Covering a single war or insurgency that took place between 1945 and 1973.
             1. The War in Korea 1950-1953: A Military Study of the War in Korea up to the Signing of the Cease Fire. By Major R.C.W. Thomas, O.B.E.. Aldershot, Gale and Polden Limited, 1954
             2. Korea: the Unknown War. By Jon Halliday and Bruce Cumings. Pantheon Books, 1988
             The Korean War was one of the most tragic events of modern history. A people utterly destroyed after what was meant to be the organized disbanding of the Japanese military by two opposing superpowers. After the Pacific War ended, Korea, having been colonized by Japan since 1910 was to be set free and made independent. What ensued was three years of murderous warfare, besieged regimes and mass destruction of every kind of infrastructure including social and cultural as well as industrial. What made the U.S. commit so heavily to Korea in a limited war under the banner of the U.N.? And what made the U.S. go so far in trying to crush the very existence of Communism in the North? These are questions which must be addressed when delving into the causes of the Korean War.
             With recent developments on the Korean peninsular it is topical that the Korean War is revisited. Even though the future is still far from clear it seems that the two Koreas have finally made tentative steps down the long and often treacherous road of reconciliation and peace. The nature of the conflict is extraordinary and even now many aspects remain hidden from the public eye. This is evident with the recent admittance of atrocities committed by U.S. troops in Korea. Many researchers are of the opinion that as time goes by many more atrocities committed by U.S. and U.N. forces will come into the open, giving a true light to the actual nature of the war.
             These two books show contrasting views of history. One, published in 1954, when political wounds from the war were still raw and public opinion needed to anaesthetized, gives the re...