Alexandria E. Casey, Michael S. Casey. Teaching the Korean War: An Instructor's Handbook. Kansas City: Pelsmith-Monroe, 2003. xv + 176 pp.

Reviewed by Allan R. Millett (Raymond E. Mason, Professor of Military History, Ohio State University)
Published on H-War (March, 2004)

A Mis-Guide to Teaching the War in Korea

A Mis-Guide to Teaching the War in Korea

The editors and contributors of Teaching the Korean War are students of Professor Paul M. Edwards, a professor of history at Graceland University (Independence, Missouri) and director of the Center for the Study of the Korean War. The book reflects Professor Edwards's own publication, The Korean War (1998), which is an annotated bibliography. It does not reflect much else. Good intentions and earnest patriotism are not an excuse for amateurism and ignorance. This book is about the Korean War as portrayed in American popular culture, not the real war. It is America-centric and inexcusably blind to accessible sources on the Korean, Russian, Chinese, and United Nations experience in the war.

If a prospective teacher of the Korean War starts with no background on the subject, then this book is better than nothing, but there is an alternative, Education about Asia 7, no. 3 (Winter 2002), a special issue on the Korean War, prepared by the Association of Asian Studies and sponsored by the Korean Society. This journal provides much the same guidance as Teaching the Korean War, but includes much more on Korean history and culture. Both reflect the contributions of the Korean War Commemoration Committee.

The limitations of Teaching the Korean War are numerous and serious. The "Comprehensive Bibliography" is sketchy and incomplete and padded with irrelevant references. Its omissions are striking; there are no citations to the U.S. official histories, the books of Bruce Cumings and William Stueck, major journal articles, foreign publications (in English), and printed document collections. I recommend my own "The Korean War: A 50 Year Critical Historiography," Journal of Strategic Studies 24 (March 2001), pp. 188-224, and the good guidance essays and references for non-specialist teachers in Burton I. Kaufman, The Korean Conflict (Greenwood Press, 1999). The Caseys are unaware that one of their key books, The Bridge at No Gun Ri, has been largely exposed as a fraud. They also give prominence to two of the greatest charlatans to wear the uniform of the U.S. Army, Anthony Herbert and David Hackworth, and ignore John Singlaub, Henry Gole, and the late Harry Summers, more authentic voices of the Korean War army.

It is unfortunate when good people do bad books. This is one of those catastrophes.

If there is additional discussion of this review, you may access it through the list discussion logs at: http://h-net.msu.edu/cgi-bin/logbrowse.pl.

Citation: Allan R. Millett. Review of Casey, Alexandria E.; Casey, Michael S., Teaching the Korean War: An Instructor's Handbook. H-War, H-Net Reviews. March, 2004.
URL: http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=9049

Copyright © 2004 by H-Net, all rights reserved. H-Net permits the redistribution and reprinting of this work for nonprofit, educational purposes, with full and accurate attribution to the author, web location, date of publication, originating list, and H-Net: Humanities & Social Sciences Online. For any other proposed use, contact the Reviews editorial staff at hbooks@mail.h-net.msu.edu.