Formidable Enemies [Illustrated] [Hardcover]

Kevin Mahoney (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2001

Finally, an up-close look at our battlefield oponents of the Korean War, formidable enemies indeed.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Presidio Press; First edition (May 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0891417389
• ISBN-13: 978-0891417385
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,461,011 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A general view of North Koreans and Chinese, April 3, 2006

By 

Dimitrios (Greece) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Formidable Enemies (Hardcover)

The book is short and easy to read but lacks depth and numerical data. Mr Mahoney has tried to keep a balance between the North Koreans and the Chinese troops and has succeeded well but although he recounts many small actions and their tactical aspects he has no grasp of the statistics and the data of the Korean War and his story is weak regarding the strategic and operational level of the war. He has managed to prove that the communist soldiers were indeed formidable enemies (although most of them were illiterate) and fought with tenacity and cleverness, unlike the chaotic banzai charges of the Japanese troops in World War II. They accepted grevious losses to achieve their aims and finally forestalled the UN forces along a static front. And all of these while lacking armor, air power and modern weaponry. Two maps are included, one of the whole Korean theater of war and the other of the final frontline of 1953. At the end of the book there is a useful appendix with short battle histories of all the North Korean divisions and the Chinese armies that saw action in Korea. There is also a middle section of 36 black and white photographs.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good examination of tactics, organization, and more, January 21, 2004

By 

Stephen Sossaman (San Francisco CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Formidable Enemies (Hardcover)

This is a fascinating, well-written, well-organized, and apparently objective look at the two armies, covering offensive and defensive tactics, as well as matters of recruitment,psychology, training, medicine, etc. As the preface says, the book reveals how North Korean and Chinese soldiers lived and fought. Kevin Mahoney clearly has a great deal of respect for both armies and for their ways of coping with the war's exigencies. Presidio Press does not publish uninteresting books.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Authoritative and Handy Reference on the NKPA and CPV in the Korean War!, November 17, 2007

By 

Gilberto Villahermosa - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Formidable Enemies (Hardcover)

This book is an authoritative and handy reference on the soldiers of the North Korean People's Army and the Chinese People's Volunteers in the Korean War.

On June 25, 1950 135,000 men of the the North Korean People's Army and Border Constabulary invaded South Korea. Consisting of seven assault infantry divisions, an armor brigade of Soviet T-34 tanks, an independent infantry regiment, a motorcycle regiment, three reserve divisions, and five border constabulary brigades, the North Koreans quickly overran most of South Korea.

The North Korean invasion triggered American military support to the government of South Korea and by the end of September 1950, following the American landing at Inchon and the breakout of the Eighth Army at Pusan, what remained of the North Korean Army was in full retreat.

The American invasion of North Korea in turn triggered a Chinese military intervention on a huge scale. But just as they had underestimated the North Korean Army earlier in the war, the Americans also underestimated the soldiers of the Chinese Communist Forces. Surprised and badly beaten, it was the turn of the American and United Nations' forces in October to retreat. And so began the ebb and flow between U.S. and U.N forces on the one side and North Korean and Chinese forces on the other that lasted for another three years.

By the end of the war in July 1953 the North Korean Army had been totally rebuilt into a formidable fighting machine, numbering 260,000 men and women, by the Soviets and Chinese. And the Chinese had committed some 3 million soldiers to the war in North Korea, including twenty-five infantry armies, sixteen artillery divisions, ten armored divisions, twelve air force divisions (consisting of 672 pilots and more than 59,000 ground service personnel) and six security guard divisions.

Based on intelligence and after-action reports, Kevin Mahoney has compiled an insightful and much needed reference on the North Korean and Chinese soldier. By the end of the war, both had won the respect of their American Army and Marine counterparts.