division fought back the Chinese Army on Pork Chop Hill. In round-the-clock counterattacks, devastating artillery assaults, and vicious hand-to-hand fighting, the Korean Wa
95

The March To Glory

Robert Leckie

4.0
NORTH KOREA -- DECEMBER 1950 This is the incredible saga of the famed First Marine Division and its savage fighting withdrawl from the Chosin Reservoir to the North Korean port of Hungnam. Battling bitterly cold winds and temperatures that dropped to -25 Fahrenheit, the beleaguered Leathernecks blasted their way through roadblocks, ambushes, and wave after horrifying wave of Chinese Communist army
96

The Imjin and Kapyong Battles, Korea, 1951

Paul MacKenzie

4.0
The sacrifice of the "Glorious Glosters" in defense of the Imjin River line and the hilltop fights of Australian and Canadian battalions in the Kapyong Valley have achieved greater renown in those nations than any other military action since World War II. This book is the first to compare in depth what happened and why. Using official and unofficial source material ranging from personal interviews
97

The Korean War: The West Confronts Communism

Michael Hickey

4.0
Set in the midst of international power politics and fears of a general conflagration, the Korean War at its height involved rapid, large-scale troop movements over long distances as each side experienced both outstanding success and disaster. This book tells the full story of the first, and critical, test by the Communist bloc of Western military resolve. Instead of concentrating wholly on the do
98

The Coldest Night

Robert Olmstead

4.0
Henry Childs is just seventeen when he falls into a love affair so intense it nearly destroys him. To escape the wrath of the young girl’s father, Henry joins the Marines, arriving in Korea on the eve of the brutal battle of the Chosin Reservoir—the defining moment of the Korean War. There he confronts an enemy force far beyond the scope of his imagining, but the challenges he meets upon his retur
99

From Pusan to Panmunjom: Wartime Memoirs of the Republic of Korea's First Four-Star General

Paik Sun Yup

4.0
Paper edition reprint of a 1992 work (Macmillan). The cover and title page show the spelling of the author's name as Paik Sun Yup; Library of Congress shows Son-yop Paek. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com).
No Bullet Got Me Yet: The Relentless Faith of Father Kapaun book cover100

No Bullet Got Me Yet: The Relentless Faith of Father Kapaun

John Stansifer

4.0