Military History
Bookstore
with Book Reviews
Most of these books I recommend, either because
they present new or different ideas, cover neglected topics, or because they
are well written. They are rated between one and five stars,
with five being excellent, four being very good, three good, and the rare
book below three is not recommended. Scroll down for links to
specific sections.
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Links to Specific Sections
General Military History, Strategy, and Tactics
Ancient and Medieval
Early Modern Warfare - Renaissance to the 19th Century The most
interesting time period in history.
American Revolution
Napoleonic Wars
Civil War
19th Century to World War I
World War II
Naval See also Renaissance to the 19th
Century.
History, Economic History, and Generalities
The fascinating and profound. Take a look!
Other
Historical Strategy Games
Jazz You might just like it.
Take a listen to the samples and see!
Movies/Video
General Military History, Strategy, and Tactics
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Strategy
***** One of the great military thinkers of all time, B.H. Liddell
Hart advocates "the indirect approach" instead of a bloody Clauswitzian battle.
The author uses examples from ancient times to modern guerilla warfare
to prove his point. Although he doesn't always completely understand the wars he discusses, but
his concept is good.
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Forward
into Battle ***** Paddy Griffith argues
that the importance of firepower has been overestimated relative to shock
action. For instance, Griffith contends that Wellington's army was
successful not simply because of its volley fire but more importantly from
the subsequent charge. He argues that at New Orleans poor troops lacking
discipline failed to take a fortified line that good troops could have
taken. He details the rise of light infantry through the 1800s. Then he
shows that the shock action of brief artillery bombardments and stormtrooper
tactics broke through the trenches of World War I. With every technological
advance and increase in firepower, people have prophesied an "empty
battlefield" and neglected shock at their peril.
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Transformation of War ****1/2 by
Jean Colin. A classic of military theory and tactics, Colin's book
discusses the changes in warfare from ancient times to the era just prior
to the First World War. His analysis of ancient tactics is short and
possibly suspect, perhaps added only to support his theories. Starting
with the gunpowder era, however, his tactical analysis rightly emphasizes
the psychological, and his discussion of 19th century tactics is
excellent, being a good overview of military thought from the 19th Century
up to the First World War. Colin advocates the offensive. Shock action is
important, but firepower superiority is the vital prerequisite. When
it is achieved, even troops in open order can advance with the bayonet.
The 18th century and
Napoleonic eras are discussed, and Colin gives a good analysis of Napoleon's methods -
consistent attempts to threaten enemy communications, both operationally and
tactically. Moltke is seemingly criticized but later vindicated for
his shallow flanking moves. The translation is generally very good
and only occasionally awkward. I hope, in vain, that more
translations of his work are made, especially his writings on 18th century
tactics.
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From Flintlock to Rifle ****
As it was printed in the late 1970s, Steven Ross's well written book,
covering from 1740 to 1866, is now somewhat dated but still interesting
and useful. It is flawed in some of its conclusions, and it neglects
issues of weapons effectiveness as well as the psychological features of
battle in favor of an almost exclusive focus on formations and other
'nuts and bolts' issues. Use of columns for maneuver and attack are
well covered as are the the use of skirmishers and changes in doctrine of
various Western armies over time. The author gives many examples
from battles of the era. So this book is a good introduction to
tactics of the era but understandably shouldn't be taken as the 'be all end
all' on the subject. It is best read in combination with Nosworthy's
and Muir's more recent books for a fuller, more accurate view.
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Great
Battlefields of the World **** First published
in the mid 1980s and still in print, John Macdonald wrote this book that
features artistically rendered aerial views of famous battles created with the help of computers.
This shows how terrain affected the course of battle when battles have affected
the course of history. Not just a book of visual gimmickry, this well
written book helped spark my interest in world military history. It is an
excellent introduction to military history.
The
Evolution of Weapons and Warfare **** Trevor Dupuy
shows how advances in weapons technology have changed tactics from ancient
to modern times.
A
Genius for War: The German Army and General Staff, 1807-1945
***** Trevor Dupuy recounts the formation of the German general
staff system in the Napoleonic era and how this system created the superior
German war machine of the 1800s and 1900s. The Prussian-Austrian War
of 1866 and the Franco-Prussian War and well covered. The author uses
statistics to show the superiority of the German army during the world
wars.
The
Mask of Command **** John Keegan shows how different
styles of leadership were suited to their times. Keegan uses Alexander,
Wellington, Grant, and Hitler as examples of hero, anti-hero, un-hero,
and false hero leadership styles. We are treated to Wellington washing
himself twice a day and tossing aside a chicken bone in a fit of genius. It
is generally a good book, but why are the British such big fans of U.S. Grant?
War
and the World: Military Power and the fate of Continents,
1450-2000 *** Like most Jeremy Black
books, neglected conflicts around the world are covered, an especially refreshing
change from most books. On the downside, Black jumps around a lot, often
lacks coherence, is occasionally self plagarising, and makes occasional
errors of fact. Warfare in Europe is neglected in favor of the rest
of the world, but despite his PC smack talking about Eurocentrism, he clearly
is more knowledgeable about European history.
Ancient and Medieval
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The
Grand Strategy of the Roman Empire *****
Edward Luttwak explains how Roman grand strategy evolved as threats to the
empire changed. He shows how Augustus began a system of client states
which evolved in a fortified barrier with a reserve to react to penetrations.
Eventually, barbarian tribes formed confederacies that were able to
breach Roman defenses. In a failed response, the Romans created a defense
in depth.
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The
Reach of Rome: A History of the Roman Imperial Frontier 1st to 5th Century
AD ***** Derek Williams discusses the fortifications
which protected the Roman frontier and shows the ingenuity of the designers
and the defenders and how the defenses were adapted to local conditions.
Especially interesting are the North African defenses and the techniques
to accumulate water and irrigate the desert to grow enough crops to feed
the garrisons.
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Art
of War in the Middle Ages AD 378-1515 **** Charles Oman
shows the tactical changes in medieval warfare from the rise of the armored
knight to their decline due to the longbow, crude artillery, and the Swiss
phalanx. The important social changes from this decline are also
discussed.
19th Century to
World War I
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The Austro-Prussian War ****1/2
Geoffrey Wawro's treatment of the war is primarily operational, with a
good discussion of the political and diplomatic, and a fair discussion of
the tactical. Despite the author visiting the battlefields, only one
photo of Custoza in Italy is shown, and the battlefield maps are poor,
with little detail and no scale. The needle gun revolution is
touched upon, but artillery is not dealt with in any detail. Frequent
mention is made of troops opening fire at 300 yards or longer, but Wawro
shows little skepticism of the effect of fire at these ranges. Casualty figures
are given for a number of units, but since original unit strengths and
orders of battle are not given, we can only guess at percentage
casualties. The cavalry of both sides was committed to battle but
little to no mention
of doctrine on this, or combined arm tactics, is given. The Austrian infantry,
armed with muzzle-loading rifle muskets, and attacking in columns, were
slaughtered by the Prussians in open order, armed with breech loading
needle guns which could be fired prone. The Austrian
commander, Benedek, had the opportunity to defeat the Prussian
armies in detail, first as they emerged from the mountains, and secondly
at Koniggratz, where he incompetently ordered his line back from a flank
attack on one army group and instead awaited a concerted Prussian attack
from a Prussian army which arrived on his flank.
Had he not done so, he could have held off the Prussian invasion, and the threat
of French intervention could have ended the war, changing the course of
German, and world, history.
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The Franco-Prussian War **** By
Geoffrey Wawro. Napoleon III had envisioned a "United States of
Europe" with France at its head, but his various efforts to that end
failed. Having political problems, and desiring a foreign war to
distract attention and consolidate power, he declared war on Prussia.
Although Bismarck had also provoked the war, which he needed in order to
unify Germany, the French
declaration discouraged intervention from Denmark, Italy, and
Austria. France's early defeats ended any such possibility, and problems with
the
army ensured defeat. The small all volunteer army lacked discipline
and used poor tactics, so although armed with the superior Chassepot
rifle, the French were consistently flanked and driven back. Poor
artillery, no plan, and a slow mobilization contributed to failure.
The book's tactical discussion is better than Wawro's 1866 book, with a
good summary of that war and its lessons also. Cavalry use and
doctrine are discussed, and the maps are better than the 1866 book.
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Real War, 1914-1918 ***** B.H. Liddell Hart knew
better than most the "Real War"- the incompetence, lost opportunities, and
the eventual decisiveness of the war. Hart believes the British came very close to
a breakthrough in 1915, and he downplays the importance of the tank in favor of
improved infantry and artillery tactics. The first several pages include an
excellent discussion of the causes of the war and the diplomacy of the pre-war
period. He also discusses the argument whether the war was won in the East and
Home Front or on the Western Front.
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The West Point Atlas of American Wars: Volume II 1900-1918
****1/2 by Vincent Esposito. A smaller companion to Volume I which focused
primarily on the Civil War, this book has the same concise style and the same
excellent analysis. Unfortunately, the nature of the First World War makes the
maps less interesting and less useful than Volume I. Nevertheless, it provides
invaluable understanding of the war.
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Stormtroop Tactics : Innovation in the German Army, 1914-1918
***** by Bruce Gudmundsson. The German Army's prewar focus was on operational matters, and
tactics were neglected. This changed with trench warfare and the resultant lack of
vulnerable flanks to attack. Because Germany was a new nation, formerly
composed of a myriad of small states, the army was decentralized. So in small units, commanders tried different
things; they were told the objective - but not how to accomplish it. The
prewar lack of officers,
and a belief that men had to be controlled - influenced perhaps by the rise of socialism
- reinforced the early use of company columns which, upon contact with the enemy, deployed into closed order lines.
This system lead to high casualties, poor results, and a search for a better
way. From the beginning, however, some units used open order lines and suffered much less under fire.
Without a centralized command telling low level officers how to do their jobs,
new ideas were tried, and successful ones were spread. Because of shortages of
artillery ammunition, short bombardments which kept the enemy's heads down were
developed - essentially shock action. Trench mortars, developed from
observation of the Russo Japanese War, served the same purpose, and poison
gas was developed. More importantly, through the influence of limited
objective attacks and special raiding units, the traditional infantry companies
were no longer composed solely of riflemen. Flame throwers, grenades, and
light machine guns were added, and units were allowed to advance as far as
possible into the enemy position, with squad leaders given much more freedom to
act on their own. Gudmundsson focuses attention on these sorts of
developments up to 1917 but relatively little on the great 1918 attacks, which
brought the new methods into use on a massive scale.
World War II
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The Illustrated Directory of Tanks
***** by David Miller. A very good, concise, inexpensive, and
well illustrated guide to the major tanks from the First World War to the
present.
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Hitler's
Panzers East: World War II Reinterpreted
***** In this controversial book the author argues
that the decisive moment of World War II was in 1941 when, against the advice
of his army commanders, Hitler diverted his armored troops to the Ukraine
and away from Moscow.
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Panzer
Battles ***** F.W. von Mellinthin masterfully explains
German armored warfare and tactics throughout the war. The author fought
in Poland, France, Yugoslavia, North Africa, Russia, and Northwestern Europe.
He analyzes the tactics of the British in North Africa, the Red Army,
and the US Army in Northwest Europe. Very readable.
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Brute
Force ***** by John Ellis. Sadly
out of print and probably not widely read, this excellent volume shows how
the Allies wasted lives and resources in the successes against the Axis starting
in 1943. Mobile warfare and victory have obscured this. Ellis
compares the Allied war effort to killing a bug with a sledgehammer.
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There's a War To Be Won ****1/2
At least in the initial pre-war portion of this large well-written book on
the US Army in World War II, author Geoffrey Perret sees the army through
rose colored glasses. He clearly has his favorites, like Marshall,
and commanders he dislikes, like MacArthur, but he sees little at all
wrong with the army. For instance, the author hints that head of
Ground Forces Lesley McNair made some major errors, but he can't bring
himself to spell them out and condemn them. Once the war begins,
however, the book appears to be completely different, with blunders being
a regular feature of the narrative. Although the book is insightful
and well worth reading, the reader has to wonder about the author's
objectivity. How could an army supposedly so great make such
horrible mistakes?
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Closing With the Enemy *****
Michael Doubler argues that the US Army in World War II was more effective
than it is often portrayed. After learning some basics in North
Africa and Italy, the Army developed true combined arms tactics starting
in Normandy, and due to the Army's decentralized nature, successful ideas
spread throughout the whole organization. Hedgerow assault tactics
developed in several divisions in Normandy and quickly spread throughout
the whole army, allowing the Allies to break the deadlock. Close air
support techniques as effective as any of the war were pioneered by IX TAC.
Tactics for assaulting fortifications and crossing rivers developed
contrary to doctrine, as doctrine was seen more as a rough guideline
rather than something to be strictly followed. The book is well
written and difficult to put down at times, giving an excellent discussion
of tactics and tactical development. The author makes his case as
convincing as it perhaps can be made. This is why the book deserves
5 stars. Nevertheless, the book has some flaws and should be read
only along with other viewpoints. Despite admitting to serious
errors with the replacement system, supply, and operations, it seems that
the author views the army through rose colored glasses, perhaps because he
looks at the low levels of command. The high command was another
matter. Except for tank destroyers, the book gives little insight
into the flawed concepts of Leslie McNair and their effect on weaponry and
tactics. McNair's ideas caused the inferiority of American tanks
during the war, a topic not even touched on in the book. In fact,
although the book gives a very good treatment of the infantry, the armored
divisions are neglected, and I was left wanting more detail on the
artillery. Overall, this book would be a valuable addition to your
collection, but it should be read along with viewpoints to get a broader
view.
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The Sharp End: The Fighting Man in World War II
***** by John Ellis. When you get depressed and down on yourself,
this is a good book to read - because as bad as it may get, it can't much
worse than war. Ellis shows just how bad the "good war", World War
II, was. Some of his statistics are as useful as anything; With the
infantry making up around 14% of a division, they took 90% of the
casualties, and some divisions lost several hundred percent of their
strength through the war.
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Bodyguard of Lies: The Extraordinary True Story Behind D-Day ***** by Anthony
Cave Brown. As Winston Churchill said, in war, the truth is so
precious that it must be protected by a bodyguard of lies. The
author explains the importance of allied intelligence and gives gripping
tales of espionage behind German lines. The politics and diplomacy
of the war are discussed, including keeping Spain out of the war and
intrigues in the Balkans, including failed attempts by both sides to get
Turkey to enter the war.
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Modern
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63 Days and a Wake-up ***** by Don Herbert. Written for
someone considering joining the Army but without trying to convince them one way
or the other, "63 Days" takes you from the recruiting process through boot camp.
The author, a National Guardsman who spends part of his spare time "pleading with his
neighbor to wear clothes while shooting groundhogs in his backyard",
suspects that
"you've got better things to do with your time and money than spend it on a
three-hundred-page book that contains forty pages of substance".
Predictably, the resulting 167 pages are a useful, easy to read description of what
to expect from basic combat training. I was able to read most of my copy
in a single evening, and I enjoyed it despite having no interest in joining the
Army. Herbert gives useful advice
to make the basic training experience "fun". Whether "fun" is the kind of fun that most
people have, or the kind of "fun" that masochists have, is not clearly defined,
however. Advice ranges from not bringing your stash of alcohol and porn
to perhaps surprisingly, "keeping it real", when circumstances dictate.
Since contact with the outside world during basic is extremely limited, it is important to
take care of any business beforehand. Be careful choosing who you have to
help you back home as it leads many people into big trouble. There's also plenty of useful advice about what items
to bring that you might not think of, a fingernail brush, foot powder and a flashlight for instance,
as well as the proper physical training you need before you leave. Remember, when
it comes to exercise, the Army way and your way may not be the same - and the
Army insists that their way is right. You need to enter boot camp already
prepared. This book should help you do it.
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Naval
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Fleet Tactics: Theory and Practice ***** When Cpt. Wayne
P. Hughes couldn't find a textbook on naval tactics, he wrote his own. He
covers surface to surface warfare from Lissa to the present and aircraft
carrier tactics from pre-World War II to the present. Especially well
covered are carrier and destroyer actions of the Pacific in theory and practice.
The basic idea of the book is strike effectively first.
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