“Immensely readable.”-New York Times (New York Times) “A comprehensive and impressively written history of the Korean War.”-Washington Post (Washington Post) “The lesson of the Korean War as it has not yet been told by anyone . . . terse, machine-gun bursts of common sense.”-Life magazine (Life magazine) “This Kind of War has been studied by two generations of soldiers. Fehrenbach describes good decisions and bad ones with insight and expertise. But what he does best of all, and what is so memorable, is his eloquent, sometimes painful description of the GIs who must bear the burden of those decisions. That is the awful beauty of this book-it cuts straight to the heart of all the political and military errors, and reveals the brave souls who have to bleed and die for mistakes made. A timely reissue of a military classic.”-Gen. Colin L. Powell (Gen. Colin L. Powell)

Foreword vii Gordon Sullivan Preface ix Acknowledgments xii Maps xiii PART I: BEGINNING Seoul Saturday Night 3 (7) The Crime of Marquis Ito 10 (8) To Make a War 18 (16) The Plan of General Chae 34 (8) Disaster 42 (8) The U.N. Cloak 50 (15) PART II: BATTLE Task Force Smith 65 (7) The Late Company A 72 (13) Taejon 85 (16) Retreating 101 (7) Perimeter 108 (11) Fire Brigade 119 (16) Death on the Naktong 135 (13) The Turn of the Tide 148 (12) Seoul Recaptured 160 (9) Revenge 169 (11) The Taste of Triump 180 (10) In the Never-Never Land 190 (12) Kunu-ri 202 (14) Into the Valley of Death 216 (8) Terror by Night 224 (13) Changjin Reservoir 237 (14) Chipyong-ni 251 (16) Vae, Caesar 267 (22) Proud Legions 289 (15) Gloster Hill 304 (11) Death Valley 315 (13) May Massacre 328 (9) PART III: BLUNDERING Truce Talks 337 (7) Bloody Ridge 344 (12) Heartbreak Ridge 356 (8) Stalemate 364 (9) Behind the Wire 373 (12) Frustration 385 (11) Koje-do 396 (9) Twenty Rolls of Toilet Paper, One Quart 405 (8) Mercurochrome Summer, Winter, Spring, and Fall 413 (12) The Last Spring 425 (12) Cease-fire 437 (15) Lessons 452 (5) Chronology 457 (4) Glossary of Principal Weapons 461 (6) Index 467