The Korean War

School Library Journal

Gr 7-9-- Two general, brief overviews of America's Asian wars. Each describes the background and main events of the conflicts, including their impact at home and their lasting effects on American foreign policy. The Korean War is the better of the two, adequately explaining a frequently misunderstood war. Bachrach also examines the policies that brought about U. S. involvement in Asia, and how those policies led to disaster in Vietnam. In discussing The Vietnam War , however, Barr ignores much of the recent scholarship. He doesn't give readers the balanced, both-sides-were-wrong view found in Albert Marrin's America and Vietnam (Viking, 1992), and there is very little about the human rights violations of the present Vietnamese government. Both books have an excessive number of sidebars filled with information that should have either been included in the regular text or left out entirely. Historical black-and-white photos are adequate, and there are several maps in each book. There is not a great deal of material about the Korean War, and most libraries should consider Bachrach's book. On the other hand, there are many good current titles available on the Vietnam Conflict; there is nothing that distinguishes this current one. --Mary Mueller, Rolla Junior High School, MO