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)

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.

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.

The Korean War

It was very interesting. I really never knew much about the Korean War. My 101 year old World War II vet Dad also enjoyed learning more about the Korean War. It would be really nice if we learned from history!!!

Inspiring and Hard Hitting

I begin listening to this book while on the plane from California to Seoul on my first trip to the Land of the Morning Calm. The book gave me such a detailed overview of the entire war that I was able to discuss the events with locals and feel like an informed person.

Without question, The Korean War defines South Korea to this day and Max Hastings work will give you a clear and objective picture – from the view point of both America and China. (In the forward Hastings points out that while objective data and interviews with Americans and Chinese are possible, such an exercise with the North Koreas would be a waste of time.) The scenes he depicts are vivid and graphic without being sensational. The opening firefight between Task Force Smith and the North Korean regulars was particularly gut wrenching. There are some phrases he uses to describe later events that haunt me a bit, yet I believe Hastings did this for clarity. One of the darkest chapters – the story of the POWs during the war - also contains some moments of extreme levity when Hastings describes the pranks GI’s pulled on their captors. Some of them had me laughing out loud.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to know more about South Korea, and a large, yet nearly forgotten war and the heroes who sacrificed their lives in a noble struggle.