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FROM PUSAN TO PANMUNJOM

Name: FROM PUSAN TO PANMUNJOM
Author: Sun Yup Paik
ISBN: 0-02-881002-3

by Sun Yup Paik ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 30, 1992

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Engrossing wartime memoirs from South Korea's first four-star general. Paik was a 29-year-old colonel in command of the 1st ROK Division when Communist forces rolled across the provisional boundary partitioning Korea in mid-1950. Though outgunned, Paik's ill-equipped, poorly trained men performed valiantly, halting the enemy's sneak assault on the South for a precious three days. Having helped create a defensive perimeter north of Pusan around the Naktong River, the author's South Korean troops then went on the attack. In the murderous period following Chinese intervention, Paik's prowess on battlegrounds up and down the peninsula earned him promotion to chief of staff of the ROK Army. In addition to overseeing its expansion and deployment under fire, he represented his country's interests in armistice negotiations, first at Kaesong and later at Panmunjom. Beyond its harrowing accounts of front-line engagement—in which quarter was neither asked nor given—the author's narrative goes a long way toward setting the record straight on such issues as the cruel myth that ROK units did not pull their weight in combat. While no match for their foe at the outset, his soldiers, Paik documents, fought in subsequent campaigns even though they were the preferred targets of Communist offensives (owing mainly to their relative lack of firepower). The author also conveys the immense difficulties involved in building, equipping, and training an army during a vicious conflict and while almost wholly dependent upon the resources of allies with variant agendas. Much has been written of the Korean War's geopolitical and military significance. While scanting neither, Paik reminds an often forgetful world of the country that, in a struggle for its very survival, provided the most manpower and sustained the greatest casualties. Impressive and instructive. The vivid, perceptive text has maps (not seen).

Pub Date: June 30, 1992

ISBN: 0-02-881002-3

Page Count: 320

Publisher: N/A

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 1992

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.