Description
Book SynopsisFearing the Worst explains how the Korean War fundamentally changed postwar competition between the United States and the Soviet Union into a militarized confrontation that would last decades. Samuel F. Wells Jr. examines how military and political events interacted to escalate the conflict.
Trade ReviewA masterful study of one of America’s most consequential and most forgotten wars. Samuel F. Wells Jr. weaves together astonishing stories of nuclear strategy and cut-throat bureaucracy in this must-read for anyone eager to understand how the Korean War changed the Cold War—and made the world what it is today. -- Graham Allison, Harvard University
This excellent book offers new insights into how the Korean War laid the basis for today’s military competition with Russia, China, and North Korea. Wells analyzes how decisions taken during the Korean conflict dramatically expanded NATO into the central institution that protected the West through the four decades of the Cold War. -- Alexander R. Vershbow, former U.S. Ambassador to Russia and South Korea and Deputy Secretary General of NATO
Wells tells the seldom understood story of how revolutionary the impact of Korea was on the nature and scale of the four-decade Cold War, and he does so with a masterful and definitive combination of detail, insight, new sources from both sides, and page-turning readability. -- Richard K. Betts, author of
American Force: Dangers, Delusions, and Dilemmas in National SecurityHow did the
global Cold War come into being and remain
cold? With the support of extensive, multi-archival, and insightful research, Samuel Wells has written an extremely important and nuanced book on the subject. It powerfully and convincingly demonstrates that the Korean War formed a critical turning point, redefining the actual trajectory or even essence of the Cold War that would engulf the two superpowers and prevail in the world in the ensuing four decades. -- Chen Jian, author of
Mao's China and the Cold WarWells has drawn on a massive body of documentation and secondary literature from both sides in the Cold War to produce an impressive synthesis of its evolution through the Korean War. Fast paced and persuasively argued,
Fearing the Worst should attract an audience well beyond academe. -- William Stueck, author of
Rethinking the Korean War: A New Diplomatic HistoryA magisterial new study using archives from all the key countries * New Statesman *
This excellent monograph by Wells...describes how the Korean War transformed the US into a superpower. * Choice *
Clear and engaging prose is a strength of this study. Wells deserves special praise not only for his extensive research in primary documents but also for his consultation of a long list of secondary works. * H-Diplo *
It is wide ranging and deeply researched. -- Robert Jervis * Pacific Affairs *
This is a valuable one-volume history that summarizes and updates the general understanding of the Korean War within Cold War history. * International Affairs *
A major work about a critical moment...this book is a must-read not just for students and specialists of the early Cold War but anyone interested in the evolution of American national security policy. -- Steven Casey, London School of Economics and Political Science * American Historical Review *
[A] masterful new book...
Fearing the Worst is not just a history of the Korean War; it is also a history of politics and international relations during a watershed moment in the early Cold War. Happily, it is an exceptionally good history in all of those arenas. -- Mitch Lerner, Ohio State University * Journal of Military History *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments
Introduction
Part I. The War1. Stalin Endorses War in Asia
2. Kim Il-sung Plans an Attack
3. Truman Consolidates US Commitments
4. Joseph McCarthy Sells the Politics of Fear
5. Paul Nitze Sounds the Tocsin
6. North Korea Drives South
7. Truman Reverses Policy
8. Douglas MacArthur Gambles and Wins
9. Mao Zedong Intervenes Massively
10. Peng Dehuai and Matthew Ridgway Fight to a Stalemate
Part II. The Transformation11. George C. Marshall and Robert Lovett Guide a US Buildup
12. Dean Acheson Leads the Defense of Europe
13. Andrei Tupolev Creates a Strategic Bomber Force
14. Curtis LeMay Builds the Strategic Air Command
15. Igor Kurchatov Develops Soviet Nuclear Weapons
16. Walter Bedell Smith Reforms and Expands the CIA
17. Korea Transforms the Cold War
Chronology
Notes
Selected Bibliography
Index
