On Desperate Ground

August 15, 2018
A Korean War story of miscalculation, military ambition, and overreach.Outside editor Sides (In the Kingdom of Ice: The Grand and Terrible Polar Voyage of the USS Jeannette, 2014, etc.) doesn't always dig deep for topics, but once he settles on one, no matter how well-covered previously, he piles on the research. So it is with this story of "Frozen Chosin," when American forces of the 1st Marine Division penetrated deep into North Korea, assured by their commanders that Mao's Chinese forces would not cross the Yalu River and enter the fight. In any event, Douglas MacArthur devalued the Chinese: "They were nothing more than a band of serfs--subsisting on rice balls and yams, relying on little burp gins and fizzly explosives that usually failed to detonate, an army held together with hemp string and bamboo." MacArthur had reason to re-evaluate his position once 300,000 Chinese troops entered the fray and encircled a much smaller American force in a mountain fastness alongside a huge reservoir. Fought in bitterly cold temperatures, the battle was horrible: "The cold seemed to come with only one upside: It had a cauterizing effect on wounds. Blood from bullet holes or shrapnel tears simply froze to the skin and stopped flowing." The Battle of Chosin Reservoir is part of the DNA of every Marine since, and numerous books, such as Bob Drury and Tom Clavin's excellent Last Stand of Fox Company (2009) and Roy Appleman's order-of-battle East of Chosin (1987), have emerged as standards in the field. Sides adds a fast-moving and well-written narrative to the mix, though without bringing much news to the enterprise. A plus is his respectful treatment of the sometimes-maligned (especially in Army accounts) Marine field commander, the scholarly but tough Gen. Oliver P. Smith.Better books are available, but for general readers, this account is a worthy introduction to a battle that has become a byword for suffering.

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Starred review from August 27, 2018
Sides (In the Kingdom of Ice) updates the much-chronicled, epic winter fighting retreat from the Chosin Reservoir in the Korean War in this splendid account. In September 1950, countering a June invasion by communist North Korean forces, Gen. Douglas MacArthur launched a “bold, sweeping”—and reckless—landing at the port of Inchon. When United Nations troops reached the border of the People’s Republic of China, Mao Zedong and his generals, fearing an invasion, sent troops into Korea to counter the threat. The First Marine Division, led by Gen. Oliver P. Smith, continued to advance, though its commander rightly feared a Chinese trap. He was correct: for three hellish weeks, his 30,000 Marines, U.S. Army, and assorted UN forces fought four times their number of Chinese soldiers, weathering terrifying assaults with little support and fanatical courage. Sides unsparingly describes the theatrical arrogance and misplaced sense of racial superiority that led MacArthur and X Corps Commander Gen. Ned Almond to discount the intelligence warning of major Chinese infiltration, even dismissing President Harry Truman’s concerns about a widening war that could involve nuclear weapons. This account features abundant heroism, vivid battle scenes, and nuanced treatment of the judicious, determined leadership of General Smith. Sides’s lucid assessment of the battles, leadership, politics, and key figures at the turning point of the war show how the First Marine Division’s commanders and fighting men staved off a nearly unprecedented military debacle.

Starred review from September 15, 2018
The 1950 battle in North Korea along the Chosin Reservoir is held in reverence by U.S. Marines. The mountainous terrain minted heroes by the score after a massive sneak attack by Communist Chinese forces during the harsh winter. Best-selling Sides (In the Kingdom of Ice?, 2014) tells the story of the First Marine Division, from their landing at Inchon and the drive north to the ferocious attack in a different direction to reach safety after being surrounded. Sides has done incredible work: the action is cinematic, with the detailed insights and character development of a novel. And it is all real. Sides' impeccable research includes interviews with survivors in addition to a thorough survey of the considerable archives. He glides seemingly effortlessly from describing intense firefights on the ground up to the difficult decisions faced by leaders at all levels of the chain of command as the possibility of atomic destruction loomed in the background. The result is a masterpiece of storytelling about a war that is often given short shrift in American history. Readers will feel the fierce cold, the constant threat of death, and the desperation of being trapped and under siege felt by the U.S. Marines in Sides' vivid and invaluable history.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)

September 15, 2018

Outside magazine editor Sides (In the Kingdom of Ice) recounts the classic story of the Korean War's famous battle of the Chosin Reservoir during the winter of 1950. Led by Gen. Douglas MacArthur and Oliver Smith, American forces of the First Marine Division--who felt that Korea was "a long way to come to fight and bleed and die, in a war that was not officially a war, for a cause that at times was not altogether clear, for an endgame that was anybody's guess"--entered the bitterly cold and mountainous terrain of Inchon along the eastern coast of North Korea with sights set at moving inland toward the reservoir. Confident at first that the Chinese were going to be kept at bay, MacArthur and Smith changed course once Chinese troops surprised and pushed the marines toward humbling mountain passes. Though the bitterly cold conditions made battle difficult, the outnumbered marines courageously fought their way out and ultimately reached safety. VERDICT While other works exist on this famous battle, Sides's highly accessible narrative will be appreciated by general readers as well as history buffs. For fans of Stephen Ambrose and Lynn Vincent. [See Prepub Alert, 4/23/18.]--David Miller, Farmville P.L., NC

Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 15, 2018

In fall 1950, even as Gen. Douglas MacArthur persuaded President Harry Truman that China would not enter Korea in support of Kim Il-sung's Communist forces, Chinese forces began crossing the border and encircled American troops at the Chosin Reservoir. New York Times best-selling author Sides's you-are-there account.

Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.