Battleground Korea by Charles Whiting
In 1950, Communist-backed North Korean forces invaded the US-protected South. Britain came into the war on the side of the US but, still suffering financial stricture after the demands of World War II, the British government sent poorly equipped brigades of troops to help the beleagured US forces. Anti-war dissent at home and threats to use the Atom bomb added to the danger of the situation, threatening World War III. US General MacArthur launched a surprise amphibious assault on Inchon behind North Korean lines, but victory was snatched from the combined US/British force by the entry of 600,000 Chinese troops into the war on the side of North Korea. The British and American soldiers were routed and in the battle of the Imjin River that ensued - the "Glorious Glosters" were butchered. The Korean war has been described as "the nastiest little war". Atrocities were committed on both sides, but for the next two years British and other Allied PoWs became the biggest pawns in the great peace talks. If they broke and confessed publicly that it had been an "Imperialist war", as their captors wanted them to, it would have been a great propaganda victory for the enemy. Thus the final round of the Korean War was for the hearts and minds of British prisoners. As a result of the sacrifice in blood of the ordinary British squaddie, the North did not achieve the victory it desired, the British won the day, and an all-out nuclear war was averted. This book aims to provide an account of the Korean War, in particular Britain's involvement, and the author's narrative is supported with graphic eyewitness accounts.
Whiting, Charles: - Born in the Bootham area of York, England, he was a pupil at the prestigious Nunthorpe Grammar School, leaving at the age of 16 to join the British Army by lying about his age. Keen to be in on the wartime action, Whiting was attached to the 52nd Reconnaissance Regiment and by the age of 18 saw duty as a sergeant in France, Holland, Belgium and Germany in the latter stages of World War II. While still a soldier, he observed conflicts between the highest-ranking British and American generals which he would write about extensively in later years. After the war, he stayed on in Germany completing his A-levels via correspondence course and teaching English before being enrolled at Leeds University reading History and German Language. As an undergraduate he was afforded opportunities for study at several European universities and, after gaining his degree, would go on to become an assistant professor of history. Elsewhere, Whiting held a variety of jobs which included working as a translator for a German chemical factory and spells as a publicist, a correspondent for The Times and feature writer for such diverse magazines as International Review of Linguistics, Soldier and Playboy. His first novel was written while still an undergraduate, was published in 1954 and by 1958 had been followed by three wartime thrillers. Between 1960 and 2007 Charles went on to write over 350 titles, including 70 non-fiction titles covering varied topics from the Nazi intelligence service to British Regiments during World War II. Charles Henry Whiting, author and military historian died on July 24 2007, leaving his wife and son.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780750920858 |
| ISBN 10 | 0750920858 |
| Title | Battleground Korea |
| Author | Charles Whiting |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | The History Press Ltd |
| Year published | 1999-11-18 |
| Number of pages | 192 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |