book reviews and summaries, comments, analysis
Wow! Exactly what the name implies. An encyclopaedia about the korean war, chock full of useful essays and lengthy exposes. A good place to start research, or even better, to supplement your knowledge about Korean War events with timely, crisp additions. All of them are concise, informative and well referenced, if not necessarily well cross referenced (see below).
There are many chronologies but the most useful are the articles about weapons (armor, artillery air support, etc...) regiments, aircraft, and the diverse countries (Greece, Turkey, Ethiopia...) that lent a hand to the effort. Also informative are the discussions of isses (biological warfare, POWs, conscientious objectors, etc). The numerous articles placing the war into a larger world context (home front, press coverage, United Nations, etc...) also are helpful. Biographies of US, South Korean, and a smattering of NKPA, Russian and Chinese figures add a personal dimension to the conflict. Conflicts between national interest and cold war politics wove a complex net of intrigue between the UN forces (America, France, Britain, Canada..etc) as well as amidst the nonaligned states (such as India) and the belligerents (China, Russia, North Korea). In fact, the best way to enjoy this encyclopedia is to read just as you would a book...from beginning to end. Don't be surprised if you end up reading it several times.
This reference text is a collection of essays by individual authors. A risk of doing an encyclopedia this way is, without proper overall editing, the articles will be somehwat disjoint at one moment and repetitive at others. Sanders' text does suffer this flaw. In addtion there are glaring oversights in some of the essays: the articles on the CIA or Intelligence, for example, never mention the crucial role played by Hans Tofte. Numerous articles use Goulden's Korea: The Untold Story of the War, but Tofte's chicanery with the Norwegian hospital ship (prominently described in Goulden) goes unnoticed. Still....I stand by my original opinion in this review...I loved this encyclopedia, and still have it from the library after nearly 3 weeks of reading.
Do any of the articles add significant insights not discussed in other books? I can think of two. The book, without making excuses for the Army's poor training and performance in the early weeks of the War, does make it clear that it was the lack of available facilities on the Japanese Islands (only Gotemba, a small area near the base of Mt. fuji still in use today) that made training impossible above the battalion level. (the Japanese used to train their forces in Manchuria!) The lengthy essay on the Navy makes it clear that branch played a crucial role in controlling the waters of China, the Yellow sea, and the Taiwan strait. The Air force also receives kudos for its sweeping the skies and combat support. The authors point out that Marine/Navy combat support was better overall, but that the US Air force mission was broader in scope than that of Marine air.
In summary...a good book. A fantastic mixture of facts about, chronology of, and the environment in which the korean War took place.