Korea Operation War Dance By Alfred Smith McDonald (650pages, photos, drawings, maps) Reviewer:  Bernie Ditter Overall Rating: Three stars--Recommended. A solid effort. Often books are written by people who tell about an experience and then there are those written by researchers who gather all kinds of information about a subject and then weave it into a narrative. Alfred McDonald has done both. He parallels the events occurring in Korea during the peace talks with his experience aboard the USS Silverstein (DE-534). And, as if this were not enough, he provides a historical perspective on the run up to the Korean War following WWII, an insight to the Truman administration policies as they relate to pressing a containment action vs winning the war, an explanation of the loss of Nationalist China to the Communists and other facts about the "Police Action" that may provide a greater understanding of why things were done during this time in our history. For example, the impact of having prisoners on both sides presenting the conundrum of determining which China or which Korea they wanted to return to. As a former destroyer sailor, in fact one whose ship relieved the Silverstein in 1952, I can enjoy the stories of taking the Silverstein out of moth balls and preparing her and her crew for war as I did the same on my destroyer. I was reminded that although there were almost three hundred of us in the crew confined for over two years together most of us were only close to those in our divisions. As with most liberties; especially when we have similar memories. Particularly of interest to this reviewer were the pictures of Japan, Korea and Hong Kong. It had been over fifty years since I saw the EM Club in Yokosuka or the Harbor in Hong Kong. looking at it today makes one doubt that it ever looked as rural. To the historian the tremendous amount of information about the Korean Conflict will be impressive. One of the reviewers on the book jacket writes "McDonald has given us a powerful keyhole from which to see and finally understand a valiant time in our nation's history". For me, his continued narrative of the conclusion of the war following his return home was helpful to my recollection of why we were there and just what we were doing. I am certain that there are many tin can sailors who will be enlightened by this book.