chenj@cmcl2.NYU.EDU (James Chen) (06/10/89)
From: chenj@cmcl2.NYU.EDU (James Chen) As an armchair soldier I've been interested in finding a book or series of books with a total vision of war. Most works are concerned with either a specific person, place, time, or weapon. I wanted an overview or an outline. Something like such and such happened here which cause these people to invent this which led to that or the other. I'm aware that such works will have their weaknesses, but they are important for their strategic strength. Some one at the Soldier Shop off of Madison Ave recommended the West Point series. What is the general net view on this series? Thanks in advance. -Jimmy Chen (chenj@cmcl2.nyu.edu)
allen%codon1.Berkeley.EDU@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (Edward Allen;345 Mulford;x2-9025) (06/14/89)
From: allen%codon1.Berkeley.EDU@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (Edward Allen;345 Mulford;x2-9025) Lynn (sp.?) Montross's "War Through the Ages" is a classic for the grand sweep of military history. I think that's the title anyway, its been years since I read it. It's an old book but it seems like the kind Jimmy Chen was looking for. I looked at a couple of the West Point books. They looked pretty good to me but I didn't have the cash at the time to collect a series. Ed Allen (allen@enzyme.berkeley.edu)
howard@cos.com (Howard C. Berkowitz) (06/15/89)
From: howard@cos.com (Howard C. Berkowitz) In article <7344@cbnews.ATT.COM>, chenj@cmcl2.NYU.EDU (James Chen) writes: > > As an armchair soldier I've been interested in finding > a book or series of books with a total vision of war. Most works > are concerned with either a specific person, place, time, or weapon. > I wanted an overview or an outline. Something like such and such > happened here which cause these people to invent this which led > to that or the other. I'm aware that such works will have their > the West Point series. What is the general net view on this series? > I looked at the West Point series in a bookstore, and found them very elementary, seemingly (in a few glances) at the level of a high school (perhaps honors) history course. For surveys, JFC Fuller's _A Military History of the Western World_ is probably better. For the consequences of warfare, or the reasons for going to same, several things come to mind. Fred Ikle's _Every War Must End_ is outstanding in analyzing such things as the German and Japanese strategic overreach in WWII, and generally dealing with the concept of knowing the conditions of victory and of defeat before starting wars. Henry Kissinger's _Essays on American Foreign Policy_ has some interesting concepts on negotiating behavior. Several things by John Keegan, such as _The Face of Battle_, deal with styles of warfare (but he keeps getting the things printed in UNREADABLE fonts!). Morris Janowitz's _The Professional Soldier_ deals with motivation on a personal level. -- howard@cos.com OR {uunet, decuac, sun!sundc, hadron, hqda-ai}!cos!howard (703) 883-2812 [W] (703) 998-5017 [H] DISCLAIMER: Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the Corporation for Open Systems, its members, or any standards body.