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Refighting the Last War: Command and Crisis in Korea 1950-1953

D. Clayton James

really liked it 4.00 · Rating details · 10 ratings · 1 review

'An important and impressive new evocation of the Korean War; a piercing re-evaluation of the several Americans who managed it and a brilliant analysis of how the war drastically changed the course of our history. Written with grace and authority and an absolute mastery of the source material by one of our foremost historians, Refighting the Last War is a must read.' -Clay ...more

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Hardcover, 290 pages

Published June 15th 2010 by Free Press (first published November 2nd 1992)

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About D. Clayton James

D. Clayton James

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Dorris Clayton James was born on February 13, 1931, in Winchester, Kentucky, to Dorris Clayton (b.1890) and Opal Vashti Shetter James (1896-1932). In early childhood he moved to Natchez, Mississippi, and lived with his relatives, Newell and Daisy Bankston. In 1953 he married Erlene Downs and they had four children: Dorris Sherrod (1955- ), Newell Edmund (1956- ), Judith Erlene (1960- ), and Allie Dorris Clayton James was born on February 13, 1931, in Winchester, Kentucky, to Dorris Clayton (b.1890) and Opal Vashti Shetter James (1896-1932). In early childhood he moved to Natchez, Mississippi, and lived with his relatives, Newell and Daisy Bankston. In 1953 he married Erlene Downs and they had four children: Dorris Sherrod (1955- ), Newell Edmund (1956- ), Judith Erlene (1960- ), and Allie Brady (1964- ).

After graduating from Natchez High School in 1949, James attended Southwestern at Memphis and graduated in 1953. He went on to receive a B.D. degree from Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary in 1956 and served in churches in Union, Kentucky, and Cameron, Texas, between 1954 and 1960 as well as being a Naval Reserve chaplain. Beginning graduate work at the University of Cincinnati from 1956 to 1957, James moved to the University of Texas at Austin to complete an M.A. in 1959 and a Ph.D. in 1964. He began teaching history at Louisiana State University at Alexandria in 1961 before accepting an assistant professorship at Mankato State College, Minnesota, in 1964. Returning to Mississippi in 1965, James began a 23-year association with Mississippi State University as a professor of history, becoming a Distinguished Professor in 1978. He also held the Harold K. Johnson Chair of Military History at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania and the John F. Morrison Chair of Military History at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College in Leavenworth, Kansas. In addition, James was a Harmon Lecturer at the U.S. Air Force Academy in those years. In 1988 he moved to Lexington, Virginia, to become the John Biggs Chair in Military History at the Virginia Military Institute until his retirement in 1996.

Dr. James published nine books and authored many articles and chapters, primarily on World War II, the Korean War and their strategists. His first book—based on his dissertation—was Antebellum Natchez (1968), followed by the diary of General William Brougher, South to Bataan, North to Mukden (1971). He is best known for his three-volume biography of General Douglas MacArthur, published between 1974 and 1985; the definitive work on the man. The third volume of The Years of MacArthur earned the Truman Book Award in 1986 and nominations for both the Pulitzer and Parkman prizes.

As the authority on MacArthur, James became the chief technical adviser for the 1976 Universal movie “MacArthur”, starring Gregory Peck, which required several months in California. He also consulted on the BBC television series “The Commanders” (1973-1974). He appeared on NBC’s ‘Today’ show in 1970 and was interviewed on Voice of America in 1985.

James wrote four books with his assistant, Anne Sharp Wells: A Time for Giants (1987), Refighting the Last War (1992), From Pearl Harbor to V-J Day (1995), and America and the Great War, 1914-1920 (1998).

Dr. James was involved with a number of American and military history organizations. He served on the Historical Advisory Board of the Normandy Battle Museum and Archives, and on the Dwight D. Eisenhower Centennial Advisory Committee. He was a fellow of the Society of American Historians, a trustee of the Society of Military History, and a director and secretary of the World War Two Studies Association. In 1996 he was awarded the Commander’s Award for Public Service by the Center of Military History, Department of the Army.

Dr. James was living in Moneta, Virginia, when he died after a long illness on August 4, 2004.

Sources:

D. Clayton James papers.

Who’s Who in America, 1997. Vol. 1, A-K. New Providence, NJ: Marquis, 1996, pp.2109-2110.

Obituary. Natchez Democrat, 2004 August 7. ...more