Rating: 
Summary: Frozen
Review: This historical novel makes good use of the author's experiences to give us a feel for the horrors of Korea. Closer to a memoir than a novel, its images will stay with you. Well done.
Rating: 
Summary: accuracy has it's place
Review: I read the book and while Brady seemed to have alot of the facts about Marine operations in the war, he was way off on his information about the Army units . He mentions in one segment about the 34th Infantry regiment. They didn't collapse at Taejon, as he stated, but were part of a hold or die commitment given them in order to buy time for Marine and Army units to arrive in Korea. General Dean wasn"t dumb, as Brady staes, but stayed with his task force , the 21st and 34th regiments , until they could evacuate Taejon, having bought time with lives. He also mentioned the T3 Russian tank They were T 34tanks and the Army units sent to Korea in July and August went up against them with equipment that didn't work and as they said were out gunned, out flanked and out tanked . I suggest that Brady read an article in the KWVA publication by members of the "mismated " taskforce the Army sent to the Chosin reservoir. No one can deny the outstanding record the Marines made at the Chosin but remember that fate dealt a bad hand to the 31st Infantry at the inlet perimeter yet they blunted a force of 80000 Chinese infantry who were intent on attacking the main Marine forces at Hagaru from the Northeast. Their five days of steady combat must also go down in the archives as a vallient effort to do what they were sent to do and that was to secure that perimeter against attack on Hagaru. I've known some who fought there and died there. They were brave against odds that doomed them from the start.
Rating:
Summary: Great writer...bad editor
Review: I had very high hopes for this book. For one, I was very impressed by "The Coldest War". Brady did an excellent job capturing what life must have been like during Korea. But...This book does vividly describes the "Amphibious Landing in Reverse" (As many Marines refer to it) and what the Marines and soldiers went through in their fighting withdrawal. The book breaks down in a simple way...too much repetition. Too many times we read about a letter Verity writes to his daughter with the explanation that "Madame will read it to her". Too many times we read the phrase "trudging on frozen feet" and how many times can he tell us that "The Chinese who were wounded were left to die"? There are so many repetitions in this its pretty clear that the editor either wansn't up to par or didn't care enough to point these out. Did I mention that it was repetitous? Fortunately, I purchased this book in electronic format for my ebook and I won't feel guilty about having it take up space in my bookcase because I hate throwing books away, wouldn't really recommend it to anyone, and can simply delete it with a clear conscience. If you want to read about the Chosin campaign, I strongly suggest you read "Breakout: The Chosin Reservoir Campaign, Korea 1950" by Martin Russ or "Colder Than Hell : A Marine Rifle Company at Chosin Reservoir" by Joseph R. Owen. Both are much better than this and are more factual (being non-fiction and all). Kudos to Brady for trying to tell this story in this fashion, but get a new editor and buy a new thesaurus.
Rating:
Summary: Too much description
Review: This novel has too much description of the action, and not enough participation in it by its protaganist, Captain Verity. In addition, the flow of the narrative is frequently and needlessly interrupted by flashbacks. These cause the reader to lose interest in the plot. Indeed the protaganist, Captain Verity, seems to be simply a device for the author to tell the story of the campaign. He never really seems to come alive. When all was said and done, there seemed to be no focus to this novel.
Rating: 
Summary: A Missed Opportunity
Review: Of all the stories about the Korean War and the Marine March To The Sea from the Chosin Reservoir, James Brady selected a solid concrete downer in "Marines Of Autumn." Surrounded by 4 Chinese "volunteer" Armies, two regiments of Marines fought their way out of the Chinese trap. Destroyed the fighting ability of two of the Chinese Armies, and came out with most of their equipment, their people and their dead. Faced with a winter campaign, a Supreme Commander who didn't believe his own intelligence service and outnumbered more than 10 to one, the two Marine Regiments came out victors. Brady doesn't dwell on the victories of the privates, corporals, sergeants, the junior officers who fought and froze with them. His story is about an almost useless supernumerary who dies while contributing nothing. That's also what this book does . . . contributes nothing.
Rating:
Summary: Misleading and Sappy
Review: Like others who have written about the Chosin campaign, Brady fosters the impression that the First Marine Division (and the accompanying army divisions) might have succeeded had it not been for the cruel weather. In truth, the freezing weather decimated the Chinese and, hence, probably saved the Marine and army divisions from being annihilated. Had the weather been good, there would have been no way that 30 thousand Marines and soldiers could have survived battle with 120 thousand Chinese. Aside from this, I found Brady's book to be rather sappy with its frequent and boring flashbacks to Capt. Verity's wife and daughter, and I found its end to be totally predictable from the outset.
Rating:
Summary: A very cold book
Review: The dust cover declaration that this book is the Korean War's Iliad is simply preposterous. It is, rather, a mundane, often boring, account of how frozen bodies are handled in a wartime setting. There was not a single surprise in the book. I have no idea what Verity, the protagonist, is like as a human. And bad enough that, of all names, Verity, was selected, but then to write an exposition of its possible Latin translation takes this book from Greek classics to the sunday comic strips. The repetition of whole paragraphs is an interesting and disconcerting ploy. I kept asking myself, didn't I already read this page? I read a lot and this book just dosn't measure up to the talent that is otherwise out there. I was left cold.
Rating:
Summary: A Freezin' Season
Review: Robert Louis Stevenson once said: "It is better to travel hopefully, than to arrive". I anticipated an eventful trip to the Chosin Resevoir, but instead was captured by elegaic prose. The best war stories are about the people who fight the wars, not the people at home. The construct of Verity reminiscing for live and dead family members was distractive and detracted from the essence of the story. At times, I felt that the book wasn't thoroughly researched. Some of the action scenes seemed as though they were skim-coated. I wish the book were more compelling, because that campaign truly symbolized the futility of war.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent in general, but
Review: The historical data is accurate, the relationships between the Marines, Mc Arthur, and the Army is incredibly enlightening, and the description of the Brotherhood of Marines is outstanding. The main character was a bit too fictional, and the ever present references back to the daughter just did not fit. Lastly, the author made me feel as cold as I actually was in Korea...overall, a very good read.
Rating: 
Summary: The Mrines of Autumn
Review: Brady weaves the worlds of Tom Verity, civilian and widowed parent, and Capt. Verity, Marine, so achingly well that this novel should appeal to women as well as men. As poignant as Verity's tale is, the true heroes of the retreat from Chosn Resorvoir were the doomed rifle squads which patrolled the mountain flanks of the retreating marine column. Each night a squad climbed up the mountainside to certain skirmishes with the Chinese and to their almost certain death. Had Brady made their fate a more central part of his story, it would have been almost too painful to read. Very well-written.
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