Cover Page; Title Page; Copyright Page; Dedication; CONTENTS; 1. SUDDENLY, A NOT-SO-SUDDEN WAR; 2. AN ARMY IN DISARRAY; 3. A PROUD CORPS IN PERIL; 4. MISSIONS IMPOSSIBLE; 5. ENTER THE "FIRE BRIGADE"; 6. A MELEE OF CONFUSION AND CHAOS; 7. TRIUMPH, TRAGEDY, TRAPS, AND TEARS; 8. NIGHTMARE ON THE NAKTONG; 9. COMMANDERS IN CONFLICT; 10. THE ENEMY GOES FOR BROKE; 11. A 5,000-TO-ONE "SURE THING"; 12. TURNING THE TIDE AT INCHON; 13. THE BLOODY ROAD TO SEOUL; 14. A "TERRIBLE LIBERATION"; 15. TAKING THE HARD WAY HOME; EPILOGUE: THE REST OF THE STORY; SOURCES AND NOTES; BIBLIOGRAPHY; ACKNOWLEDGMENTS;The Darkest Summer is the dramatic story of the first three months of the Korean War as it has never been told before. A narrative studded with gripping eyewitness accounts, it focuses on the fateful days when the Korean War's most decisive battles were fought and the Americans who fought them went' however briefly'from the depths of despair to the exultation of total conquest. Drawing on exclusive interviews with dozens of surviving U.S. veterans, it reveals how one ninety-day period changed the course of modern history and opens a unique and revealing window on an all-but-forgotten war.