The Korean War 1950-53 (Men-at-Arms) [Paperback]

Nigel Thomas (Author), Mike Chappell (Illustrator)

Book Description

Series: Men-at-Arms | Publication Date: March 27, 1986

At 4am on Sunday 25 June 1950 powerful North Korean forces invaded South Korea, advancing down the Uijongbu Corridor towards the Southern Capital of Seoul. South Korean troops resisted bravely, but were crushed by overwhelming Northern superiority. Later that day the United Nations Security Council condemned the aggression, and on 7 July appointed US General of the Army Douglas MacArthur to command UN forces which would be sent to save South Korea. Nigel Thomas and Peter Abbott explore the history of this conflict, which pitted UN forces against the People's Republic of China in a resulting in hundreds of thousands of casualties.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Packed with specially commissioned artwork, maps and diagrams, the Men-at-Arms series is an unrivalled illustrated reference on the history, organisation, uniforms and equipment of the world's military forces, past and present.

About the Author

DR NIGEL THOMAS is an accomplished linguist and military historian and is currently a Senior Lecturer in charge of the Business Language Unit at the University of Northumbria, Newcastle. His interests are 20th century military and civil uniformed organisations. He was recently awarded a PhD on the Eastern Enlargement of NATO. PETER ABBOTT is a retired university lecturer with a lifelong interest in both military and African history. His publications include a number of titles for Osprey, two of them being Men-at-Arms 183: Modern African Wars (1) Rhodesia 1965-80 and Men-at-Arms 202: Modern African Wars (2) Angola and Mozambique 1961-74.

Product Details

• Paperback: 48 pages
• Publisher: Osprey Publishing (March 27, 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0850456851
• ISBN-13: 978-0850456851
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 0.2 x 9.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #998,414 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good coverage of the subject, January 19, 2005

By 

Kenneth P. Katz - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Korean War 1950-53 (Men-at-Arms) (Paperback)

This book provides exactly what a frequent reader of the Osprey Men-at-Arms series would expect to see in a book about the Korean War. Within the tight constraints of the format, the various ground combatants and the ground war are described nicely. Air and naval aspects of the war are not covered in the book.

My only complaint with the book is that the illustrator does a nice job with uniforms and equipment but is less capable with the human form and faces. It's not a major issue, but that is the sort of thing that separates 4 star ratings from 5 star ratings.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Useful Briefing for the Curious, December 29, 2001

By 

El Cutachero (MD USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Korean War 1950-53 (Men-at-Arms) (Paperback)

There has been a lot of hoopla in recent years about the "Forgotten War" referring to the Korean War. This war was the first war fought by the forces of the West against the surrogate forces of the Red East. After a year of back and forth open mechanized warfare it settled down into a heavily fortified trench war similar to the Western Front of WW I.
It is also vilified and thought of as the first war the U.S. lost and there was a lot of political mud slinging at home about the causes and conduct of the war. But cool heads prevailed and it did not turn out to be act one of WW III. Everyone involved finally signed an armistice which continues to this day and though there have been border raids and incidents, general war has been avoided. While the south has prospered as part of the western world economic system the north still hunkers down menacingly behind its borders.
When I served it was just two plus years after the armistice and the Army was full of veterans of both WW II and Korea. The experience was remembered and contributed to some of the missteps later in Vietnam.