Hanley is back with [a]...compelling and groundbreaking narrative history of the Korean War.

As Mr. Hanley’s narrative gathers force, he seeks to share out the blame equally between the two sides—or, as he terms them, 'the communist and capitalist powers'—for the war’s staggering record of suffering. Whether he makes his case persuasively is doubtful, but he does manage to show that all wars are hell, not least the forgotten ones.

The book is a fast and engrossing haunting read that thoroughly educates while pulling on the heart strings. It blends military campaigns with real politic, while never losing sight of the people in the context of the immorality and savagery of war..

It is by its nature incomplete and anecdotal. While it reveals a part of the war that is often left out of conventional histories, by being selective it can distort history.

In this sweeping and well-sourced history, Associated Press reporter Hanley...captures the devastating human toll of the Korean War.

A Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist forges a masterly new history of the Korean War.