British Historian Max Hasting's gives the "forgotten war" the kind of good overall one volume treatment that it deserves. For some reason, Korea has just never registered with Americans the way World War Two or Vietnam has. But the stakes were high as America rushed its untrained Pacific army from Japan to the Korean peninsula in a desperate attempt to forestall a communist takeover of the South in 1950. The heroism of those first soldiers cannot be understated. Hastings captures the whole saga of the war as a horrible tragedy and as the first test of the West's determination to literally fight the spread of communism. Ultimately, as Hastings points out, the sacrifice of the allied troops was not in vain. That democracy exists today in South Korea is a testement to those who fought and died to preserve the country's freedom.

THE KOREAN WAR is the kind of introduction one wants. It recounts the history, but it also incites. The author, although supporting the aims of this first of "limited" wars, also never fails to give his own opinion about the US Armed Forces' conduct in the war. The account has several strong points.

First, he uses interviews and personal memoirs, to make the account personable.

Second, his narrative is fluid and exciting, even when he leaps between battlefield and briefing rooms.

Third, he includes an excellent account of the post-WWII situation in Korea and Japan.

Fourth, his discussion of MacArthur does not stoop to iconography.

Hastings also refers to incidents and policies repeated in Vietnam which help to put the "forgotten war" in its proper context. He does not hesitate to criticize actions, such as the incidents on Goje Island, and is very fair in his portraits of commanders.

This book is both a good introduction for students of Korean history and of military history.

Hastings stands out among the few Korean War authors as an historian with panache and a compelling style. His book tends to focus heavily on the British troops, but he still delivers an exciting overview of the war with surprising gems of information that other, more exhaustive texts left out. It is this human element - as well as a thrilling tone and delivery - that makes Hastings' book more than another history text. It delivers all the energy and immediacy of real men and women who endured this conflict while honoring the broader picture with relevant and detailed material. Rely on Hastings for a broad overview told in a thrilling style with that all-important human element. David R. Bannon, Ph.D.; author "Race Against Evil."