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This book contains a collection of thirty-three short articles on the Korean War, most looking at an unusual aspect of the war. There is a fascinating mix of stories here. We start with the tale of the first American attempt to open contact with the Kingdom of Korea, a disastrous start that led to a military expedition in 1871. After that the remaining chapters look at aspects of the more famous Korean War, covering a very wide range of topics, amongst them the last US use of an aerial torpedo in combat, in an attack on a North Korean dam, the massive American naval evacuation from Hungnam in the aftermath of the Chinese entry into the war, clandestine intelligence operations, an investigation into accusations of biological warfare.
The articles cover the entire period of the war, from the original North Korean advance to the landings at Inchon, the advance to and from the Yalu River and the long period of stalemate. Most of the topics wouldn't justify a much longer study, although a few have been the topic of full-length books and detailed study (in particular the look at the possible use of the Atomic bomb in Korea).
This is a fascinating selection of articles that help to give a more varied image of the Korean War than the popular image of the long period of static war that led to the current division of Korea.
Chapters
1 The Western Disturbance at Shinmi
2 The Salvation Army Boys’ Band
3 MacArthur’s Nemesis
4 The Pregnant Perch
5 The Beacon at Palmi-do
6 Top Secret or Common Knowledge
7 The Rakkasan’s Jump
8 Operation Yo Yo
9 The Dam Busters
10 “Mules”
11 Operation Kiddie Car
12 The Miracle Ship
13 Operation Moolah
14 The Saint from Pilsen, Kansas
15 The Bridge at Funchilin Pass
16 Seoul City Sue
17 Paper Bullets
18 The Airborne Nightingale
19 The Prisoners’ Olympics
20 Operation Broken Reed
21 Dirty Work at Koje-do
22 Unidentified Flying Objects Over Korea
23 Piracy on the High Seas
24 Operation Fishnet
25 Rescuing Jesse
26 The Plague of Propaganda
27 Storm Troopers in Korea
28 Nuke ’em
29 Everready, Just in Case
30 They Eventually Came Home
31 The Axe Murders
32 The Partisans
33 The Tragedy of the USS Pueblo
Author: Paul Edwards
Edition: Kindle
Pages: 267
Publisher: Osprey
Year: 2013
http://www.ospreypublishing.com/store/Unusual-Footnotes-to-the-Korean-War_9781782001805