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On Desperate Ground
On Desperate Ground: The Marines at The Reservoir, the Korean War's Greatest Battle | Hampton Sides
9 posts | 6 read | 6 to read
From the New York Times bestselling author of Ghost Soldiers and In the Kingdom of Ice, a chronicle of the extraordinary feats of heroism by Marines called on to do the impossible during the greatest battle of the Korean War. On October 15, 1950, General Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander of UN troops in Korea, convinced President Harry Truman that the Communist forces of Kim Il-sung would be utterly defeated by Thanksgiving. The Chinese, he said with near certainty, would not intervene in the war. As he was speaking, 300,000 Red Chinese soldiers began secretly crossing the Manchurian border. Led by the 13,000 men of the First Marine Division, the Americans moved deep into the snowy mountains of North Korea, toward the trap Mao had set for the vainglorious MacArthur at the Chosin Reservoir. What followed was one of the most heroic--and harrowing--operations in American military history. Faced with probable annihilation, and temperatures plunging to 20 degrees below zero, the surrounded, and hugely outnumbered, Marines fought through the enemy forces with ferocity, ingenuity, and nearly unimaginable courage. Hampton Sides' superb account of this classic battle relies on years of archival research and interviews with scores of Marines and Koreans who survived the siege. While expertly chronicling the follies of the American leaders, this is an immediate, grunt's-eye view of history, enthralling in its narrative pace and powerful in its portrayal of what ordinary men are capable of in the most extreme circumstances. Hampton Sides has been hailed by critics as one of the best nonfiction writers of his generation. As the Miami Herald wrote, "Sides has a novelist's eye for the propulsive elements that lend momentum and dramatic pace to the best nonfiction narratives."
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Amiable
Amiable
On Desperate Ground: The Marines at The Reservoir, the Korean War's Greatest Battle | Hampton Sides
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On to the NONFICTION winner of #ReadingBrackets2023! This quarter belonged entirely to Hampton Sides—he battled himself the whole way. December‘s pick about the Marines at the Chosin Reservoir was excellent. It moved on against “Ghost Soldiers” to face “Hellhound on His Trail.” For me, it was an easy pick: “Hellhound,” a masterpiece of narrative nonfiction, sweeps the board and emerges as victor. In fact, it‘s my favorite book of the entire year!

Amiable
[tagged book]Hellhound on His Trail: The Electrifying Account of the Largest Manhunt in American History
10mo
SilversReviews How did you make this please? 10mo
Amiable @SilversReviews I‘ve been using a template that was provided earlier in the year by @chasjjlee ! 10mo
ChaoticMissAdventures I love the split between fiction and nonfiction. They really are so completely different and need their own brackets. 10mo
Amiable @ChaoticMissAdventures Agreed! I can‘t compare a fiction to a nonfiction because it‘s a totally different reading experience and I‘m looking for different things from each genre. 10mo
37 likes5 comments
review
Amiable
Amiable
On Desperate Ground: The Marines at The Reservoir, the Korean War's Greatest Battle | Hampton Sides
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Pickpick

Three books in a row by Hampton Sides — three home runs. This book is about the siege at Chosin Reservoir during the Korean War, when the First Marine Division was trapped, outnumbered and surrounded by 300,000 Red Chinese soldiers. How the Marines held on and fought their way out is considered one of the most heroic operations in American military history. It‘s a story of what humans are capable of in extreme circumstances. Highly recommend.

tokorowilliamwallace I picked up an audiobook by this author from the library at some point and remember liking this author. I just picked up another book that seems similar to this from the library about the American Army going into Russia to fight the newly formed Red Army at the end of WWI. 11mo
45 likes1 comment
blurb
DarkMina
DarkMina
On Desperate Ground: The Marines at The Reservoir, the Korean War's Greatest Battle | Hampton Sides
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#Bookmoods #Inthemountains

tagged users iconEggs, Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks
Eggs Perfect 👍🏼 🏔 ❄️ 2y
18 likes2 stack adds1 comment
blurb
DarkMina
DarkMina
On Desperate Ground: The Marines at The Reservoir, the Korean War's Greatest Battle | Hampton Sides
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#12Booksof2021 #1stbookof2021 #January

Thanks for the tag @Crazeedi !

Wanna play? @mandarchy @Bklover @Mavey @damselsgotballs @LeslieO @Tera66 @JoeMo @DaveGreen7777 @BookDragonNotWorm @Blueberry @Susanita @TheNeverendingTBR @JessClark78

tagged users iconAndrew65
damselsgotballs Thanks for the tag!♥️💚 3y
Andrew65 Sounds a great read. 3y
Susanita I‘m playing 😁 3y
See All 13 Comments
DarkMina @damselsgotballs You‘re welcome! 3y
DarkMina @Susanita Cool! 3y
BookDragonNotWorm Thanks for the tag! 3y
Crazeedi I think Miles would definitely like to read this one! I'm going to look for it, thanks for sharing 3y
Bklover You are the best! Thank you for tagging me!❤️❤️❤️ 3y
DarkMina @Bklover You‘re welcome! ♥️ 3y
DarkMina @Crazeedi I really liked it. His book Ghost soldiers is one of my favorite books. 3y
Crazeedi @DarkMina thanks! I'll look for it too!! 3y
DarkMina @Crazeedi You‘re welcome Diane. I hope he enjoys them! ♥️ 3y
DarkMina @BookDragonNotWorm You‘re welcome! 3y
23 likes13 comments
review
LibraryCin
LibraryCin
On Desperate Ground: The Marines at The Reservoir, the Korean War's Greatest Battle | Hampton Sides
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Pickpick

I really liked this; it was really interesting. I know very little about the Korean War, and not only did this tell the stories of these Marines and how they (most? some? of them) got out of a bad situation, but I got a bit of insight into how the war started

9 likes
review
DarkMina
DarkMina
On Desperate Ground: The Marines at The Reservoir, the Korean War's Greatest Battle | Hampton Sides
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Pickpick

5 of 2021. This is my third book from this author. Love his books! It is an excellent account of the events of The Battle of Chosin Reservoir during The Korean War. I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes military history. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

#hamptonsides #militaryhistory #LitsyAtoZ
#AbecedarianTBR #LetterO

tagged users iconBookishMarginalia
Crazeedi I know my husband would totally enjoy 4y
7 likes1 comment
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DarkMina
DarkMina
On Desperate Ground: The Marines at The Reservoir, the Korean War's Greatest Battle | Hampton Sides
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#inspirednewyear

Day 4: Fascinating

History was my major in college. My favorite topic in history is war. I find it fascinating. I like to know why countries or groups get involved. So much detail and strategy. One little change could affect a battle and possibly a whole war outcome.

tagged users iconTheKidUpstairs, Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks
TheKidUpstairs I took a lot of history classes in university (I was a drama major, but most of my electives were history/ classics), I always love learning more about interesting times in history. 4y
10 likes1 comment
blurb
My_novel_obsession
My_novel_obsession
On Desperate Ground: The Marines at The Reservoir, the Korean War's Greatest Battle | Hampton Sides
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First book of 2019 is to finish this one...highly recommend for anyone interested in military or political history or leadership books.

Hoopiefoot Glad to hear it! My husband just won this in a FB contest. 6y
LauraBrook Oooh, didn‘t know he had a new book out! #stacked 6y
My_novel_obsession @LauraBrook This one is so so good. I‘ve read two of his other books - Hellhound on his Trail and In the Kingdom of Ice. Both were great - this one is phenomenal 6y
43 likes1 stack add3 comments
blurb
My_novel_obsession
My_novel_obsession
On Desperate Ground: The Marines at The Reservoir, the Korean War's Greatest Battle | Hampton Sides
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Made a quick trip to DC for work this week. I started this book the day before I got there and then got the chance to visit the National Marine Corps Museum in Quantico and was able to see the exhibit based on the main battle in this book. I highly highly recommend the book (one of the best I‘ve read this year) and the museum (absolutely amazing and breathtaking)

24 likes