On Desperate Ground: The Epic Story of Chosin Reservoir--the Greatest Battle of the Korean War

The author has done a tremendous job of telling the story of the Chosen Reservoir. He brought to life the many marines,telling their heroic stories.A truly enjoyable book about a war I knew very little about. Well researched!

A lot of heroes and great battlefield details. Individual personal stories, which demonstrates everyone has a beginning. The failure of American intelligence not to detect 300,000 Chinese, coming across the Korean border, was astonishing. General MacArthur was hubris, not a man of caution, and careless with his solders lives. President Truman could have done more on the principles, of diplomacy. A good book and a very easy read.

The story of General Oliver Smith's 1st Marines at Chosin Reservoir is too little known and unappreciated due to the stalemate that became the Korean War. Hampton Side's book "On Desperate Ground" should rectify that. As usual, Sides has told a non-fiction happening with the skill that enlivens the persons, places and events and turns the tale into a story.Sides gives a good overview that sets the stage of the battle including the 1st Marine's successful landing at Inchon and battle to clear Seoul. The success of Inchon fueled the megalomania of MacArthur (and spurred his sycophant General Edward Almond, Smith's Corps commander, into command decisions unrestrained by prudence or reality) - who almost alone was confident that the Inchon flank would be successful and avoid the disastrous repulse many in the American command feared. That hubris led MacArthur to initiate his dash to the Yalu River, with his forces widely dispersed and ignoring the potential for Chinese intervention even after Chinese troops had been engaged. (Sides also discusses Truman's and the Joint Chiefs' disastrous deferral to MacArthur's strategic judgement in demonstrating shortfalls of American higher authority).The 1st Marines were tasked with approaching the Yalu up a one-road mountainous path toward the Chosin Reservoir. Upon reaching that objective a massive Chinese army comprised of multiple divisions fell upon them. This set up the hellacious below-zero winter battle and "attack in the other direction" (to avoid the use of the hated "retreat" word) that General Smith brilliantly executed to save his command.Sides has interviewed and obtained interviews with many of the participants including some Chinese sources and a civilian who was both at Seoul and the staging city our forces ultimately evacuated from. This gives an immediacy to the battle and takes the reader onto the hilltops, medical tents, convoys, and perimeters that hosted American (and some British) soldiers in arctic conditions as they fought to maintain unit cohesion amid overwhelming numerical pressure from the Chinese. The author centers most of his story on the view from the front line. This is battle in all its cold, pain, misery, fear and confusion told by an expert. The grunts-eye view puts into perspective the issues General Smith was facing as he overcame numerous problems of supply, engineering and troop disposition. Smith's command was brilliant and he is an American general who deserves to be more well known - his defense at Chosin and successful retreat were every bit as brilliant if not more than McAuliffe's successful defense of Bastogne (though to be fair, different wars. Smith faced harsher weather and his troops scattered initially with some cut-off. McAuliffe faced a much more advanced and well-equipped enemy in the Germans as compared to the Chinese facing Smith, though McAuliffe enjoyed an intact perimeter as well as an advancing relief in the form of George S. Patton). Ultimately successful, the battle and retreat made thousands of American casualties due solely to the Corps and Theater Commanders wishful thinking and negligent troop disposition and management. The fact that it was not a surrender a la Corregidor is solely due to General Smith, his regimental commanders, junior officers and the grit and tenacity of his Marines. In my mind, this story further illustrates why the Marines are due the reputation that has made them thought of as one of the finest fighting entities ever assembled.Sides does what he's done well in "Ghost Soldiers," "Blood and Thunder," and "Kingdom of Ice," This author gives great history the voice it deserves to produce thrilling stories.

A couple of years ago, I read Sides's "Hellhound on His Tale," an account of the intersecting paths of James Earl Ray and Martin Luther King. It's one of the best books I've ever read. So, I was expecting good things from this book and I wasn't disappointed.I knew only the bare outlines of the story of the First Marine Division's ambush by Chinese Communist forces in area around the Chosin Reservoir in North Korea. Sides provides a gripping and detailed account of what was one of the more harrowing battles ever fought by U.S. forces. This is one of those books that propels you through it at a breakneck pace.So, I liked the book and learned a lot from it, but I have a few caveats. First, although I haven't read any of them, there have been multiple earlier accounts of this campaign, some written by participants. Whether anyone who has read one or more of those accounts will profit from reading Sides's book, I can't say. He doesn't make clear what new information he may be bringing to the story. He has interviewed some of the survivors, but I would guess that earlier authors did as well.I was on the fence between giving the book four stars or five. It probably merits four and a half. Although I think it's a great read, I also think that, like too many books these days, it needed one more draft.Like many authors writing the history of a single battle or segment of a campaign, Sides faced the question of how much of the story of the Korean War to tell. Overall he did a decent job, but there are some gaps. For instance, he sketches out what was happening on the western side of the Korean peninsula as UN forces swept all the way to the border with China at the Yalu River. We could really have used a map of that part of the campaign. (The only maps are in the books endpapers and the only detail given is for the area in and around the reservoir.) We're never told the fate of these forces. Presumably they were also attacked by Chinese troops and retreated south, but it would have been nice to at least have a couple of pages informing us of what happened.Similarly, early in the book he discusses McArthur and Truman during the period leading up to the Marines marching north and includes an account of their face-to-face meeting. But once the battle at the reservoir begins, they pretty much drop out of the story. In particular, I was wondering why no effort was made to land additional troops to break through to the Marines trapped around Chosin. Were there no other available troops in the theater? Was there insufficient time to bring them into the action? He should have provided some explanation, as well as an account of the options MacArthur and Truman considered.There are also some gaps in the details of the story. He discusses at length the fate of the Army Task Force Faith that is surrounded on the east side of the reservoir. But how they extricated themselves is not well explained. The trapped troops were told to abandon their vehicles and travel overland until they reached the frozen reservoir, and then proceed on to link up with the Marines at the southern end of the reservoir.Sides describes the Army troops as having devolving into an undisciplined mob as they scrambled to safety. That description made me wonder how 2,000 of the 3,000 men managed to escape. If the Chinese troops had them surrounded, couldn't they have killed or captured them before they made it overland to the reservoir? Particularly since, according to Sides, many of the soldiers had thrown away their rifles.Similarly, he leaves the impression that General Smith and the forces at Hagaru-ri were cut off from the Marines down the road at Koto-ri. Yet no real description is given of how Smith's forces end up making it to Koto-ri. I assume they fought their way out, but some description would have been nice.The book ends with a brief account of the remainder of the Korean War. Given we had been given descriptions of the thinking of MacArthur and Truman about invading North Korea, I think Sides should have provided some account of why they (or maybe just the Truman Administration) decided after the X Corps had successfully retreated to the coast, not to resume an offensive into North Korean territory the following spring.Overall, then, an excellent book, particularly if you have not read one of the other accounts of this campaign, but it has its flaws.

I enjoy the different perspectives of authors writing about military leaders. Some are fans while others critics of the same person. This one was not a MacArthur fan. The background is needed but slow. As the battles begin, the book is hard to put down. The details place you in the battle and had me questioning if I would have the bravery and courage these soldiers displayed. Great read overall.

O livro tem um odor meio forte e desagradável, mas tudo bem, acho que com um tempo de exposição ao ar livre deve diminuir o cheiro. O material é bom e estou ansiosa para lê-lo, parece ser incrível.

I wouldn’t normally take the time to write reviews for books, but I felt I had to for this one. I like history books in general, but I don’t think I’ve ever encountered one as easy to read as this. It starts off by setting the scene about the Korean War from a broad perspective but then focuses in detail on the Choisin Reservoir. It interweaves personal stories, battle details and the high level political impacts expertly, and I genuinely couldn’t put it down. The pages just flew by. Read this if you have an interest in military history, the Korean War, or just want a really engaging non fiction book to get involved in. I learned a lot and really enjoyed the read.

Who’s remember the Korea war’s, have you ever heard of Marines action other than Iwo Jima, Peleliu, Okinawa, in tropical islands, where the heat is a fierce enemy along the japs. Here the more lethal enemy is the cold, plus a myriad of Chinese’s in tennis shoes, they are, invisible during the day and everywhere when the night fall. This is the mesmerizing story of the first Marine Division, trapped in the mountain of Chosin reservoir in the middle of North Korea. The bridge of the only supply road blown by the Chinese, stop all reinforcement, supply and medical evacuation. Not only they will have to survive but find a way to restore the way back to the sea. A precisely documented book on a long-forgotten page of history.

Excellent read. A page turner. I hadn't read much about the Korean War and only knew about it on a general level. This book lays out what a grueling, hard fought war it was. The conditions were terrible. I didn't realize how close we came to World War 3 when the Chinese government sent their troops in to attack the UN forces. It was interesting to read that the Chinese army was training to invade Taiwan when the decision was made to attack the UN troops in Korea instead.If you want to learn more about this "Forgotten war" then this is a book you should get.

Récit historique sur la bataille de Chosin ,ou quand Les US Marines transformes une retraite dans des conditions dantesque en Victoire