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On Desperate Ground – Hampton Sides’ bestselling account of the Chosin Reservoir campaign of 1950, when the 1st Marine Division fought its way out of encirclement by Chinese forces in the frozen mountains of North Korea. The 2019 Vintage Books trade paperback, including the author’s afterword and maps by Jeffrey L. Ward. A near fine copy with only very minimal shelf wear.
1 in stock
On Desperate Ground: The Epic Story of Chosin Reservoir, the Greatest Battle of the Korean War is Hampton Sides’ narrative history of one of the most gruelling campaigns ever fought by the United States Marine Corps. First published in hardcover by Doubleday in 2018, this is the Vintage Books trade paperback edition of October 2019, published in New York by Penguin Random House and printed in the United States. It includes an afterword written by Sides for the 2019 paperback.
On Desperate Ground follows the 1st Marine Division from the Inchon landing and the push north toward the Yalu River, to the moment in November 1950 when vast Chinese forces sprang their trap around the Chosin Reservoir. Sides tells the story of the Marines’ fighting withdrawal through bitter cold, and of the commanders whose decisions put them there. The title comes from Sun Tzu’s description of ground where an army can only be saved by fighting its way out. The text is supported by maps designed by Jeffrey L. Ward and a title page photograph by the celebrated war photographer David Douglas Duncan.
Hampton Sides is the bestselling author of Ghost Soldiers, and On Desperate Ground was a national bestseller, widely praised for combining careful research with gripping storytelling. South African readers will know the Korean War through the SAAF’s 2 Squadron, the Flying Cheetahs, who flew alongside the United Nations forces in the same conflict.
A fine read for military history enthusiasts, students of the Korean War and the Cold War, and anyone who enjoys narrative non-fiction in the tradition of Cornelius Ryan and Stephen Ambrose.
Condition – Near Fine
A clean, bright trade paperback with very minimal shelf wear to the edges. The spine is uncreased, the binding tight, and the contents clean and unmarked.
