Title: Enter the Dragon: China’s Undeclared War Against the U.S. in Korea, 1950-1951
Author: Russell Spurr
Genre: War, History, Nonfiction
Book Blurb:
Reissued to coincide with the 60th anniversary of U.S. involvement in the Korean War, this gripping, dramatic military classic re-creates six pivotal months in the conflict, told from both the Chinese and Allied sides.
The Korean War was, years before Vietnam, the first great East-West military misadventure, eventually engaging sixteen countries under the U.N. flag in war against China and North Korea. Enter the Dragon examines the Chinese side of the Korean War for the first time, re-creating and dramatizing Communist China's reluctant role in the undeclared war against the U.S. in Korea. Russell Spurr's military classic is drawn from firsthand recollections of observers and participants on both sides, and focuses on six pivotal months, beginning in August 1950, when China first deliberated intervention, through their first strike in October, to the standstill at the end of January 1951.
Based on five years of research and over 20 fact-finding trips to the People's Republic of China and Korea, Enter the Dragon describes why China became involved in Korea and how its strategy evolved, and re-creates life on the front lines, conference rooms, and in the streets of the embattled cities.
My Review:
A unique perspective on the Korean war, this book examines it in detail from the Chinese side.
China really cannot be faulted for taking part in the Korean war. They told, warned and warned the "UN" to not go too far north in Korea but they were ignored.
The stories told in this book are incredibly detailed and really show the Korean war in a way few other authors have ever done.
A terrific edition to any serious Korean War library.
My Rating: 5 stars
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Author Biography:
Russell Spurr was based in Hong Kong for more than 20 years as the China and Far East correspondent for the London Daily Express and ABC Radio Network, and the chief correspondent and deputy editor of the Far Eastern Economic Review. He was one of the first Western correspondents to report from Peking after the establishment in 1949 of the People's Republic of China. During World War II Spurr was in the Royal Indian Navy, and served in motor gunboats through most of the Burma campaign. After the Japanese surrender, he was assigned to Kure, Japan, where he first viewed the vacant dock built for the Yamato and began to pursue the story of its demise. Spurr is also the author of the highly acclaimed Enter the Dragon: China's Undeclared War Against the U.S. in Korea.
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Publisher Author Page https://www.harpercollins.com/author/cr-109117/russell-spurr/
Reviewed by: Mr. N