In his first four volumes on the Korean War, the author traces the war’s progress from the North Korean invasion of June 1950, the desperate American defence of the Pusan Perimeter, General Douglas MacArthur’s daring and highly successful amphibious offensive at Inch’?n, and his subsequent advance across the 38th Parallel to the Yalu River on the Chinese Manchurian border Communist Chinese forces, that have been secretly infiltrating North Korean territory by slipping across the Yalu from mid-October 1950, ambush a South Korean regiment in the mountains of central North Korea. This is the first of several Chinese victories over unsuspecting and overstretched South Korean and American units in the winter of 1950/1. On 27 November 1950, Chinese leader Mao Zedong, ostensibly fearful of the consequences of hostile American forces on his country’s border along the Yalu River, orders 250,000 troops into Korea, with express orders to annihilate the UN forces. In the western half of the theatre, US General Walton H. Walker’s Eighth Army front along the Ch’?ngch’?n axis is breached, while to the east, the US X Corps suffers a series of crushing defeats, including at the Chosin Reservoir, precipitating a massive evacuation from the North Korean port of Hungnam. AUTHOR: Born in Southern Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, historian and author Gerry van Tonder came to Britain in 1999. Specialising in military history, Gerry started his writing career with titles about twentieth-century guerrilla and open warfare in southern Africa, including the co-authored definitive Rhodesia Regiment 1899-1981 . Gerry presented a copy of this title to the regiment’s former colonel-in-chief, Her Majesty the Queen. Having written over twenty books, Gerry writes extensively for several Pen & Sword military history series including Cold War 1945-1991’, Military Legacy’ (focusing on the heritage of British cities), Echoes of the Blitz’, and History of Terror’.
24 colour and 75 b/w illustrations
