The Darkest Summer

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

De: Bill Sloan

Narrado por: Michael Prichard

The outcome of the Korean War was decided in the first three months. The Darkest Summer is the hour-by-hour, casualty-by-casualty story of those months---a period that saw American and UN forces almost driven into the sea by the North Korean invaders, then stage an incredible turn-around that reversed the entire course of the war. Drawing on exclusive author interviews, unpublished memoirs, and oral histories, the book recounts the most dramatic and historically important portion of the war from the perspective of the soldiers and Marines on the ground. Bill Sloan takes the listener into muddy foxholes, across endless rice paddies, and up hotly contested ridges with the men who fought and fell there.©2009 Bill Sloan (P)2009 Tantor

Reseñas de la Crítica

"Sloan has crafted another superb narrative. Strongly recommended." ( Library Journal, Starred Review)

Great intro to Korea

This book did exactly what I wanted. It threw me into the day-to-day events of the Korean war and gave me a broad overview. I thought the narration was perfect. I was not bored for a second, and saw this as a good starting point. I would like to read/listen to more in-depth about the how and the why of the conflict.

Fantastic!

Fantastic review of the start of the Korean War. Did an excellent job of weaving personal stories together with the bigger military and political picture.

I'm Movin' On To Old Pusan

For a slim volume packs a lot of info about the desperate days in Korea before the Inchon Landings. Without the do or die defense of the Pusan Perimeter the whole course of Post War history would be different.

Very thorough

Very thorough examination of the events in the first several months of the Korean War

Tremendous

A work that truly honors those heroic soldiers and Marines that fought in the defense of the Republic of Korea. The author provides a definitive agreement for the American and South Korean victory in the war that tenuously continues today.

tremendous neglected history

an excellent history combining big picture strategic picture with the individual valor of the marines and soldiers fighting in Korea

also appreciate the extended description of the war after the Inchon landings had reversed the tide of the war

updated narration needed

narrator was very monotonous and could lull an insomniac to sleep. very in depth look at the Pusan perimeter and Inchon landing but lacked the same depth for the Chosin

Excellent

I have read more than a dozen books on the Korean War, including Fehrenbach’s classic work. This book covers USMC involvement in the first year of the war, with emphasis on the Pusan pocket. Considerable coverage given to US ARMY actions also. It also has the advantage of being written 50 or so years in AFTER the war. I also enjoyed the PostScript chapter. Highly recommend this book

It began 75 years ago and has never ended

Excellent recounting of the first months of the UN “Police Action “ in Korea. The Kim family still controls one of the darkest gulag states and still threatens the West. Delivered in a no-nonsense Pentagon-style briefing manner that captures all the drama and fear that gripped us yet has surprising flashes of humor. Thoroughly dissects MacArthur’s genius, leadership and hybris.

Missing 10 pages at end of chapter 7

The narration is great and the story is fantastic. However, ten critical pages of narration are missing from the end of chapter 7. This describes the battle of hill 202 when the Marine fire brigade plugged the holes in the Pusan perimeter.