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The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War David Halberstam. New York: Hyperion, 2007. 736 pp. Maps. Notes. Bib. Index. $35.
Reviewed by Allan R. Milien
How does one review a book written by an elite of journalism, David Halberstam, who then dies in a tragic auto accident before the book's publication? Halberstam was a giant of modern American political journalism and commentary whose books, 21 in all, will remain important to understanding 20th-century America.
Although it is bad form to speak ill of dead authors, posthumous books should not get a free pass. The Coldest Winter is Korean War Lite, an oversize, bound version of a man's magazine for barbershop reading. It masquerades as profound history and literature. For anyone who wants to learn what the war was about and how it was fought, I recommend the books of William Stueck, David Rees, Anthony FarrarHockley, and Callum A. MacDonald at the intellectual level and the books of Clay Blair, Max Hastings, John Toland, Michael Hickey, Robert Leckie, and T. R. Fehrenbach (in that order) for those who like more of the smoke of battle than the smoke of politics.
The Coldest War, however, is not without merit. Halberstam was a great storyteller, and his use of veterans' accounts is memorable. He knew how to write incisive portraits of people of power, especially those he did not like. He could write about American politics with verve and authority. He knew American military politics inside the Beltway. He appreciated great soldiering, and he wanted the United States to do the right thing, if anyone could figure out what that was. He also used recent writing from Soviet and Chinese sources to give a face and brain to the enemy. And The Coldest Winter has good maps, no mean achievement in a commercial publication.
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