The Scariest Place in the World: A Marine Returns to North Korea (Thorndike Press Large Print American History Series) [Hardcover]

James Brady (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: NY (1980)
• ASIN: B000MU86MM
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)

More About the Author

The late JAMES BRADY commanded a Marine rifle platoon during the Korean War and was awarded a Bronze Star for valor. For more than two decades, he wrote the "In Step With" column for Parade. He also wrote a column for Forbes.com. He authored eighteen books, among them several on the Marines, including the nonfiction Why Marines Fight and the New York Times bestselling novel The Marines of Autumn.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Grumpy Old Men Visit the DMZ, May 3, 2005

By 

W. B Crews (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Scariest Place in the World: A Marine Returns to North Korea (Hardcover)

An extremely well-written book. However, if Seinfeld was a show "about nothing" then this book a book "about nothing."

The plot: A reluctant James Brady succumbs to the blandishments of his employer, Parade Magazine, to revisit the scene of his combat tour in the Korean War and the subject of his book, The Coldest War, and write about the experience. On this journey he is accompanied by another aging warrior, Eddie Adams, the Pulitzer Prize winning photographer (General Loan capping a captured VC in Saigon during Tet 1968). Brady hopes, apparently, to regain some of his lost youth in the experience.

Brady and Adams make the trip but Brady is disappointed at every turn. He tries repeatedly to get American officers to refer to the troops in 2ID as a "tripwire" and is miffed when they won't. The troops on the DMZ have hot food and hot showers. They live in concrete bunkers with TV and internet access. And so on and so on. The trenches and barbed wire are gone. His ROK Army host (doesn't speak English which is a disqualifier from command, apparently) tries to be polite to the traveling geezers and receives scorn for his efforts. Nothing is ever quite as hard as it was back in '52.

Brady comes across as an embittered cynic who can't resist taking gratuitous swipes at the US Army, the ROK Army, and strangely the British Army's Gloucestershire Regiment for reasons that are never really clear other than his need to be an embittered cynic.

Fortunately I checked this book out of the library so I was only out of my time.

18 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Talk about misleading titles!!, April 9, 2005

By 

Maskirovka (Alexandria, VA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Scariest Place in the World: A Marine Returns to North Korea (Hardcover)

I am fascinated by North Korea, so when I first spotted this on amazon.com a couple of months ago, I said to myself, "Sounds like a Korean War vet went to North Korea on a tour and got to see some interesting things or maybe it's book about the DMZ. God knows that would be interesting!!"

Was I ever wrong. I think a much better title would be, "A Korean War veteran remembers being in Korea and whole bunch of other things not terribly interesting to anyone other than fellow veterans and a few historians."

I don't like being harsh, but most of this book consists of the author's memories of the 1950s and a good deal doesn't even take place in Korea. As far as the "North Korea" part goes, I didn't see any references about him actually going into the DPRK. Going to North Korea is surprisingly not all that hard, since you can apparently step across the line in Panmunjon without getting your head blown off by the KPA guards there.

In short, I'd avoid this book if you're looking for any insights about North Korea or even what it's like to serve in the Republic of Korea today. I can only hope that someone out there is writing a book about the DMZ.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A warm look back at a cold and scary place, March 16, 2006

By 

Jack Roberts (Tuscaloosa, Alabama USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Scariest Place in the World: A Marine Returns to North Korea (Hardcover)

Man... Talk about crabby... Everyone else who's reviewed this book so far here don't seem to be impressed. But I always enjoy James Brady's writing and this book was no exception. It's a memoir, of course. The underlying theme of the book is the march of time and how one looks back at -- or in this case, returns to -- a specific geographic place where youthful impressions were made, ideals died or changed... Where a young, unsure Marine officer discovered he did, in fact, have what it took to lead Marines in combat.

Those looking for edge-of-your seat combat with Marines gunning down on-rushing human waves of Chinese infantry will be disappointed. This book is more like a love letter to youth and to the Marine Corps. And taken in that context, it's a fine book and a satisfying read.