Korean War - Annotated Bibliography Example

Korean War Number Annotated Bibliography Acheson, D. (1971). The Korean War. New York: Norton. In this book, Acheson highlights the causes of the war. The war begins on June 25, 1950 when approximately 75,000 troops from the North Korean People’s Army passed across the 38th parallel, the boundary between the Soviet backed Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to the north and the pro-Western Republic of Korea to the south. This invasion marks the first military action of the Cold War.Bachrach, D. (1991). The Korean War.

San Diego, CA: Lucent Books. Bachrach describes the formation of the two Koreas. He states that since the beginning of the 20th Century, Korea had been part of the Japanese Empire but it fell to Americans and Soviets to determine what should be done with the Koreas. As a result, the Korean Peninsula was divided into half along the 38th parallel. The Russians occupied area north of the line, while the United States of America occupied the south.Edwards, P. M. (2006). The Korean War. Westport, Conn.

: Greenwood Press. In this book, the tensions and the political environments leading up to the war are described in detail. Both the North and the South were under dictatorial rule. In the South, there was the anti-communist dictator Syngman Rhee, while in the North, there was the communist dictator Kim Il Sung. It is observed that neither of the dictators was content to remain on his side of the 38th parallel and border disputes were rampant as a result.Gardner, L. C. (1972). The Korean War. New York: Quadrangle Books.

The connection of this invasion of the South by the North and the rising conflict thereof and the ongoing cold war is given in this piece. The war is said to have come as a surprise to the U.S. who considered it malicious and more than a mere border dispute. To them, nonintervention in the dispute was never on the table as they regarded it as a deliberate offensive in a communist campaign to take over the world.Gay, K., & Gay, M. (1996). Korean War. New York: Twenty-first Century Books. The Gays give more in-depth analysis of the situation between the United States and Russia particularly, prior to this war and the inevitability of these two nations’ role in the dispute.

The warring nations are differently backed by two quarreling nations and so, when one invades the other, there is bound to be suspicion of a wider play. The stands taken by America and the Soviet Union are discussed in greater details.Gruenberg, L. A. (2004). The Korean War. Detroit, MI: Omnigraphics. In April 1950, a National Security Council report known as the NSC-68 recommends the US to use military force to counter communist expansion anywhere it was perceived to be occurring. As a result, then US President Harry Truman is quoted as saying that if they let Korea down, the Soviets will keep on going and swallowing up one place after another. Lee, S. H. (2001). The Korean War.

Harlow, England: Longman. Lee talks about the difficulties and the armies of the war. North Korean army is seen as well-disciplined, well trained and well armed. On the other hand, Rhee’s forces are described as frightened, confused and prone to fleeing the battle fields during war. In addition, the conditions of battle are said to be horrible as the American soldiers face the full brunt of one of the hottest and driest summers on record. They are consequently forced to drink water from rice paddies usually fertilized with human waste, and as a result, dangerous intestinal diseases and other ailments were an added ubiquitous threat.

US Secretary of State at the time laments that if the best minds in the world had set out to find the worst possible location in the world to fight this damnable war, the unanimous choice would have been Korea.McGowen, T. (1992). The Korean War. New York: Franklin Watts. McGowen writes about war tactics employed by the various forces and the events that led to the US President Truman and his new military commanders initiating peace talks at Panmunjom in July 1951. The author states that both sides were willing to accept a ceasefire that would see to the maintenance of the 38th parallel boundary before major disagreement set in.

The Chinese and the Koreans wanted them forcibly repatriated, against the wishes of the US.Uschan, M. V. (2001). The Korean War. San Diego, Calif.: Lucent Books. Uschan details the agreements of the treaty and the signed armistice of July 27, 1953. The agreement allowed the prisoners of war to choose where they wanted to stay and also saw to the creation of a new boundary close to the 38th parallel that gave South Korea an extra 1,500 square miles of territory and created a 2-mile-wide demilitarized zone that is present to date.

Hastings, M. (1987). The Korean War. New York: Simon and Schuster. Hastings highlights the casualties, consequences and pains of the war. Although relatively short, it was a particularly bloody one with close to 5 million lives lost. More than half of these casualties were defenseless civilians. The author reports that this rate of civilian death is higher than the one sustained in World War II and the Vietnam War. Close to 40,000 Americans died in battle while a further 100, 000 were left wounded.

ReferencesAcheson, D. (1971). The Korean War. New York: Norton. Bachrach, D. (1991). The Korean War. San Diego, CA: Lucent Books. Edwards, P. M. (2006). The Korean War. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press. Hastings, M. (1987). The Korean War. New York: Simon and Schuster. Gardner, L. C. (1972). The Korean War. New York: Quadrangle Books. Gay, K., & Gay, M. (1996). Korean War. New York: Twenty-first Century Books. Gruenberg, L. A. (2004). The Korean War. Detroit, MI: Omnigraphics. Lee, S. H. (2001).

The Korean War. Harlow, England: Longman. McGowen, T. (1992). The Korean War. New York: Franklin Watts. Uschan, M. V. (2001). The Korean War. San Diego, Calif.: Lucent Books.