Rating: 
Summary: A fine mix of factual history & personal experience.
Review: As a Marine veteran of the breakout from Udam-ni and a career academic, I was overwhelmed by Russ' skill in interweaving the political, the strategic and the tactical aspects of this operation with the first person accounts. This is a book about Marines by a Marine. It will hurt some of those who did not quite measure up, but it does so objectively and compassionately. If you were there, the truth is undeniable; if you were not there, this is how it was folks. 48 years after the event, I found that I could read for a while; then I cried for a bit (old Marines often cry, when no one is looking. I'm betting that Martin Russ cried some as he wrote)
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Summary: A powerful book about a war most of us avoid knowing about!
Review: No one wants to know about Vietnam or Korea since we didn't "win" those two wars. This book will tell you about the Korean War at its darkest moment - the entrance of China into the war. Russ' interviews with those who were there make the book. He pulls no punches and tells the truth about the Chosin Resevoir breakout. This is how it was. If these marines weren't as tough as any before or since, someone isn't paying attention. If you don't understand why a current or old marine is like he is, read this. Good read. Couldn't put it down. Enjoyed it as much as Citizen Soldiers.
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Summary: Outstanding history of an epic battle
Review: I was there. As Battalion Adjutant of the 2nd Bn Seventh Marines from Camp Pendelton to Inchon, to Yudamni, back to Hungnam and back down to Pusan I will forever recall the loss of my close fine fellow marines - but will forever remember their devotion to the Corps and for which it stands. I commend author Russ for the fine job of retelling the story and his brilliant research of the facts. I simply couldn't put it down. Certain parts of the story could have been left unsaid without taking away anything of the impact and facts. A fine job Russ and Semsper Fi!
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Summary: An epic struggle for survival against overwhelming odds
Review: This is a moving tribute to the extraordinarily brave men of the 1st Marine Division and their epic struggle for survival against overwhelming odds at the Chosin Reservoir.I am awarding this book our highest recommendation of 5 stars because it tells the stories of many great acts of heroism and self sacrifice that should never be forgotten. This work is well researched, organized, and well written, and I recommend it to all audiences. It would fit well into the halls of academia as required reading in either world or military history. Those at our military academies should be required to read it. I was pleased that the book gives credit to the bravery of the Chinese soldiers that also suffered under severe conditions. I was stationed outside Fairbanks Alaska and know first hand the effects of freezing weather. It is amazing how these marines and soldiers could function in such conditions, as well as fight, as both sides did indeed do. Warning! If you are associated with the U.S. Army, you might take exception to the actions and behavior of the Army units and officers involved in the campaign, as described in this book. But, the facts are the facts. Semper Fi!
Rating: 
Summary: A bone-chilling story of bravery and heroism.
Review: If you enjoy the styles of John Keegan, Stephen Ambrose and Cornelius Ryan, you will like this bone-chilling story about the Marines' breakout from the Chosin Resevoir in December 1950. Like all military stories of this type, it is sometimes difficult to keep track of all the soldiers mentioned. There are only four large-scale maps for guidance. The book desperately needs small-scale maps to support the narrative.
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Summary: Russ is a real "Old Corps" Marine!
Review: I remember Russ's "Last Parallel" from way back when...as a former U.S. Marine ( now in my sixties) I can tell you he really captures the mind set of the Marines of the middle of this century....It sure as hell is diffefent now! I got a thrill out of his quoting Major General Victor "The Brute" Krulak.
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Summary: A Page Turner with Modern Times Implications
Review: Well, I got this book with marginally high expectations and have got to say they were more than met. This is a very lively narrative and reminds me of A RUMOR OF WAR by Philip Caputu. Quite why that is I'm not sure...they were Marines in that one too? The geographical jumping around in the story gets a bit confusing. There are some maps however, pictures of the guys are in back of the book which isn't so great as you wonder what these people looked like while you are reading about their experiences not after. No weapons or vehicles pictures but that is a minor complaint. C.B. Colby Mr.Russ is not. I'm sure that hurt his feelings! The Army indeed comes off looking pretty bad. The book does make me wonder about Serbia and all this talk about us putting ground troops into that country. In essence I am wondering are there 300,000 Russians lurking out there like the Chinese were in North Korea? Food for thought. Maybe I'll let history answer that one...All in all a great read. Good job Mr. Russ!
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Summary: "We're Coming Out Like Combat Marines".....
Review: This tome could only have been written in such a manner, by a combat Marine grunt who served in the Korean War. It is Martin Russ at his definitive best; and beyond that, and his literary masterpiece of combat, perseverance and spartan Marine training, ushers Martin Russ along Victory Lane. The 1st Marine Division FMF, in the field, was no stranger to the CCF, as this Marine Division was occuping North China in 1945-1947.It prevented the CCF from interfering with Nationalists forces in South China.Fire-fights prevailed and when these same CCF were secretly unleashed in North Korea [Nov/Dec1950] the CCF relished their demonic orders to annihilate, the 1st Marine Division once an for all! Not the case, author, Martin Russ depicts in fine detail this arduous and bloodsoaked campaign in the northern mountains of frozen North Korea. A rousing and perpetual tribute, is this READ, set by pen to paper, by a combat Korean War Marine. Movies aside,this book will stand the test of ...time immemorial ... as a riveting testamonial to all of America's [world] fighting forces, that once the CCF took on the USMC, the CCF got cut into 30,000 dead pieces on the Marine's heroic and bloody fight to the sea and extraction from that brassmonkey frozen hell on earth of North Korea. Martin Russ- thank you for your greatest Marine -work- about a murderous War which America hardly knows about. I, for one, extend to you the highest accolade a combat Marine can receive----Well Done, Marine! Semper Fidelis !
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Summary: A positive review of Marines at War - Korea, 1950
Review: Breakout: The Chosin reservoir Campaign, Korea 1950 - Fromm InternationalIf you read only one book this year about men at war, let it be this oneYou will read of the men of the 1st Marine Division and their fight out of the trap set for them by 7 divisions of Chinese whose sole mission was the extermination of the Marines.You will read of the men of the 1st Marine Division and a small commando of British RoyalMarines fighting in incredibly difficult terrainand in flesh-killing cold, cold so deep and bitterthat weapons froze and exposed flesh turnedleper-white with frostbite.You will read how the Division fought, regiment by regiment, battalion by battalion, company by company, platoon by platoon and, finally, in smallgroups of 3 and 4 to repulse and win through attack after attack by a sea of tough, seasoned Chinese troops.You will read of individual acts of simple but great heroism and fidelity, for the men who fought in those frozen wastes remained faithful to one-another and their unit and their Corps.And throughout it all you will hear the voices of the men Russ interviewed and set down in their personal narratives, which he seamlessly wove together with his superb exposition. And always they speak simply of the extraordinary events in which they took part when they were young and slim and quick, events which remain fresh and immediate after almost 50 years. And they speak in the rhythms and accents of Americans from every region - from the barrios of Los Angeles to the privileged precincts of Westchester County.And, at the end, you will feel joy and pride as they stride out of the trap in step, marching and singing a paean of triumph, having destroyed 7 Chinese divisions and bringing out all their wounded and most of their dead. And you will weep for the dead. And you will weep for the survivors, not in pity but, perhaps, in envy for men who have lived out a personal fidelity to something larger than themselves, men who, in a paraphrase of Norman MacLean¹s words, went through, and not around the experience of combat. And you will thank Martin Russ for his craft and art in creating this superb book. - Reviewed by R.A. Clark -
Rating:
Summary: I was there. This book is awesome.
Review: I couldn't put it down. I've read many books on this campaign. This is the only one that brought back the memories so vividly that it was hard to read through tear-filled eyes. This is a literary experience to match the Saving Pvt.Ryan drama for the moviegoer. If this book is made into a movie it will far outdo Saving Pvt. Ryan. Martin Russ has done a very efficient job of bringing Chosin to life and giving the reader an emotional roller coaster ride through the 18 days of battle.
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