The First Commonwealth Division

Korea was the first hot war of the Cold War. It was also Canada’s most significant military engagement of the twentieth century following the two world wars. Canada and the Korean War gathers leading scholars to explore the key themes and battles of a seminal yet understudied conflict. Canada had little stake and less interest in Korea before 1950, but the risk the conflict posed to the fragile postwar order was deemed too great for the country to stand on the sidelines. Alongside their allies, more than 30,000 Canadian service personnel fought a determined and skilled enemy. The armistice that ended the war left Korea devastated and divided, and it remains a dangerous hotspot today. This timely collection synthesizes Canadian and international perspectives on a conflict that shaped not only the Canadian armed forces but also the evolving Canada-Korea relationship. In the process, Canada and the Korean War sheds light on how the war has been framed and reframed in public memory.

Jonathan Fennell captures for the first time the true wartime experience of the ordinary soldiers from across the empire who made up the British and Commonwealth armies. He analyses why the great battles were won and lost and how the men that fought went on to change the world.

The impressive Second Edition of this standard study incorporates important new evidence on the origins of the war from Chinese and Russian archives. It reveals that Stalin encouraged the attack on South Korea, but also confirms that the original initiative came from North Korea. Peter Lowe has also written an extended conclusion with a discussion of the Koreas in the late 1990s, and the challenges involved in securing their reunification.

Examines the transitional years during which Britain's vital role in the formulation of Western policies declined markedly, and that simultaneously marked the take-off period of the Cold War. Covers the communist victory in China, the conclusion of the allied occupation of Japan with the restoration of sovereignty to the Japanese state, and the Korean War. Addresses Anglo-American relations and the strains caused by the differing attitudes of the two countries towards East Asia, suggesting that while Great Britain did not determine Western policies in East Asia, it did exert moderating influence on the US on significant occasions. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

The extended peace the world anticipated following the decisive Allied victory in the Second World War was abruptly shattered in June 1950 by the invasion of South Korea by communist North Korea. Responding to a United Nations’ call to assist the South Korean regime, Canada deployed an 8000-man brigade to the peninsula to fight as part of an American-led UN force. This comprehensive account of the Canadian campaign in Korea provides the first detailed study of the training, leadership, operations, and tactics of the brigade under each of its three wartime commanders as well as its relationship with American and Commonwealth allies. An impeccably researched analytical history, the book examines the uneven performance of the various Canadian units and argues that the soldiers of the "Special Force" initially sent to Korea were more thorough and professional in their operations than were the army’s regular battalions that eventually replaced them at the front. The revisionist interpretations of A War of Patrols will attract both academic and military professionals, as well as general readers interested in a fresh look at an important part of Canada’s military past. Published in association with the Canadian War Museum.

This second edition of Historical Dictionary of the Korean War offers a clear and concise, but inclusive, account of the major events, operations, and individuals involved in the Korean War. It covers the war in terms of people, places, events, and analysis, as well as carefully collected statistical and factual information about units, commanders, and casualties, for both the United Nations and its Communist adversaries.

A multidimensional, multidisciplinary work on one of the least understood but most important conflicts in modern history. A cornerstone work in ABC-CLIO's distinguished list of reference works on military history, The Encyclopedia of the Korean War: A Political, Social, and Military History is a comprehensive resource on the confrontation that became the first shooting war of the Cold War, the first limited conflict of the Atomic Age, and the war that led to a dramatic escalation of the national security state while foreshadowing U.S. involvement in Vietnam. Encyclopedia of the Korean War offers complete coverage of strategies, weapon systems, and clashes that marked the course of events on the battlefield. But this authoritative, multidisciplinary work expands beyond the military perspective to portray the overall culture of the era, addressing a variety of political, economic, social, and popular culture topics as well. Incorporating a wealth of recent research, the new edition adds more than 130 entries and updated coverage throughout, plus more bibliographic listings, an expanded historiographical essay, and a documents volume.