The Day the Chinese Attacked: Korea, 1950: The Story of the Failure of America's China Policy

Hoyt ( Kamikazes ) here traces the deterioration of Sino-American relations after WW II as the U.S. tried to mediate between the Nationalists and the Communists while supporting Chiang Kaishek against Mao Zedong, hoping to prevent the civil war that brought the latter to power in 1949. The book brings into focus the influence of anticommunist hysteria on that policy, the backlash effect of General Douglas MacArthur's bellicose predictions during the early months of the Korean War and Washington's failure to heed warnings from premiere Zhou Enlai--all leading to the massive Chinese intervention in 1950. What sets Hoyt's book apart from other studies of the war is his sympathetic presentation of the Chinese point of view regarding the origins and conduct of the conflict. The memoirs of Marshal Peng Dehuai, the Chinese field commander, are liberally quoted, explaining how he snuck 350,000 troops across the Yalu in an 11-day period, nearly catching MacArthur's U.N. forces in a trap. Students of the ``forgotten war'' won't want to miss this book with its fresh slant. Photos. (July)