Staff Pick
Hampton Sides brings the "forgotten war" to the forefront of the reader's mind with On Desperate Ground. In the same narrative fashion as Ghost Soldiers, Sides takes the reader through the lives of a small group of Marines who are heavily outnumbered by not only the Koreans, but Mao's Chinese troops as well. This is a fantastic tale of military bravery from a war that should be anything but forgotten. Recommended By Jeffrey J., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
From the New York Times bestselling author of Ghost Soldiers and In the Kingdom of Ice, a chronicle of the extraordinary feats of heroism by Marines called on to do the impossible during the greatest battle of the Korean War.
On October 15, 1950, General Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander of UN troops in Korea, convinced President Harry Truman that the Communist forces of Kim Il-sung would be utterly defeated by Thanksgiving. The Chinese, he said with near certainty, would not intervene in the war.
As he was speaking, 300,000 Red Chinese soldiers began secretly crossing the Manchurian border. Led by some 20,000 men of the First Marine Division, the Americans moved deep into the snowy mountains of North Korea, toward the trap Mao had set for the vainglorious MacArthur along the frozen shores of the Chosin Reservoir. What followed was one of the most heroic — and harrowing — operations in American military history, and one of the classic battles of all time. Faced with probable annihilation, and temperatures plunging to 20 degrees below zero, the surrounded, and hugely outnumbered, Marines fought through the enemy forces with ferocity, ingenuity, and nearly unimaginable courage as they marched their way to the sea.
Hampton Sides’s superb account of this epic clash relies on years of archival research, unpublished letters, declassified documents, and interviews with scores of Marines and Koreans who survived the siege. While expertly detailing the follies of the American leaders, On Desperate Ground is an immediate, grunt’s-eye view of history, enthralling in its narrative pace and powerful in its portrayal of what ordinary men are capable of in the most extreme circumstances.
Hampton Sides has been hailed by critics as one of the best nonfiction writers of his generation. As the Miami Herald wrote, “Sides has a novelist’s eye for the propulsive elements that lend momentum and dramatic pace to the best nonfiction narratives.”
Review
“Superb…a masterpiece of thorough research, deft pacing and arresting detail…Sides shows how brave Marines — officers and grunts — innovated, organized and blasted their way out of the trap their fabulously famous boss had helped set. This war story — the fight to break out of a frozen hell near the Chosin Reservoir — has been told many times before. But Sides tells it exceedingly well, with fresh research, gritty scenes and cinematic sweep.” Washington Post
Review
“To this pantheon [of the best books on the Korean War] we can now add Hampton Sides’s On Desperate Ground, which hits all the right notes….It’s a story Marines are rightly proud of and one that should be of interest to anyone who wants to know more about the remains that just returned home from Korea, and why those men deserve to be remembered.” Wall St. Journal
Review
"Gripping….Master storyteller Hampton Sides, specializes in captivating readers with his trademark moment-by-moment accounts….Sides captures the big personalities who run things…[and] also immerses readers in vivid accounts of horrific battles and an infamous 'attack in reverse.'"
Christian Science Monitor
Synopsis
Superb...A masterpiece of thorough research, deft pacing and arresting detail...This war story -- the fight to break out of a frozen hell near the Chosin Reservoir -- has been told many times before. But Sides tells it exceedingly well, with fresh research, gritty scenes and cinematic sweep.--
Washington Post From the New York Times bestselling author of Ghost Soldiers and In the Kingdom of Ice, a chronicle of the extraordinary feats of heroism by Marines called on to do the impossible during the greatest battle of the Korean War
On October 15, 1950, General Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander of UN troops in Korea, convinced President Harry Truman that the Communist forces of Kim Il-sung would be utterly defeated by Thanksgiving. The Chinese, he said with near certainty, would not intervene in the war.
As he was speaking, 300,000 Red Chinese soldiers began secretly crossing the Manchurian border. Led by some 20,000 men of the First Marine Division, the Americans moved deep into the snowy mountains of North Korea, toward the trap Mao had set for the vainglorious MacArthur along the frozen shores of the Chosin Reservoir. What followed was one of the most heroic--and harrowing--operations in American military history, and one of the classic battles of all time. Faced with probable annihilation, and temperatures plunging to 20 degrees below zero, the surrounded, and hugely outnumbered, Marines fought through the enemy forces with ferocity, ingenuity, and nearly unimaginable courage as they marched their way to the sea.
Hampton Sides' superb account of this epic clash relies on years of archival research, unpublished letters, declassified documents, and interviews with scores of Marines and Koreans who survived the siege. While expertly detailing the follies of the American leaders, On Desperate Ground is an immediate, grunt's-eye view of history, enthralling in its narrative pace and powerful in its portrayal of what ordinary men are capable of in the most extreme circumstances.
Hampton Sides has been hailed by critics as one of the best nonfiction writers of his generation. As the Miami Herald wrote, Sides has a novelist's eye for the propulsive elements that lend momentum and dramatic pace to the best nonfiction narratives.
About the Author
Hampton Sides is an award-winning editor of Outside and the author of the bestselling histories Hellhound on his Trial, Blood and Thunder, and Ghost Soldiers. He lives in New Mexico with his wife, Anne, and their three sons.