Day: April 24, 2009

The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War by David Halberstam might also have been subtitled “the forgotten war.” Vietnam dominates modern political and military history in this country. Our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan elicit comparisons to Vietnam time and again. But Korea provided an earlier example of what happens when political and military goals are not aligned and coordinated. For all the discussion about troop withdrawals from our current engagements, let’s not forget the thousands of American troops still in Korea today, 50 years after our entry into the peninsula.

Halberstam’s book focuses on the follies of MacArthur, and the political battles fought between the general and the political leaders from President Truman on down. The military battles command attention, and a few are fully documented, to chilling (literally) effect. But it’s the political back-and-forth domestically which drives us into war, and then — sadly — makes ending the fighting so damn hard.

I learned a lot from this history, even when I wondered how much information came from secondary sources rather than primary sources. Enjoy a few pages with Google Books. The numerous maps helped, too.

Katherine Neville wrote The Eight more than 20 years ago. Thanks to The Da Vinci Code, this form of modern-day treasure hunt for mythical historical artifacts found a new audience (its first?). Neville’s book was reprinted and can be easily found in bookstores.

I picked it up on the way to Hawaii in February, and read The Eight on the plane and at the beach. And I left it in the rental house. (My apologies to the next poor soul drawn in by the jacket.) Generally, schlock. The historical vignettes brim on enjoyable at times, but the modern (1970s) characters don’t even approach interesting.

Learn from my mistake and avoid the hype here.