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Part of the now famous class of 1969 intake into the then Department of External Affairs, few have exhibited Allan Gyngell’s rare combination of searing analytical insight, historical depth and graciousness.
On the wintry night of 27 November 1950, Chinese troops suddenly descended upon the US 1st Marine Division and the 31st Regimental Combat Team around the frozen Chosin Reservoir, less than 100 kilometres away from the China-Korea border. Having failed to dissuade the United States with words from crossing the 38th Parallel and crushing its communist neighbour, China had started dispatching troops into North Korea in October. But it was only then that the military and indeed geopolitical implications materialised. Surrounded and vastly outnumbered, the US forces at Chosin Reservoir managed to ...