The Korean War represented a series of firsts for Canadian soldiers - their first military action under UN auspices, their first under U.S. corps and army command, their first in Asia as ground troops, and their first in which people at home initially ignored their efforts, and then forgot about them. David Bercuson evokes the tastes and smells, the frustrations, the unfamiliar terrain, the international complexities, and the heroism that made the Korean War an unforgettable experience for those who fought there.

Caught by surprise with only a phantom army, the Canadian government in the summer of 1950 was forced by its major allies to promise a ground combat contribution to the UN effort to push back the Communist invasion of South Korea from the north. The Canadian Army Special Force, as the Korean contingent was first called, was hurriedly raised, trained, and sent to Korea, ill-prepared for a mountain war against a determined, well-armed enemy. Canadian soldiers fought bravely, often against impossible odds, to carry out their mission, but they were hindered by several factors - cautious UN Command strategy, poor British and Canadian defence doctrine, uneven leadership, and inadequate equipment and training. They did their duty, and more, in stopping Communist aggression in its tracks, but the Canadian army chose not to remember the lessons of Korea, even though that conflict, as a limited war, set the pattern for virtually all those that followed.

Blood on the Hills is the first full, non-official history of the Canadian army's operations in the Korean War. The book covers the period from the start of that war to the cease-fire in July 1953 and describes and analyses the mobilization of the Canadian contingent, its training, manning, and equipment, and its efforts in combat. David Bercuson focuses on the many consequences of the army's unreadiness for combat in Korea and on the army's lack of success in learning lessons from its experience in an active theatre of war.

David J. Bercuson is the director of the University of Calgary's Centre for Military and Strategic Studies. A celebrated military historian, he has published on a wide range of topics including modern Canadian politics, Canadian defense and foreign policy, and military history. He has written, co-authored, or edited over thirty books, including The Fighting Canadians: Canada's Regimental History from New France to Afghanistan; The Patricias: The Proud History of a Fighting Regiment; and Blood on the Hills: The Canadian Army in the Korean War. In 1997 Dr. Bercuson was appointed Special Advisor to the Minister of National Defence on the Future of the Canadian Forces. A member of the Minister of National Defence's Monitoring Committee from 1997 to 2003, he also served on the Advisory Council on National Security from 2005 to 2008. Until 2010 Bercuson was an Honorary Lieutenant-Colonel of 41 Combat Engineer Regiment, a Land Force Reserve military engineer unit of the Canadian Forces. He is a member of the Royal Society of Canada, which awarded him the J.B. Tyrrell Historical Medal in 2002, and serves on the board of the Royal Military College. In 2003 he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada.

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