This Kind of War; A Study in Unpreparedness

New York: The Macmillan Company, 1963. First Printing [Stated]. Hardcover. Very good/Good. xii, 688, [4] pages. Illustrated endpapers. Maps. Chronology. Glossary of Principal Weapons. Key to Map Symbols. Index. DJ has some wear, wrinkling and soiling. Format is approximately 6.5 inches by 9.5 inches. Theodore Reed "T. R." Fehrenbach, Jr. (January 12, 1925 - December 1, 2013) was an American historian, columnist, and the former head of the Texas Historical Commission (1987-1991). He graduated from Princeton University in 1947 and wrote more than twenty books, including the bestseller Lone Star: A History of Texas and Texans and This Kind of War, about the Korean War. Senator John McCain called this book "perhaps the best book ever written on the Korean War". Secretary of Defense James Mattis said "There's a reason I recommended T. R. Fehrenbach's book...that we all pull it out and read it one more time." For almost 30 years, he wrote a weekly column on Sundays for the San Antonio Express-News. "This Kind of War has been studied by generations of soldiers. Fehrenbach describes good decisions and bad ones with insight and expertise. But what he does best of all is his eloquent, sometimes painful description of the GIs who must bear the burden of those decisions. This book has a challenging theme, that a great power must maintain a highly professional army organized along lines different from the society it is set up to protect. This work is written from the perspective of those who fought it. Drawn from official records, operations journals and histories, this book is also largely based on the personal narratives of the small-unit commanders and their troops. The book provides both an overview of the war, and a "you were there" account of American soldiers in fierce battle against the North Korean and Chinese communist invaders. As Americans and North Koreans continue to face each other across the 38th Parallel, This Kind of War commemorates the past and offers vital lessons for the future.