The Korean War

By: Max Hastings

Narrated by: Frederick Davidson

Length: 17 hrs and 35 mins

Publisher's summary

It was the first war we could not win. At no other time since World War II have two superpowers met in battle. 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 and soldiers through the battles. He brilliantly captures the Cold War crisis at home, the strategies and politics of Truman, Acheson, Marshall, MacArthur, Ridgway, and Bradley, and shows what we should have learned in the war that was the prelude to Vietnam.

©1987 Roma Data (P)1997 Blackstone Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"Must reading for any American who wants to understand one of the watershed events of the post-World War II period." (Richard M. Nixon)
"Rings true and will surely stand the test of time....Max Hastings has no peer as a writer of battlefield history." (Stephen E. Ambrose)

Listenable but somewhat lacking

This is a decent single volume on the Korean War, though Hastings' style is a little less to my liking than some of his contemporaries. He tends towards the Stephen Ambrose "history by soldierly anecdote" method of storytelling than the John Keegan "clinical 50,000-foot view" method. But that's just a matter of preference.

I've read one of Hastings' World War II books (Armageddon), and since I was much more familiar with that conflict I didn't notice one aspect of his writing: in some instances Hastings presupposes a knowledge of the topic prior to the reader coming to the book. That aspect comes out listening to this audiobook. If you're marginally familiar with the Korean War prior to this book, it will fill in some details nicely, but if you're looking for a one-volume introduction, there may be better alternatives.

Lastly, Davidson's vocal characterizations seem out of place for a serious history book. If this were a novelization of the Korean War, speaking quotes from the Koreans and Chinese in bad, stereotypical Asian accents might be marginally less jarring. I'd prefer a narrator who read clearly and dispassionately. Save the drama for the Sharpe's Rifles narrations, please.

A good starter on your road to understanding the Korean War

You will either love Max Hastings’ style or you won’t. This book, as well as his Vietnam war and WW2 books, tells a loosely chronological story of what happened using a mix of primary sources and the author’s explanation. It’s not the deep dive that some would want, and reads more like a news paper… which makes a lot of sense considering Sir Max Hastings is a journalist and war correspondent.

Like most Americans who were the right age at the right time, I went into this not knowing much about the Korean War. This book gives a good synopsis, but I was hoping for something more along the lines of how A World Undone told the story of WW1. I suppose that book is unique in its own way.

The narrator is pretty terrible… even when he isn’t trying to pull off the various accents of the many nations involved in this war, he makes it difficult to really lose oneself in the story.

Good listen

Good book, I like that it had more than just an American point of view.

Please Update Audio track

The audio on this book very much shows its age in both quality and character voices that would modernly be seen as offensive. Some times this takes away from the otherwise great content of the book itself.

lots of great stuff but the narrator..

this was an excellent book, but I wish it had been updated. also the narrator was soooo monotone

Excellent

A fascinating look at Korea. Hastings is superbly researched and written as always. Definitely a history of the war, but with a slight British touch in regards to unit actions and the like. It took me longer than usual to adjust to the narration. Not sure exactly why.

I thought I knew the war.

I listened to this book because it was written by a Brite. I wanted to hear what another country went through. Yes, it's a bit dry, British, after all, but I believe it's worth your time. I've read several books on the Korean War but nothing until now from the other countries that were involved.
Some guys will say what a terrible dry reader but that's what I wanted, a totally different perspective.
So suck it up, make some tea a enjoy a good read.

Good

The book itself is a good historical listen. although the audio itself can be patchy at times.

Narration is shocking

I cannot believe this book hasn’t been re-narrated. The narrator using a stereotypically racist voice for Asian persons is not only ridiculous but very distracting. The book is good but the narration is horrific.

Overview of the Korean War

Very informative overview of the War, makes me hungry for more details. Much focus on the political wrangling involved, but very well done.