Synopsis
The fiftieth anniversary of the Korean War makes this an appropriate time to revisit This Kind of War, the monumental study of the conflict that began in June 1950. Successive generations of U.S. military officers have considered this book an indispensable part of their education.T. R. Fehrenbach's narrative brings to life the harrowing and bloody battles that were fought up and down the Korean Peninsula. Partly drawn from official records, operations journals, and histories, it is based largely on the compelling personal narratives of the small-unit commanders and their troops. Unlike any other work on the Korean War, it provides a clear panoramic view, sharp insight into the successes and failures of U.S. forces, and a riveting account of fierce clashes between U.N. troops and the North Korean and Chinese communist invaders.The lessons that Colonel Fehrenbach identifies still resonate. Severe peacetime budget cuts after World War II left the U.S. military a shadow of its former self. The terrible lesson of Korea was that to send into action troops trained for nothing but "serving a hitch" in some quiet billet was an almost criminal act. Throwing these ill-trained and poorly equipped troops into the heat of battle resulted in the war's early routs. The United States was simply unprepared for war. As we enter a new century with Americans and North Koreans continuing to face each other across the 38th parallel, we would do well to remember the price we paid during the Korean War.
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Reviews
"The author has chosen to alternate the broad view of events on the Korean and international scene with narratives of the contemporaneous experiences of individual soldiers at the front and in rear echelons," said LJ's reviewer (LJ 1/15/63). Fehrenbach's assessment is frank and often unflattering to America's abilities and the motivation of the common soldier.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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This Kind of War
Seller: Goodwill, Brooklyn Park, MN, U.S.A.
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Condition: good. Cover does not match photos; some content may vary from version shown. Seller Inventory # MINV.0028811135.G
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This Kind of War : The Classic Korean War History
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Potomac Books, Incorporated, 1995
ISBN 10: 0028811135
ISBN 13: 9780028811130
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Seller: Better World Books, Mishawaka, IN, U.S.A.
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Condition: Good. Pages intact with minimal writing/highlighting. The binding may be loose and creased. Dust jackets/supplements are not included. Stock photo provided. Product includes identifying sticker. Better World Books: Buy Books. Do Good. Seller Inventory # 4025050-6
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THIS KIND OF WAR (H)
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Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority! Seller Inventory # S_469496915
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This Kind of War : The Classic Korean War History
Seller: Alhambra Books, Edmonton, AB, Canada
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Hardcover. Condition: Good +. Dust Jacket Condition: Good +. 483 pp, index. Former owner's endorsement of this book on front endpaper. Spine slant. dj has light rubbing and edgewear. Seller Inventory # 050355
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This Kind of War
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This Kind of War: The Classic Korean War History
Published by
Brassey's, USA, 1994
ISBN 10: 0028811135
ISBN 13: 9780028811130
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Seller: Dandy Lion Editions, Beare Green, Dorking, United Kingdom
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Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. First Edition Thus. 1st Brassey's edition 1994. Firmly bound & carefully read. Both book & jacket are in VG clean condition. No inscription or ownership markings. No tears or loss but some of the spine lettering is faded but still legible. Seller Inventory # 035602
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This Kind of War: the Classic Korean War History
Seller: BOOKBARROW (PBFA member), Cambridge, United Kingdom
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Condition: Near Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. First Thus. Titles, contents list & foreword to front. "This Kind of War" by T. R. Fehrenbach is a classic, hard-hitting Korean War history that offers both a panoramic overview and a "you were there" account, focusing on the personal narratives of small-unit commanders and troops. The book is organized chronologically into three parts with 40 digestible chapters. The narrative follows the North Korean invasion in June 1950 and the entry of United Nations forces led by the United States soon thereafter. Although This Kind of War starts with a quotation from Sun Tzu, Fehrenbach adopts a Clausewitzian approach. He understands the Korean conflict not as a test of power but of wills, in particular, of American will. The Communists, he writes, doubted that the United States âhad the will to react quickly and practically and without panic in a new situation.â They were wrong, but it cost ca. 37,000 American lives to prove it. Size: 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. xi + 483. Dust Jacket is fully intact, no tears or chips, but carries signs of light wear to top and bottom edges, corners etc. Dust Jacket un-clipped. Red titles spine. Includes chronology, glossary of weapons & index. Quantity Available: 1. Shipped Weight: Under 1 kilo. Category: Military & Warfare; Military History; Korean War; War History; Korea; 1950s; History. ISBN: 0028811135. ISBN/EAN: 9780028811130. Inventory No: 5257. Hardcover (Original Grey Cloth). Seller Inventory # 5257
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THIS KIND of WAR A Study in Unpreparedness
Published by
The MacMillan Company, 1963 Edition, 1963
ISBN 10: 0028811135
ISBN 13: 9780028811130
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Seller: KULTURAs books, Los Angeles, CA, U.S.A.
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Hardcover. Condition: As New. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good+. First Edition; Second Printing. Hardcover in dust jacket. Black cloth spine on red cloth boards, pristine. Protected, price clipped, dustjacket sharp and bright, with shelf wear to edges. Book firm in binding, 689 pages include Index, b&w photographs and illustrations. B&W photo illustrated endpapers, clean and bright. Free of any markings, not ex-library. ; Large 8vo 9" - 10" tall. Seller Inventory # 103563
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This Kind of War; A Study in Unpreparedness
Published by
The Macmillan Company, New York, 1963
ISBN 10: 0028811135
ISBN 13: 9780028811130
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Hardcover
First Edition
Seller: Ground Zero Books, Ltd., Silver Spring, MD, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Hardcover. Condition: Fair. First Printing [Stated]. xii, 688, [4] pages. Illustrated endpapers. Maps. Chronology. Glossary of Principal Weapons. Key to Map Symbols. Index. Front board weak and restrengthened with glue. Spine frayed at top and bottom. Some cover soiling. Format is approximately 6.5 inches by 9.5 inches. Theodore Reed "T. R." Fehrenbach, Jr. (January 12, 1925 - December 1, 2013) was an American historian, columnist, and the former head of the Texas Historical Commission (1987-1991). He graduated from Princeton University in 1947 and wrote more than twenty books, including the bestseller Lone Star: A History of Texas and Texans and This Kind of War, about the Korean War. Senator John McCain called this book "perhaps the best book ever written on the Korean War". Secretary of Defense James Mattis said "There's a reason I recommended T. R. Fehrenbach's book.that we all pull it out and read it one more time." For almost 30 years, he wrote a weekly column on Sundays for the San Antonio Express-News. "This Kind of War has been studied by generations of soldiers. Fehrenbach describes good decisions and bad ones with insight and expertise. But what he does best of all is his eloquent, sometimes painful description of the GIs who must bear the burden of those decisions. This book has a challenging theme, that a great power must maintain a highly professional army organized along lines different from the society it is set up to protect. This work is written from the perspective of those who fought it. Drawn from official records, operations journals and histories, this book is also largely based on the personal narratives of the small-unit commanders and their troops. The book provides both an overview of the war, and a "you were there" account of American soldiers in fierce battle against the North Korean and Chinese communist invaders. As Americans and North Koreans continue to face each other across the 38th Parallel, This Kind of War commemorates the past and offers vital lessons for the future. Derived from a review by Barry Strauss of the Hoover Institution found on the internet: A journalist rather than an academic, Fehrenbach (1925-2013) wrote larger-than-life history of a heroic bent. This Kind of War originally appeared in 1963 with the subtitle of A Study in Unpreparedness. Although This Kind of War starts with a quotation from Sun Tzu, Fehrenbach adopts a Clausewitzian approach. He understands the Korean conflict not as a test of power but of wills, in particular, of American will. The Communists, he writes, doubted that the United States "had the will to react quickly and practically and without panic in a new situation." They were wrong, but it cost about 37,000 American lives to prove it. Fehrenbach's framework is tragic. The United States was unprepared to fight a limited war halfway around the world and when it intervened it overreached before finally winning partial victory and painful wisdom. If there is almost poetry in the author's understanding of Americans' frustration over Korea there is also prophecy in his statement (in 1963) that they would face other frustrating conflicts all over the globe. Although a history, This Kind of War has the vividness of a memoir. It is based largely on personal narratives of small-unit commanders. "This is very much a platoon leader's book," the author writes. He himself commanded U.S. army units in Korea at company and battalion as well at the platoon level. Fehrenbach's prose style takes no prisoners. Of Korea's war-torn history he says, "the people of the Hermit Kingdom wished to be left in peace. The wish is hopeless, for Korea is a buffer state." (p. 10) Of the North Korean People's Army, he writes, "Hesitancy . was cured neatly, efficiently, and permanently by the application of a pistol to the back of the head." (p. 5) He describes MacArthur's ill-fated invasion of North Korea thus: Because Washington permitted soldiers to make and to act on decisions that were beyond the purview of the military, because it forced them to bring purely military thinking into maters that remained in essence political-in short, because Washington still sometimes acted as if there could be a separation between war and politics, the United States, intoxicated with the heady taste of triumph, was heading for disaster. Unfortunately, Washington still hasn't learned the lesson. Seller Inventory # 76602
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This Kind of War - The Classic Korean War History
Seller: Barclay Books, York, WA, Australia
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Hardback. 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 commanders and their troops. Unlike any other work on the Korean War, it provides both a clear panoramic overview and a sharply drawn "you were there" account of American troops in fierce combat against the North Korean and Chinese communist invaders. As Americans and North Koreans continue to face each other across the 38th Parallel, This Kind of War commemorates the past and offers vital lessons for the future. 1994. Reprint. A near fine copy only marked by a small gift inscription on the front free endpaper. The d/w is unclipped and also near fine and now in a protective cover. Scans available if required. Seller Inventory # 19539230
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