The Capture of the USS Pueblo

<p> For President Lyndon Johnson 1968 was a year of calamity including the hijacking of the USS <I>Pueblo</I> in international waters off North Korea. After a fierce attack by the North Korean Navy the lightly armed spy ship was captured and its 83 crewmen taken hostage imprisoned and tortured for nearly a year before being released.</p><p> How and why did the Navy the National Security Agency and the Johnson administration place the <I>Pueblo</I> in such an untenable situation? What drove Kim Il-sung North Korea's autocrat to gamble on hijacking a ship belonging to the world's most powerful nation?</p><p> Drawing on extensive research including summaries of White House meetings and conversations the author answers these questions and reviews the events and flawed decisions that led to <I>Pueblo</I>'s capture.</p>