From Booklist
*Starred Review* In January 1968, the USS Pueblo was engaged in electronic surveillance off the coast of North Korea. Apparently, the ship remained in international waters, but the government of North Korea still instructed a gunboat to attack and board the Pueblo and seize the crew. For the crewmen, what followed was an 11-month ordeal that included severe beatings and forced confessions. For the Johnson administration and the American public, it was an ongoing national humiliation that allowed some politicians, including Richard Nixon, to exploit fears about American weakness. Reporter Cheevers uses interviews with crewmen, and former members of the Johnson administration, as well as newly available government documents, to provide a tense, absorbing, and timely account of the episode. At the heart of the narrative is the Pueblo’s captain, Lloyd Bucher, who behaved bravely in captivity, determined to guarantee the survival of his men. Figures in the U.S. government are portrayed less heroically, and the North Koreans are described as terrifyingly thuggish and paranoid. This is an outstanding and necessary recounting of an affair that should remind us how dangerous the regime of North Korea remains. --Jay Freeman
Review
“Outstanding and necessary.”—Booklist, starred review
“A deep, gripping narrative of the Pueblo story… harrowing.” —Alastair Gale, Wall Street Journal blog
“Readers who appreciate intense accounts of survival against difficult circumstances will find this book enthralling… It deserves a wide audience.”—Library Journal, starred review
"Mesmerizing... a striking tribute to the Pueblo's commander and crew who acted honorably under horrendous conditions."—Murray Polner, History News Network
“Sweeping in its power and importance as a historical document and absolutely riveting in its personal stories of sacrifice and heroism, Act of War is the best kind of narrative nonfiction. From the halls of power in Washington to the heaving seas of the Pacific and to the cold, stark torture rooms of Pyongyang, this book leaves no stone unturned. This is a masterwork by Jack Cheevers. I devoured Act of War the way I did Flyboys, Flags of our Fathers and Lost in Shangri-la.”—Michael Connelly, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Black Box
“A riveting, superbly-researched, and revealing account of a Cold War clash at sea between the United States and North Korea—and of the courageous captain of the Pueblo, who stood up both to his brutal captors and to the Navy brass who tried to make him a scapegoat to cover up their own failures.”—David Wise, author of Tiger Trap: America’s Secret Spy War with China
“Cheevers skillfully brings to life one of the most dramatic events of the Cold War, a story of torture, imprisonment, secret negotiations and White House deal making. Today, the Pueblo remains the only commissioned U.S. ship on display as a war trophy by a foreign government. Act of War sheds new light on how that happened, and at the same time it shows how quickly espionage, and miscalculation, can lead to all-out war.” —James Bamford, author of Body of Secrets, The Shadow Factory, and The Puzzle Palace
“Jack Cheevers is not only a terrific researcher but a master storyteller. Act of War reads like a Cold War thriller—I couldn’t put it down.”—James Scott, author of The War Below
“With vivid clarity, Cheevers tells the amazing story of the capture of the Pueblo and its crew—one of many dangerous showdowns between North Korea and the U.S. A fascinating, well-rendered account of a little known episode in the on-going conflict on the Korean peninsula.”—Sheila Miyoshi Jager, author of Brothers at War: The Unending Conflict in Korea
“A fitting tribute to the Pueblo crew, a timely reminder of the nature of the North Korean regime (now developing nuclear weapons), and, not least, a great read.”—Jack F. Matlock, Jr., US Ambassador to the Soviet Union, 1987-91, and author of Reagan and Gorbachev
“Using a trove of declassified CIA materials and interviews, Cheevers provides a valuable new addition to our understanding of what happened in January 1968 when the North Koreans attacked and captured the USS Pueblo.”—Larry Berman, author of Zumwalt: The Life and Times of Admiral Elmo Russell “Bud” Zumwalt, Jr.
“Jack Cheevers' true account of the USS Pueblo will not only glue you to your seat, you'll be stunned anyone survived at all.”—John Geoghegan, author of Operation Storm
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