
The Devil's Playground
Description
Alles über E-Books | Antworten auf Fragen rund um E-Books, Kopierschutz und Dateiformate finden Sie in unserem Info- & Hilfebereich.
Author Gary L. Bloomfield, a military journalist in what is called "the demilitarized" zone between North and South Korea in the 1970s, combines his personal experience with interviews and historical insights to present a fresh, up-to-date, account of what it is like to serve on perhaps the most contentious strip of land in the world today.
The Devil's Playground combines history with current events that today have the rest of the world watching, hoping there is no explosion, which could lead to a nuclear war. While world attention is focused on the Koreas, few people understand what is at stake and what happens there every day. Here is the unfiltered answer.
Formed in 1953 after the Korean War ended in a stalemate, the demilitarized zone is anything but. It is in fact one of the most heavily-armed regions in the world--a powder keg just waiting for someone to light the fuse. There have been more than 40,000 truce violations ranging from minor fisticuffs to brutal killings, from moving heavy artillery into the zone to assassination attempts in downtown Seoul since the Armistice Agreement was signed.
The demilitarized zone is also the focus of an intense propaganda war-with thousands of flyers sent across the border each year from both sides. Few people realize that over the years North Korea has trained 100,000 men for guerrilla warfare across the border, and it is unknown how many have already secreted themselves in South Korea. It is the duty of the American and South Korean soldiers there to stop them.
Gary Bloomfield presents here the first unvarnished accounts of the tension and the impact serving on the line can bring. Just one example: Though firefights are rare, US soldiers often hear North Korean soldiers and their laughter and the taunts, but they rarely see their tormentors.
Life along the demilitarized zone is a war of nerves, a game of cat and mouse, though it's hard to tell who's chasing whom. Bloomfield covers it all in unsparing detail and offers fascinating previously little-known details.
Life along the demilitarized zone is a war of nerves, a game of cat and mouse, though it's hard to tell who's chasing whom. Bloomfield covers it all in unsparing detail and offers fascinating details. Here is Guardpost Ouellette, which some American soldiers call the edge of the world; or Radar Site #4, overlooking the truce village of PanMunJom to the west, a hilltop where the tension is thick 24 hours a day; deadly minefields and miles of razor-sharp concertina wire and the desperate people who try of pass over them. Here also are the trigger-happy, shoot-to-kill sentries along the border on both sides; concrete bunkers with 24-hour guards armed with machine-guns, and spotlights, trip flares and other sensing devices concealed everywhere add to the heavily-fortified barrier against a North Korean attack. And of course the details of the Tree Incident in 1976, which nearly triggered World War III.
The Devil's Playground is a living history with the spit of real life and a vivid look at brinksmanship in its most precarious state.
More details
Other editions
Additional editions

Person
Content
- Intro
- The Devil's Playground
- Contents
- Author's Notes
- Foreword
- Introduction: Why I Wrote This Book
- Overview: Still Standing Guard in Korea
- 1 An Olympic Hero
- 2 DMZ Incidents
- 3 The Minefield
- 4 The Tree Incident
- 5 Shangri-la: Inside the World's Deadliest Border
- 6 Agent Orange: A Deadly Legacy
- 7 Cause of Death Unknown
- 8 Chuseok-Korea's Day of Thanksgiving
- 9 Tit for Tat at PanMunJom
- 10 Tour to PanMunJom
- 11 The Longest, Loneliest Christmas
- 12 Infiltration
- 13 The Blue House Raid
- 14 The Pueblo Incident
- 15 Other Incidents
- 16 The Children
- 17 The DMZ's Porous Southern Barrier Fence
- 18 Guard Post Ouellette
- 19 Lifeline to Seoul
- 20 The Tunnels
- 21 Shell-Shocked
- 22 Deciphering the Myths of the Kim Dynasty
- Final Thoughts
- Index
- About the Author
System requirements
File format: ePUB
Copy protection: Adobe-DRM (Digital Rights Management)
System requirements:
- Computer (Windows; MacOS X; Linux): Install the free reader Adobe Digital Editions prior to download (see eBook Help).
- Tablet/smartphone (Android; iOS): Install the free app Adobe Digital Editions or the app PocketBook before downloading (see eBook Help).
- E-reader: Bookeen, Kobo, Pocketbook, Sony, Tolino and many more (not Kindle).
The file format ePub works well for novels and non-fiction books – i.e., „flowing” text without complex layout. On an e-reader or smartphone, line and page breaks automatically adjust to fit the small displays.
This eBook uses Adobe-DRM, a „hard” copy protection. If the necessary requirements are not met, unfortunately you will not be able to open the eBook. You will therefore need to prepare your reading hardware before downloading.
Please note: We strongly recommend that you authorise using your personal Adobe ID after installation of any reading software.
For more information, see our ebook Help page.