Matthew Bunker Ridgway is the author of two books including the extensively titled The Korean War : How We Met the Challenge : How All-Out Asian War Was Averted : Why MacArthur Was Dismissed : Why Today's War Objectives Must Be Limited. Doubleday first published this book in 1967, but its most recent publication is by Da Capa Press in 1988.
Matthew Ridgway is exceedingly qualified to author a book on the Korean War. In the war's beginning, he was attached to the office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and from this vantage point was able to see the overall happenings of the war in the small Asian country. Later, he was to take command of the United States Army's Eighth Army and then become Commanding General of the United Nations forces and Allied occupation forces in Japan.
This book is written as a first-person narrative with a bird's-eye-view and overall scope from General Ridgway's standpoint as the Commander. It seems to be directed toward those interested in the Korean War, foreign policy in times of war, as well as the controversy over the dismissal of General Douglas MacArthur. It is not directed at the general public, and could not be considered a popular or widely read novel.
On the whole, this book is organized chronologically. There are some slight exceptions to this however, since the book is broken up into ten chapters each of which is its own topic. Some of the chapters must do some backtracking to get the reader into the new topic, and the last two chapters are overall perspectives of the MacArthur controversy and the so-called "Lessons Learned" respectively. Inserted throughout the book are photos and images from the war including strategic areas/geography; troops and leaders of the Allied, North Korean, and Chinese forces; as well as various pictures of such things as unit patches and equipment. Along with the pictures were several maps depicting land, movements, and battles. In addition, the book contained a brief calendar of the war and several appendices that included excerpts of official letters and documents.
General Ridgway's book included three major ideas, the first of which are General MacArthur's failings in Korea, and our political leader's reluctance to do anything about it. Though always maintaining a respectful air for one of our histories greatest generals, Ridgway pulls no punches when writing about MacArthur. The critique begins when the author explains how MacArthur refuses to relinquish control of the X Corp to the Eighth Army and how he lets his past victories (Inchon) allow himself, his superiors and his subordinates believe that he cannot make mistakes. There was also the idea that MacArthur discounted military intelligence reports, which stated the presence and large number of enemy forces in the area including both North Korean and Chinese troops. There were claims that MacArthur stubbornly wanted to push toward Yalu despite all that blocked him or regardless of the lives that were lost. Though ceremonially present at the first shots of the major battles, MacArthur was leading the troops from to great a distance (Japan) and did not fully understand the situation.
The second thought was Ridgway's aversion to one of General MacArthur's major ideas about the war. This idea of there being "no substitute for an all-out victory", and the way MacArthur wanted to apply it in China was ultimately one of the major reasons for his dismissal. Ridgway was against MacArthur's plan to "knock down China so hard that they would not get up for a generation". Doing this would have entailed the use of nuclear weapons, and the destruction of not only China's military forces, but also their means of supplying them. This would include eradicating factories, farms, and means of transportation and figuratively place the country back into the Stone Age. General Ridgway instead fought a limited war. From his point of view, he pushed the enemy back to simply free South Korea and get his troops home.
Lastly, even though General Rideway did not agree with all of MacArthur's leadership, he was flatly against the fact that he was dismissed, and the method by which the dismissal came about. If the President Harry S. Truman and other political leaders had been forceful enough to say no to this man beforehand, MacArthur may not have gotten out of control and put up such a fight for his stubborn ideas. MacArthur's abrupt dismissal and the method of communicating it to him were very unprofessional. The book states that MacArthur found out about being relieved of his command through newspaper correspondents. To do this to a man who devoted his entire life to the service of his country was simply disrespectful.
I thought the book to be quite dry and a very slow read. I also found it somewhat hard to follow along with the events and locations referred to in the book even though I spent a year and a half stationed in the South Korea myself. It's as if the author knows what he is talking about, and therefore assumes the reader does as well.
Obviously the Commanding General played an important role in the war, but I found the book to be very self-centered. Though worded harshly, one recent amateur book review had this to say:
Gen. Matthew Ridgway is so full of himself that he cannot err. He is quick to point out his perfection by comparing himself to others of his calling, and although forced by history and fact to admit the other fine leaders of the 8th army did actually perform well in Korea, he is obviously reluctant to write of anything unless the sentence begins with "I".
This review, surprisingly, was the exception and not the rule. The reviews given at its original publishing date were either completely objective or full of praise. It was said to be insightful, informative, and forthright. "Those who read it will not be disappointed." "Buy the book!" Though published about 15 years after the "end" of the Korean War these positive reviews may have been due to the fact the Ridgway was still a war hero both from his involvement in the Korean War and World War II.
In addition to coming from the hand of a primary source, this book is very well documented. It contains a rather large bibliography including 52 books, 18 magazines, three congressional hearings, as well as government documents, and personal files and letters along with the maps stated above.
Matthew B. Ridgway's The Korean War was an informative book on this conflict. If you would like to read about the history of the war, the mistakes of some of our military and political leaders, and especially about the great and wonderful feats of the author, this book hits the mark.
This book review was written by me for an undergraduate history class. Node your homework. The amateur review quoted above was taken from a customer review by 75262.1415(AT)compuserve.com on Amazon.com.