First of all, I will review the edition. Like any Penguin Classic it is sturdy and holds up well, despite being a paperback. My first order came with a badly bent cover but Amazon replaced it free of charge.
Mr. Russ's story reads like an epic, except an epic where every occurrence is hard historical fact. Most non-fiction books are an incredibly difficult read, listing endless troop numbers and regiment labels until the most incredible events of human history are mind-numbingly dull. Mr. Russ manages to avoid most of this by telling the story through the eyes of the men who lived it. After first explaining the battle officially, he switches to an interview of a soldier describing what his experience was in the line of duty. It is one thing to read that several thousand Chinese soldiers attacked the Marine entrenchments, it is quite another to read a Marine tell his harrowing experience of having a seemingly endless enemy charge at him in the middle of the night.
I was not very familiar with the Korean War before reading this book, and it does not cover the entire war either. However, it does provide enough information to understand the larger situation, so you may realize how hopeless the Chosin campaign seemed to the world at the time. It is definitely an excellent source about the campaign, and the author sources several more academic histories if you are interested in learning more. My only complaint was that Mr. Russ had a very obvious bias against the US Army. Although their performance was poor, and the Marines despised them, there are several times throughout the book when you may notice a very strong dislike from the author. That being said, these moments are few, and overall I consider this to be an excellent book both for its storytelling and its history.
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