Osprey- The Farthest Valley

Escaping the Chinese Trap at the Chosin Reservoir

Book Specifics

Author: Joseph Wheelan

Price: $32.00

ISBN: 978-1-4728-5979-2

Hardcover, 336 pages with a 8 page center plate section with black and white photos

What's Inside

I must admit to some belatedness to writing this review-- I have had the book in my possession for a few months but it was some very dense reading. Not at all due to the author's writing style- but mainly due to the subject matter. I must admit to a very limited knowledge base on the Korean War-- what little I knew going into this book was more on the birth of the jet age with Sabres and MiG jets. My armor knowledge of this war is extremely limited- and while armor is not the focus of this book, the challenges faced as armor attempted to supplement and reinforce the extraction of the 5th and 7th Marines from the Chinese trap is touched upon. The Table of Contents is as follows:

List of Illustrations
List of Maps
Acronyms
Prologue

Part I: Prelude to Chosin
Chapter 1: West of Chosin Reservoir

Part II: The March Upcountry
Chapter 2: The Chinese Menace
Chapter 3: The March North
Chapter 4: Arctic Cold Arrives
Chapter 5: The Chinese Prepare to Attack

Part III: The Trap Closes
Chapter 6: A Night to Remember
Chapter 7: The Longest Night
Chapter 8: Fox Hill
Chapter 9: East of Chosin Reservoir
Chapter 10: Out on a Limb
Chapter 11: Fox Hill Surrounded
Chapter 12: Hagaru-ri
Chapter 13: Surrounded, Losing Hope
Chapter 14: Hellfire Valley
Chapter 15: The Airfield
Chapter 16: The Chinese Destroy a Regiment
Chapter 17: Yudam-ni and Fox Hill
Chapter 18: The Relief of Fox Company
Chapter 19: Entering Hagaru-ri

Part IV: The March to the Sea
Chapter 20: Readying the Breakout
Chapter 21: Hagaru-ri to Koto-ri
Chapter 22: Koto-ri
Chapter 23: The Bridge
Chapter 24: The Last Furlong

Epilogue
Acknowledgements
Endnotes
Bibliography
Index

While war is never really a light subject for reading, the extremes these Marines endured in this part of the war made for some tough reading. It took nearly the whole winter to read through the book-- I really had to just ingest it in small bites as it was a harrowing account. Leadership failures occurred on both sides- and we get not only American sources, but also Chinese sources to provide the account. The Chinese failed in stopping the Marines escape- and failed to provide adequate warm weather clothing and food for their forces- sending waves of them to be mowed down by Marine and Navy aircraft napalm and rockets, as well as Marine machine gun and small arms fire. On the other side, American brass refused to believe what their forces on the ground were telling them and this mishandling of the intelligence left many to die in the brutal combat- and others to be cut off and abandoned. 

On top of dealing with the endless waves on Chinese attacks, the extreme cold winter temperatures wreaked havoc as well-- with medics having to keep morphine syrettes in their mouths to keep them from freezing and Marines having to keep their rations deep inside their clothing near their bodies to be able to eat anything. We have had a relatively mild winter here in NY- with just a handful of snow storms and cold temperature days-- reading this book really made me cognizant of the fact that we have absolutely nothing to complain about in comparison to what these men endured. 

Conclusion

There are only a dozen of so photos in the center section- so this is not a great source of reference photos- but the text really drives home what the Marines had to endure and how tenacity and the struggle to survive really endured and allowed many to escape this frozen vortex and persevere. It is not armor-centric at all, with any mention of armor and vehicles being used in this account usually facing frozen roads and brutal Chinese roadblocks to prevent the Marines from escaping. It was an inspirational read despite being gut-wrenching at the same time. I certainly have a whole new respect for the Marines who engaged and persisted to take the fight to the Chinese.

Highly Recommended for anyone looking to learn more of this particular campaign in the Korean War.

Thanks goes out to Osprey Publishing for this review sample.

Reviewed by Michael Reeves

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