Roy Appleman's Korean War

[MPage]

I wanted to suggest Roy Appleman's series on the Korean War, if anyone is interested in studying that conflict. Appleman retired as a Lt Col. and was a working historian during the Korean War, traveling the country interviewing participants from PFC to Lt General.

 

As army historian he created an epic work South to the Naktong, North to the Yalu which is a huge book around four inches thick. It's the offical history of about the first four or five months of the war.

 

After that, in retirement he wrote East of Chosin, about the little known odyssey of RCT 31 on the east side of the Chosin Reservoir. He originally had planned upon just a chapter or two on that subject in a forthcoming book about X Corps. However the more he learned, the more engrossed he became, and ultimately produced East of Chosin as a separate book.

 

His next two works came out one after the other: both take place during the same time--one is about 8th Army (Disaster in Korea) and the other covers X Corps in northeast Korea (Escaping the Trap). They end sometime in early 1951.

 

His last book, also written as a private citizen, is Ridgway Duels for Korea, which picks up the story where the last two books end and covers the Generals able leadership of 8th Army and later the US Army in Korea.

 

All the books are about the army's experience although Escaping the Trap outlines much of the Marines' contribution at Chosin. Escaping the Trap also includes East of Chosin in a condensed form.

 

Appleman writes well and the books are an easy read; I believe he was educated at Yale. All the books follow battles at the foxhole level as well as the wider overview, without confusing the reader. He also identifies most Medal of Honor recipients' deeds and those of many DSC recipients, without devolving into trivia.

 

Appleman's books only cover the war through 1951.