From the Danube to the Yalu (Military Classics Series) [Hardcover]

Mark Clark (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Tab Books; New edition edition (November 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0830640010
• ISBN-13: 978-0830640010
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,032,726 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The Korea Tragedy, December 14, 2010

By 

V-ROD "Bookworm" (Phoenix, AZ) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: From the Danube to the Yalu (Military Classics Series) (Hardcover)

This book starts off with a bang as Gen. Clark strongly denounces communism. He comes to the realization that communists can not be reasoned with, and that force, or the threat of the use of force, is the only way to deal with them. He also is dismayed when he comes to the realization that the Truman and Eisenhower administration do not have a plan for victory, but only a prolonged stalemate. In the book he states, "It was beyond my comprehension that we would countenance a situation in which Chinese soldiers killed American youths in organized, formal warfare and yet we would fail to use all the power at our command to protect those Americans." When he realizes we are not there to win, Gen. Clark does everything in his power to sign an armistice and safeguard the soldiers under his command.

This is a good book, but I only gave it 3 stars because there are numerous pages spent on repatriation of prisoners. This happened under his command, but it was not interesting to read.

Gen. MacArthur was right when he said there is no substitute for victory. Gen. Clark also sums it up best when he states, "The Armistice was obtained and I signed it....But I had grave misgivings that some day my countrymen would be forced to pay a far higher price in blood than it would have cost if the decision had been made to defeat the communists in Korea." I believe that day is fast approaching when what we thought was a gentle dragon in communist China, will actually be a belligerent dragon intent on our destruction.

5 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars General Mark Wayne Clark, June 8, 1999

By 

[e-mail] Jim Campbell (Maui, Hawaiian Islands, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: From the Danube to the Yalu (Military Classics Series) (Hardcover)

This book should be listed more correctly under Mark Clark, Mark Wayne Clark, General Mark Clark or General Mark Wayne Clark. NOT Mark General Clark. In the forties and early fifties, Mark Clark was as famous as General as H. Norman Schwartzkof. Mark Clark was the best friend of Ike and was one of the great egos like Marine Generals Holland Smith and AA Vandergrift who are forgotten today because no movie like Patton or McArthur or Chesty were made for them. Clark was in charge of Africa and Italy and became the Governor General of Austria during the occupation. Although Ridgway replaced McArthur in Korea, it was the more senior Clark who was called on for the armistice. He never received a fifth star. Most probably because he was blamed for the heavy casualties he took at Anzio. I am too young to know. This is an excellent book. He also wrote "Calculated Risk." He was at Ike's bedside during the last days talking of the old days at West Point. He died in 1984 a couple miles from my home in Northwestern Michigan.

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Origins of the Cold War Revisited, June 14, 2004

By 

Harold Y. Grooms (Prattville, AL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: From the Danube to the Yalu (Military Classics Series) (Hardcover)

In this first person account of the final stages of the Korean War, General Mark W. Clark, Commander of United Nations Forces in Korea, narrates the difficulty of negotiating with the Communists at Panmunjom while simultaneously dealing with Washington and South Korean President Syngman Rhee. In doing so, he paints a prophetic picture of cold war political relations that would last for the next forty years.

Clark came to Korea after a successful campaign in Italy in World War II. He soon found Korea was a different story. The enemy was granted sanctuaries from which he could strike without fear of retaliation due to political restrictions, violating every principle of war. Future wars waged under the same restrictions would produce similarly results. Military and diplomatic planners for Vietnam would have profited by reading this work.

Washington wanted the war ended as soon as possible. South Korean President Syngman Rhee's answer to an armistice that would leave his country divided was, "Never!!" Clark agreed with Rhee but knew America had selected a no win strategy. An armistice that preserved half of Korea was the best he could do. Today, Korea remains a divided country with armed forces facing each other over battle lines drawn in 1953. Hopefully, Rhee's dream of a free, united Korea will eventually be realized to the benefit of people North and South of the 38th Parallel.

This short book, written only a few months after the armistice was signed, showed exactly how the Communists would conduct themselves in the future. William Westmoreland, Creighton Abrams and Henry Kissinger would be subjected to the same tactics in the field and at the negotiating table later. We owe much to men such as Clark who fought an inhuman foe on the battlefield and at the peace table to preserve freedom for as many as possible.

Today, it is common practice to denounce the "cold war" mentality that, some say, led us into Vietnam. This book effectively shows that cold war fears had a very real basis in fact. Young readers who have not and will not grow up under the threat of a nuclear holocaust and are looking for an answer to why we spent billions to defend against the reds should read this work. The threat was both significant and real. This and other incidents proved it.