| Act of War: Lyndon Johnson, North Korea, and the Capture of the Spy Ship Contributor(s): Cheevers, Jack (Author), Kafer, Jeffrey (Read by) |
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ISBN: 1482946564 ISBN-13: 9781482946567 Publisher: Blackstone Audiobooks
WE WILL NOT BE UNDERSOLD! Click here for our low price guarantee Binding Type: MP3 CD - See All Available Formats & Editions Published: December 2013 |
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| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - History | Asia - Korea - History | United States - 20th Century - Political Science | Intelligence & Espionage |
| Dewey: 359.343 |
| Physical Information: 0.6" H x 5.3" W x 7.5" L (0.20 lbs) |
| Themes: - Chronological Period - 1960's - Cultural Region - East Asian |
| Features: Unabridged |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: In 1968, a small, dilapidated American spy ship set out on a dangerous mission to pinpoint military radar stations along the coast of North Korea. Packed with advanced surveillance equipment and classified intelligence documents, the USS Pueblo was poorly armed and lacked backup by air or sea. Its crew, led by a charismatic, hard-drinking ex-submarine officer named Pete Bucher, was made up mostly of untested sailors in their teens and twenties. On a frigid January morning while eavesdropping near the port of Wonsan, the Pueblo was challenged by a North Korean gunboat. When Bucher tried to escape, his ship was quickly surrounded by more patrol boats, shelled and machine-gunned, and forced to surrender. One American was killed and ten wounded, and Bucher and his young crew were taken prisoner by one of the world's most aggressive and erratic totalitarian regimes. Less than forty-eight hours before the Pueblo's capture, North Korean commandos had nearly succeeded in assassinating South Korea's president in downtown Seoul. Together the two explosive incidents pushed Cold War tensions toward a flashpoint as both North and South Korea girded for war--with fifty thousand American soldiers caught between them. President Lyndon Johnson rushed US combat ships and aircraft to reinforce South Korea, while secretly trying to negotiate a peaceful solution to the crisis. Act of War tells the riveting saga of Bucher and his men as they struggled to survive merciless torture and horrendous living conditions in North Korean prisons. Based on extensive interviews and numerous government documents released through the Freedom of Information Act, this book also reveals new details of Johnson's high-risk gambit to prevent war from erupting on the Korean peninsula while his negotiators desperately tried to save the sailors from possible execution. A dramatic tale of human endurance set against the backdrop of an international diplomatic poker game, Act of War offers lessons on the perils of covert intelligence operations as America finds itself confronting a host of twenty-first-century enemies. |
Contributor Bio(s): Cheevers, Jack: - Jack Cheevers is a former political reporter for the Los Angeles Times. Kafer, Jeffrey: -Jeffrey Kafer is a voice-over artist and audiobook narrator. He has narrated more than sixty books spanning numerous genres. |
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