大卫•哈伯斯塔姆，1934年生于纽约市，1955年毕业于哈佛大学，1960年入《纽约时报》华盛顿分社，投入广泛的美国民权运动报道中，1962年成为该报驻越南西贡特派记者。他是美国知名传播学者以及历史学家，美国战地新闻记者，最受美国人尊敬的记者之一，“水门事件”揭发人伍德沃德称其为“记者之父”。1964年，30岁的哈伯斯塔姆因由西贡发回的新闻报道而荣膺当年的普利策奖，美国总统林登•约翰逊因此称其为“国家叛徒”。哈伯斯塔姆曾先后创作了二十多本畅销书，其中包括《最寒冷的冬天》《出类拔萃之辈》。2007年4月23日，哈伯斯塔姆在为他的下一本书进行采访途中因车祸罹难。

Up until now, the Korean War has been the black hole of modern American history. "The Coldest Winter" changes that, giving readers a masterful narrative of the political decisions and miscalculations on both sides. He charts the disastrous path that led to the massive entry of Chinese forces near the Yalu, and that caught Douglas MacArthur and his soldiers by surprise. He provides astonishingly vivid and nuanced portraits of all the major figures - Eisenhower, Truman, Acheson, Kim, and Mao, and Generals MacArthur, Almond, and Ridgway.At the heart of the book are the individual stories of the soldiers on the front lines who were left to deal with the consequences of the dangerous misjudgments and competing agendas of powerful men. We meet them, follow them, and see some of the most dreadful battles in history through their eyes. As ever, Halberstam was concerned with the extraordinary courage and resolve of people asked to bear an extraordinary burden. Contemporary history in its most literary and luminescent form, "The Coldest Winter" provides crucial perspective on the Vietnam War and the events of today.