Act of War: Lyndon Johnson, North Korea, and the Capture of the Spy Ship Pueblo

This is a well written, current, easy to follow, conversational book on a very sad subject. My only criticism, and this is a big one for me as a former serviceman who likes to see the "big picture", is that there are no maps, a shortcoming "Act of War" shares with one of its heavily credited sources, the much earlier excellent book on the same subject by Armbrister.A "God's eye" map showing the general area of the Sea of Japan and Korean peninsula and another close-in map laying out the actual course of the USS Pueblo along the Korean coast, along with the superimposed bogus track claimed by the North Koreans, would have been very helpful - and logical for a military history work of this caliber. Those two pages couldn't have very cost much to add for the value they would have provided.I'm not going to take away a star for this omission as a serious reader probably has a few military atlases laying near their armchair, but it would have been nice to just have to only flip a couple of pages to get some physical context.

Excellent read. As a CT who spent 10 years with the Naval Security Group, I can say that the book is technically accurate. Had the United States acted immediately and decisively to either rescue the Pueblo or avenge its capture, we would not be dealing today with a post-adolescent megalomaniac who has his finger on a nuclear trigger.The result is what happens when you let politicians run wars. The US Navy isn't faultless either. There was a severe lack of planning, complacency, and apathy that led to the capture of this ship. It wasn't much different for the airborne direct support platforms.

The Pueblo was a ship doomed to fail in any operation short of shuttling supplies to and from navy bases within the waters next to the US. Certainly not designed or crewed for such a critical task so close to NK and so far out of touch with powerful rescue assets. Then when captured- the Captain and crew were subjected to cruel and inhumane punishment. Second guessed by America upon their released and prosecuted and persecuted by the Navy and politicians who were not subjected to the same situation and decisions. A good read about a tragic no win situation. The Captain and crew were caught between trying to escape and die, trying to defend the ship and die or surrendering the ship and possibly die. Doing the unthinkable of surrendering was in the eyes of the Navy an absolute embarrassment. Yet the real humiliation began upon their return America.

The author’s coverage of this event is 5 star. If you are interesting in learning about North Korean’s capture of the Pueblo and of what happened to the crew during their time in captivity, this book will cover it all.The book provides a lot of essential background information on how the Pueblo came to find itself in such a vulnerable position while loaded with highly sensitive electronics and documents. And despite the chaos surrounding the attack and capture of the Pueblo, the author seems to have presented the rapidly folding sequence of events as clearly as possible given the many crew members, each with their own memories of the actions that they took prior to being boarded. Given the nearly year-long period of brutal abuse of the crew by North Koreans, it’s not surprising that at least half the book covers this aspect of the Pueblo story – along with America’s ongoing attempts to negotiate a release of the crew. The actual moment of release was both tense and emotional. I was also quite interested in the immediate aftermath, when captain and crew were lauded by the general public, but more seriously (and perhaps unfairly) investigated by a naval court of inquiry.So why just 4 stars? Because there was so much coverage about the abuse of the crew. The author was right to include it all, and I agree with his decision to do so. But I felt potential readers should be warned that parts of the book can be tough to get through. The crew members are truly survivors in the purest sense of the word.

My definition of a naval incident has three ingredients: 1. Persons of high rank screw up. 2. Sailors are killed as a result. 3. There is a cover up.This book makes a case for all three. I liked the detail. It reminded me of what is expected from a Naval Officer. Also to anticipate the unexpected. Also to be ready to exercise leadership and initiative in the most hectic,trying and violent circumstances.This ship was sent In harms way without proper planning for what was clearly a foreseeable event, following Israel’s unprovoked attack on USS Pueblo’s sister ship USS Liberty eight months prior. Clearly whatever Liberty was doing pissed off our ally Israel. They tried to sink Liberty and nearly succeeded, killing 34 and wounding over 170.That Pueblo would provoke a similar response in North Korea should not have surprised the Navy or the intel pukes. The punishment of the innocent was predictable. Kudos to Pueblos Officers and crew,and shame on the brass whose negligence put the Pueblo on this no win mission.

This was an important event worth remembering. It seems to haunt American relations with North Korea to this day.This is a sound and relatively objective account of the seizure of an American Navy vessel by North Korea inn 1968. North Korea kept the crew hostage for eleven months in an eerie preview of the Iran hostage situation a few years later. It presents accounts from the perspectives of the crew, Navy brass, Johnson administration, South Korea, and the North Korean captors. It shows how several international events are interrelated such as the Tet Offensive, an attempt by North Korea to assassinate the president of South Korea, and Americam election politics.The book is an easy read and seems well researched.It informs the current situation (2016) where North Korea is building a nuclear intercontinental missile system. If you want to understand why North Korea thinks it can and should build such a system, read this book.

Ha great story of crew and a ship left without support and capturedHow the Unites states was powerless to to actFull of interest in the personalitiesWell writtenWell readIf it was not an Audio book it would be a Page Turner

Excellent, would buy from again!!!

I faintly remember this incident, it hit the press, but everything was so politically correct, that they brushed it under the rug at the time. Pretty much like they do now.I'm ashamed at how we handled this situation. Our soldiers were tortured and we did nothing about it. I love the USA, but sometimes we are just overly careful on how we handle things. Help us!

my book arrived in good order. I have a few books ahead of this one to read. Subject matter looks fascinating, I may just go straight to this one.