Hardback : $170.00
This classic history of the Korean War-from its origins through the armistice-is now available in a paperback edition including a substantive introduction that considers the heightened danger of a new Northeast Asian war as Trump and Kim Jong-un escalate their rhetoric. Wada Haruki, one of the world's leading scholars of the war, draws on archival and other primary sources in Russia, China, the United States, South Korea, Taiwan, and Japan to provide the first full understanding of the Korean War as an international conflict from the perspective of all the actors involved.
Wada traces the North Korean invasion of South Korea in riveting detail, providing new insights into the behavior of Kim Il Sung and Syngman Rhee. He also provides new insights into the behavior of Communist leaders in Korea, China, Russia, Eastern Europe, and their rivals in other nations. He traces the course of the war from its origins in the North and South Korean leaders' failed attempts to unify their country by force, ultimately escalating into a Sino-American war on the Korean Peninsula.
Although sixty-five years have passed since the armistice, the Korean conflict has never really ended. Tensions remain high on the peninsula as Washington and Pyongyang, as well as Seoul and Pyongyang, continue to face off. It is even more timely now to address the origins of the Korean War, the nature of the confrontation, and the ways in which it affects the geopolitical landscape of Northeast Asia and the Pacific region. With his unmatched ability to draw on sources from every country involved, Wada paints a rich and full portrait of a conflict that continues to generate controversy.
This classic history of the Korean War-from its origins through the armistice-is now available in a paperback edition including a substantive introduction that considers the heightened danger of a new Northeast Asian war as Trump and Kim Jong-un escalate their rhetoric. Wada Haruki, one of the world's leading scholars of the war, draws on archival and other primary sources in Russia, China, the United States, South Korea, Taiwan, and Japan to provide the first full understanding of the Korean War as an international conflict from the perspective of all the actors involved.
Wada traces the North Korean invasion of South Korea in riveting detail, providing new insights into the behavior of Kim Il Sung and Syngman Rhee. He also provides new insights into the behavior of Communist leaders in Korea, China, Russia, Eastern Europe, and their rivals in other nations. He traces the course of the war from its origins in the North and South Korean leaders' failed attempts to unify their country by force, ultimately escalating into a Sino-American war on the Korean Peninsula.
Although sixty-five years have passed since the armistice, the Korean conflict has never really ended. Tensions remain high on the peninsula as Washington and Pyongyang, as well as Seoul and Pyongyang, continue to face off. It is even more timely now to address the origins of the Korean War, the nature of the confrontation, and the ways in which it affects the geopolitical landscape of Northeast Asia and the Pacific region. With his unmatched ability to draw on sources from every country involved, Wada paints a rich and full portrait of a conflict that continues to generate controversy.
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
Romanization and Expression of Names
Preface to the Updated Edition: The Korean War and the Danger of a
New Northeast Asia War
Preface: The Korean War: Its Origins and Legacy
Introduction: The Korean War: Its Origins and Legacy
Chapter 1: Two States and Unification by Force
Chapter 2: North Korea Goes to War
Chapter 3: Attack
Chapter 4: US-ROK Forces Reach the Yalu and China Enters the
War
Chapter 5: Fighting while Negotiating
Chapter 6: The Third Year
Chapter 7: The Armistice
Chapter 8: Postwar Northeast Asia
Notes
Bibliography
Index
About the Author
Wada Haruki is emeritus professor and former director of the Institute of Social Science, University of Tokyo.
Western historians often view the Korean War through the prism of
the Cold War, which can reduce Koreans, north and south, into
players and pawns on a much larger chessboard. This excellent work
by a Japanese historian reminds readers that it was Koreans who
bore the brunt of the suffering, fighting, and dying. In its
origins and in the initial phase of the Korean conflict, it was a
civil war, triggered by the ambitions of two contemptible
'leaders.' In the North, Kim Il Sung had already begun imposing a
brutal, totalitarian regime. In the south, Syngman Rhee, proclaimed
by some Americans as a democratic champion, was a highly
authoritarian and inflexible politician. Both men were determined
to unite their nation by military force. Following the North Korean
invasion and the American intervention, the war was
internationalized, and [Wada] eloquently recounts the roles played
by political and military leaders on both sides. His description of
the peace negotiations is particularly riveting as American
negotiators were as frustrated by their South Korean allies as they
were by their opponents. This fine rendering of the conflict
provides an important perspective on an unresolved war.
*Booklist, Starred Review*
Haruki has published works on Russian history as well as North
Korea, thus bringing strong credentials to this well-researched,
dispassionate book. For years, left-wing historians have viewed the
Korean Conflict as a civil war that the US should have avoided.
Using recently released Russian documents, the author demonstrates
that the Korean Conflict was Stalin's war. This work is noteworthy
chiefly for the perspectives of the combatant leaders–Joseph
Stalin, Mao Zedong, Kim Il Sung, Harry Truman, and Syngman Rhee.
The emphasis thus is on the war's political and diplomatic history,
with just brief reference to the military. It is truly excellent in
showing the effects of the war, clearly demonstrating that the
chief beneficiaries were Japan and Taiwan; both reaped rewards
politically and economically at no cost to themselves. Extensive
documentation, a recent bibliography, a good index, and adequate
maps are strengths. . . .[T]his book belongs with other classic
works on the conflict, such as Max Hastings's The Korean War and
Bruce Cumings's The Korean War: A History (2010). Summing Up:
Essential. Upper-division undergraduates and above.
*CHOICE*
The best comprehensive history in any language on North Korea and
its wartime relations with China, the Soviet Union, and the United
States.
*Charles K. Armstrong, Columbia University*
Wada Haruki is perhaps the only scholar in the world today who is
capable of writing a book on the Korean War as extraordinary as
this one. Its strength is reflected not only in his extensive
multi-archival research—Chinese, Russian, American, Korean, and
Japanese—but also in his insightful perspectives on war and
scholarly debates. English-speaking readers will benefit from his
thoughtful and thorough analysis of the complicated origins,
tortuous processes, and profound legacies of the first major hot
war during the Cold War.
*Jian Chen, New York University/NYU-Shanghai*
Wada Haruki, the doyen of international history in Japan, presents
an engrossing new take on the Korean War, based on his reading of
Korean, Russian, and Chinese as well as U.S. and Japanese sources.
Wada's book is an outstanding addition to the literature on the war
and a useful corrective to the many accounts that focus primarily
on the American role.
*O. A. Westad, London School of Economics*
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