Editorial Review

Published in 1988 to universal acclaim, this single-volume treatment of the Civil War quickly became recognized as the new standard in its field. James M. McPherson, who won the Pulitzer Prize for this book, impressively combines a brisk writing style with an admirable thoroughness. He covers the military aspects of the war in all of the necessary detail, and also provides a helpful framework describing the complex economic, political, and social forces behind the conflict. Perhaps more than any other book, this one belongs on the bookshelf of every Civil War buff. ... Read more

Reviews (149)

Excellent treatment of the war and its causes
Since its publication nearly 20 years ago, Professor McPherson's Battle Cry of Freedom has enjoyed the status as the definitive single volume treatment of the Civil War.Over the years I have read Shelby Foote's great three part "Narrative History" and the three part Bruce Catton Civil War Trilogy, while those accounts are somewhat easier reads written with a novelist's touch, there is certainly much here to be admired.
Beyond the X's and O's
This Pulitzer Prize winning book is touted by many as the `best one-volume history of the Civil War'.McPherson's preview says that US history, and the Civil War in particular, are a tapestry of many economic, religious, and social issues and that his intent is to weave them all together into a hermeneutical lesson as opposed to a topical one, since they all interact. He also gives us some history leading up to the Civil War and some history following the Civil War, since there is no such thing as a vacuum in history. It is about the X's and O's of the battles of the Civil War, as well as the reasons why the Civil War was inevitable.
It kills me!
I fall asleep at every single chapter. I think that it's meant for older people AND as a torturing device for high school students! (AHS -I hate summer assignments!) I mean, come on! We're only rising 11th graders! This kind of stuff doesn't interest most of us yet! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1861-1865, Civil War    2. Campaigns    3. Civil War, 1861-1865    4. History    5. History - Military / War    6. History: American    7. U.S. History - Civil War And Reconstruction (1860-1877)    8. United States    9. United States - Civil War    10. American history: c 1800 to c 1900    11. History / United States / Civil War Period (1850-1877)    12. History, American | Civil War & Reconstruction    13. USA    14. War & defence operations    15. c 1800 to c 1900   

Reviews (62)

Mr. Keegan's Opus
This is the first work that I and most others discovered Mr. Keegan's great mind for military history. It is an overview of the evolution of warfare from the middle ages to the present but more than that it seeks to answer the question of what motivates the common soldier to fight instead of following his instinct to run.Mr. Keegan's admiration and adoption of the common soldier's lot is moving and commendable in itself. He brings out the hero in the common man and for that all us common men can thank him.

Keegan at His Very Best
John Keegan is one of our best writers of military history and The Face of Battle is simply Keegan at his very best. He attempts to explain what humans actually do under the stress of battle and why. The book contains keen insights and some surprises. For example, while running away may intuitively seem highly sensible from the standpoint of self-preservation, it is in fact one of the most dangerous things a soldier can do. Or the US Army study that showed a shockingly high percentage of US army infantry never fired their rfiles when under fire - that study led directly to a sharp increase in the emphasis on the psychological molding of soldiers in US Army training camps.
A Modern great book of Military History. Buy it and read it!
`The Face of Battle' by renowned English military historian, John Keegan is one of those books I would always keep in stock if I were managing a bookstore. In its own field of `analytical' military history, it is probably one of the two or three most important works available to the average reader (that is, not including classified material and training material reserved for the world's professional military at West Point, Sandhurst and what have you).
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Subjects:  1. Battles    2. History    3. History - General History    4. History: World    5. Medieval    6. Military - General    7. Military history    8. Special Interest - Adventure    9. History / Military / Strategy    10. Land forces & warfare    11. Modern period, c 1500 onwards    12. War & defence operations    13. World history    14. c 1000 CE to c 1500   

Reviews (60)

Great Book
This is a great book, full of facts.It is very interesting to see the planes as they develop.I enjoyed all the different views supplied by the Airforce, the Engineers, the Pilots and the Government officials.The book cantains some foul language.Very interesting and totally enjoyable.Good technical information.Covers: Stealth, U2 and the Blackbird very well.

The best aircraft designer memoirs I've read to the date
Believe me if a Russian aviation nut goes to bed in 4 A.M. when he could not stop reading this, it really worth buying. Filled with good humor and Kelly Johnson's 'Goddam!'s, it also has an insider look at US aerospace industry decision making, sometimes wery paradoxal. I suspected that titanium for SR-71 was bought in Soviet Union and knew from our industry insiders that we captured D-21 Tagnoard a long time ago, but here I've seen proof from the first hands. I was nearly crying reading about Kelly Johnson death - I didn't know details before - and Lockheed's farewell to him publishing all-black newspaper page with crying Skunk Works skunk...Frankly, Johnson's memoirs were not so intriguinig for me, but now I'll re-read them with the other feelings. Highly recommend.

read it before it is banned by the accountants
One day soon, people will begin to claim that putting a man on the moon, safely operating an aircraft like the SR-71 for many years, or, flying daily New York to London supersonic never really happened - centimental people from the 60's just like to think their generation did those things. Without books like this the conspiracy theory would be attractive. Accountants are trained to know the cost of everything. Engineers, on the other hand, are trained to see the value in people and their ideas irrespective of their status. In the 1950s and 60s accountants just did the accounts. But it was a golden age for engineers.
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Subjects:  1. Aeronautics    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Business    4. History    5. Lockheed Advanced Development Company    6. Military    7. Military - Strategy    8. Research    9. United States    10. Aerospace & air transport industries    11. Biography: general    12. Career in aeronautics    13. History / Military / Strategy    14. Rich, Ben R   

Editorial Review

Hitler made two fundamental and crippling mistakes during the Second World War: The first was his whimsical belief that the United Kingdom would eventually become his ally, which delayed his decision to launch a major invasion of Britain, whose army was unprepared for the force of blitzkrieg warfare. The second was the ill-conceived Operation Barbarossa--an invasion of Russia that was supposed to take the German army to the gates of Moscow. Antony Beevor's thoughtfully researched compendium recalls this epic struggle for Stalingrad. No one, least of all the Germans, could foretell the deep well of Soviet resolve that would become the foundation of the Red Army; Russia, the Germans believed, would fall as swiftly as France and Poland. The ill-prepared Nazi forces were trapped in a bloody war of attrition against the Russian behemoth, which held them in the pit of Stalingrad for nearly two years. Beevor points out that the Russians were by no means ready for the war either, making their stand even more remarkable; Soviet intelligence spent as much time spying on its own forces--in fear of desertion, treachery, and incompetence--as they did on the Nazis. Due attention is also given to the points of view of the soldiers and generals of both forces, from the sickening battles to life in the gulags.Read more

Reviews (223)

Superb work on Stalingrad.
An excellent, thorough account of the battle of Stalingrad. New subjects were discussed that I had not known before like the amount of desertions on both sides and the level of horror that brought men to the brink of self-inflicted wounds and suicide. I also never knew that so many Russians fought for the Germans in the battle against their own countrymen. This gripping account was so detailed and vivid that I wanted to put the book down towards the end where the human misery and cruelness became almost to much bear, even from the safety of my living room. Superb work. A must read to understand this horrible account on modern warfare and the inhumanity of the Eastern Front.

Triumph and Tradgedy
As a history of a modern conflagration that seered its way into human consciousness as a turning point in World War II, it is difficult to see how Beevor's work could be inmproved.He has a sympathetic humanist's eye for the individual condition and a logistics expert's capacity to organise and control massive amounts of factual data.Extracts from soldier's and officer's letters home, for example, are moving yet carefully woven into the text.As the German 6th Army heads towards defeat and annihilation the courage and fortitude expressed by ordinary soldiers inspires the reader.As a commentary on the human condition Beevor's history of the Stalingrad reveals sad insights into the tradgedy of the human condition.Hitler's duplicity, Stalin's tremendous paranoid ego, racism, the cavalier disregard for civilians and the clash of twohorrid ideologies are laid bare.In the end, millions die and we can thank Beevor for reminding us to never forget.

Realistic, with the benefit of input from people who were there.
Usually, war experience books tend to rely on information released by, written by, and compiled by the "top brass", be it generals, politicians and official archives.They are usually complemented by maps with arrows pointing at troop movements and major battles and photos of war scenarios.This book, although having all that, also contains anecdotes and information provided by foot soldiers, auxiliary battle personnel, such as medics and nurses, and even children who underwent very traumatic experiences.It provides a realistic, down-to-earth (literally) picture of what was the major turning point of WW II, Hitler's Waterloo. Not for the squeamish.
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Subjects:  1. Europe - Germany    2. Europe - Russia & the Former Soviet Union    3. History    4. History - Military / War    5. Military    6. Military - Strategy    7. Military - World War II    8. Stalingrad, Battle of, 1942-1943    9. European history: Second World War    10. History / Military / World War II    11. Russia   

Editorial Review

Many histories of the American Revolution are written as if on stained glass, with George Washington's forces of good battling King George III's redcoat devils. The actual events were, of course, far more complex than that, and Robert Middlekauff undertakes the difficult task of separating the real from the mythic with great success. From him we learn that England taxed the colonials so heavily in an attempt to retire the massive debt incurred in defending those very colonials against other powers, notably France; that the writing of the Constitution was delayed for two years while states argued among themselves in the face of massive military losses; and that demographic shifts during the Revolution did much to increase America's ethic diversity at an early and decisive time. Vividly told, this is a superb account of the nation's founding. ... Read more

Reviews (24)

The cause and the glory both.
The Glorious Cause refers indeed to the attitude held by many of the American revolutionaries in the time of struggle for independence. What breakdown in relations turned British colonists into Americans, seemingly overnight?Robert Middlekauff's engaging retelling of the story attempts to explain the issues, clearly and in some detail, that arose in the aftermath of the Seven Years War. It was essentially a divergence of ways between the old mother country and the new, distant country-to-be that led to the split. England had one view of how colonies should exist and colonists had another. Breakdown was inevitable.
Excellent One-Volume Work on the American Revolution
Robert Middlekauff's "The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution, 1763-1789" is an extensive and excellent one-volume history of the American Revolution.Middlekauff covers all bases in this large (700-page) work: the diplomatic, political, social, and of course military history of the Revolution.
Not "Battle Cry of Freedom", but best 1-volume work on this period
This book didn't keep me on the edge of my seat like Battle Cry of Freedom, John Adams or Stephen Ambrose's works, but it does extremely well what it purports to do--weave together the events preceding, during and following the revolutionary period into a coherent whole, allowing the reader to see the big picture, as well as learning about the component parts.That is a big job and this book does it very well.
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Subjects:  1. Confederation, 1783-1789    2. History    3. History - General History    4. History - Military / War    5. History: American    6. Military - United States    7. Revolution, 1775-1783    8. United States    9. United States - 18th Century    10. United States - Colonial Period    11. United States - Revolutionary War    12. American history: c 1500 to c 1800    13. History / United States / Revolutionary Period (1775-1800)    14. History, American | Colonial & Revolutionary    15. USA    16. War & defence operations    17. c 1700 to c 1800   

Reviews (12)

A keeper
This is a classic. I bought one for myself and read it and then sent a copy to my son when he was stationed in Iraq. This should be a "must read" for military of all ranks and branches as well as the politicians who send them in harms way.

Officer Candidate Wilson
Very helpful. Will definitely reference this text throughout my career. I hope every soldier reads this and takes to heart the fact that it is our responsibility to be prepared, and to prepare those around us for whatever may come.

Telling it like it is
This book terrified me and gave me hope.
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Subjects:  1. History    2. History - Military / War    3. Military    4. Military - General    5. Military - Strategy    6. Technology / Military Science    7. Guerilla warfare    8. Infantry    9. Infantry drill and tactics    10. Military Science    11. Military Tactics And Strategy    12. Military art and science    13. Technology   

Subjects:  1. Children: Young Adult (Gr. 10-12)    2. Encyclopedias    3. History - Military & Wars    4. History - Military / War    5. Juvenile Nonfiction    6. Military    7. Military - General    8. Military Science    9. Military history    10. Reference - Encyclopedias    11. Technology & Industrial Arts    12. World - General    13. BCE to c 500 CE    14. Modern period, c 1500 onwards    15. Reference works    16. Revolutions & coups    17. War & defence operations    18. World history    19. c 1000 CE to c 1500    20. c 500 CE to c 1000 CE   

Subjects:  1. Europe - Germany    2. History    3. History - Military / War    4. Military    5. Military - Strategy    6. Military - World War II    7. Ruhr Pocket, Battle of the, Germany, 1945    8. Battles & campaigns    9. European history: Second World War    10. Germany    11. Second World War, 1939-1945   

Subjects:  1. Insurgency    2. Iraq    3. Iraq War, 2003-    4. Middle East - General    5. Occupied territories    6. Political Freedom & Security - Law Enforcement    7. Political Freedom & Security - Terrorism    8. Political Science    9. Politics / Current Events    10. Politics/International Relations    11. 21st century    12. Asian / Middle Eastern history: postwar, from c 1945 -    13. Political Science / Law Enforcement    14. War & defence operations   

Reviews (133)

masterpiece
I don't think I could add much more than what has already been said. This book is an absolute masterpiece. Alone, the description of the lay of the land on a war-infested island is worth the price of admission. What an unbelievable time period in this great nation's history. And, if I may politically editorialize a bit, it amazes me how many weak kneed "patriots" in our society today decry our collective losses as we keep the monumental battle "over there". Meanwhile (and I know it is not fashionable to talk "numbers" but...) we have about the same total losses in the so-called "War on Terror" (War on Islamo-Fascism is what it should be called, if we were not all so successfully cowed by the "mainstream" media) as they had on this now-little remembered battle on Peleliu. Go amongst your fellow creatures today, and ask how many of them have heard of "Peleliu"! Is anyone getting the point here, as far as cost-benefit analysis?
The horror; the horror
Unquestionably the best account of any of the island battles in the Pacific against the Japanese in WWII.Sledge takes you to the foxholes and tells you how it was, blood and glory, maggots and filth, rotting bodies and mud, endless machine gunnings andbombardments, unbearable heat and numbing cold.It's all there, and you'll wonder how anyone could keep their sanity through it all, much less write a book about it.Outstanding.

Semper Fi
Simple outstanding E. B. Sledge tells it like it was. A true testimony to the bravery and courage of the Marines in WW2. I grew up reading the dry WW2 books from Balentime Books. Numbers and stats. I loved it and grew up wanting to be like my dad. E.B. Sledge story is not numbers and stats. It isthe real life horror and courage of war. Reading his words will bring you to the brink and have you hooked.
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Subjects:  1. (Eugene Bondurant),    2. 1923-    3. Asia - Japan    4. Campaigns    5. History    6. History - Military / War    7. History: World    8. Japan    9. Military    10. Military - World War II    11. Okinawa Island    12. Peleliu Island (Palau), Battle    13. Peleliu, Battle of, Palau, 1944    14. Personal narratives, American    15. Sledge, E. B    16. World War, 1939-1945    17. American history: Second World War    18. Asian / Middle Eastern history: Second World War    19. Biography: general    20. History / Military / World War II    21. History, American | 1900-1945    22. USA    23. War & defence operations    24. c 1945 to c 1960   

Reviews (2)

Land Power Military Operations Research
Jaiswal provides the most recent land power-focused military operations research volume.He provides a basic survey of the field, beginning with a very brief discussion of the origins of OR in the military.His topics include search and detection, military simulation, cost effectiveness analysis, optimization, the Analytic Hierarchy Process, Lanchester equations, and a quantified approach to intelligence analysis.The reader should be aware that his coverage of various specific military simulation models is a bit dated, as one should expect in a book, and limited in scope.Beyond that topic, his treatment is broad and therefore less sensitive to the passage of time.The book is a survey, so depth of treatment is not present.But it fills the intended role of pulling together disparate topics of land-based military OR.It also provides some perspective on non NATO defense issues.It must be challenging to decide what to exclude, but surprisingly there is no coverage of network flows, queuing theory, decision analysis, or game theory which have clear military applications.The focus is also on operations rather than the logistics of military analysis.

Excellent and Only Text on Military OR
This book is by far the only book that comprehensively deals with Military Operations Research (MOR). The OR/SA field despite its origins in Military Operations has not seen as many books and texts as the business OR or Theory of OR. This can be attributed to the confidential nature of work the practitioners of MOR carry out.Read more

Subjects:  1. Decision making    2. Mathematical models    3. Military Operations    4. Military Science    5. Military art and science    6. Operations Research    7. Science/Mathematics    8. Technology    9. Technology & Industrial Arts    10. War & Military    11. Business & Economics / Operations Research    12. Fiction-War & Military    13. Operational research    14. Technology / Military Science    15. Technology-Operations Research    16. War & defence operations   

Reviews (2)

Iraq on a human scale
Kim Olson presents an excellent portrait of life in post-invasion Iraq. Her unique insider viewpoint humanizes the gigantic machine that is the military. Jay Garner's little group earnestly tried to create the infrastructure to fulfill a vague and poorly defined White House mission with little help and even less direction. The mission was nearly guaranteed to be a failure, and the toll it took on Kim was enormous. Her description of her background of 20+ years of military service and success, and her final failure to advance because of political infighting and mistakes and the grudges and discrimination of her superiors is a tale for all women serving in today's military. A moving story of war, the machine that makes it, and its human face is a fascinating read.

Trailblazer in a vale of tears
Colonel Olson rose to the top rank of Air Force jet pilots by taking charge of her professional life. Like other hard-chargers, she won some, lost some. This book lays out the atmospherics of Baghdad during the first hectic and terrible days of the American occupation, working along side Jay Garner. Flashbacks explain how she was invited to be Garner's executive officer and the many things she did trying to turn chaos into triumph. The whole thing came apart when the President put Bremer in and pushed Garner out. The defining aspect of this book is when Olson lays out a few serious missteps that cost her advancement without compromise to her character. There's really no other book around that lays out the daunting challenges Garner had to overcome, once Baghdad was captured. Whereas Bremer kept his own counsel close to his chest, Garner's strong suit was concensus building. Unfortunately for him--and maybe for the rest of us, too--he wasn't in place long enough to make a dent. Olson too comes across as the woman for her times. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography / Autobiography    2. History    3. Iraq War, 2003-    4. Military    5. Military - Iraq War    6. Military - Persian Gulf War    7. Military - Strategy    8. Olson, Kimberly    9. Personal Memoirs    10. Personal narratives, American    11. Asian / Middle Eastern history: postwar, from c 1945 -    12. Iraq    13. POLITICS & GOVERNMENT    14. Warfare & Defence   

Reviews (7)

This isn't about Osama
The General and the Jaguar is an absorbing and instructive book. It reads like a novel and is hard to put down.
A Not-So-Familiar Tale, Well-Told
A surprise attack on U.S. soil.Civilian casualties. Faulty intelligence. A hastily-organized punitive expedition. A "dead or alive" vow. The chief perpetrator gets away, but loses key confederates.And his ability to threaten the U.S. again is greatly reduced.
Small Incident - Big Lessons
This is a terrific story about the first attack on U.S. soil in the 20th century.It occurred 90 years ago and I was impressed by how much and how little things have changed in that span.The historical time and place (1916 Mexico and New Mexico) seems to be on the cusp of two separate eras.On one hand, you have real gun-toting, horse-riding revolutionaries who seem to be from the 1860s.On the other, you have an American army with a present day feel- political considerations manipulated them and modernity inspired them.About 40 years ago I was in Columbus and chatted with a couple locals who recalled the raid.They didn't strike me as quaint oldsters- one was still pretty incensed about it.Yet even then, Pancho Villa had become a kind of folk hero on both sides of the border.Now, Columbus has even named a park after him.Actually, Villa was as vile a creature as ever pulled on boots.He maintained his army by lethal coercion and his plunder and murder did no service to Mexico.By his own estimate, he was responsible for 43,000 deaths.However, only 18 Americans died in his notorious raid on Columbus.Indeed, many more Villistas were killed by the roused U.S. Army which had a base in town.Villa's troops had no training, little ammo and poor command.In every encounter with the gringos, 4 or 5 times as many Mexicans died as did Nortes- just like in the movies.
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Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Army    3. History    4. History - Military / War    5. History: World    6. Latin America - Mexico    7. Mexican-American Border Region    8. Mexico    9. Military - United States    10. Military History - Modern    11. Punitive Expedition into Mexico, 1916    12. Revolution, 1910-1920    13. U.S. History - Early 20th Century    14. United States - 20th Century    15. United States.    16. American history: from c 1900 -    17. First World War, 1914-1918    18. History / Mexico    19. New Mexico    20. War & defence operations   

Reviews (28)

The run-up to the war in Iraq
Are Islamists fighting us because of what we are, as George W. Bush contends, or because of what we do, as Michael Scheuer contends? Scheuer makes a convincing case for his position.
To See Ourselves as Others See Us.
The Scottish poet Robert Burns once said, "Oh would some power the gift give us, To see ourselves as others see us!
Through Our Enemies' Eyes
This book is four years old in facts yet has a 2006 copyright.Is beneficial for someone not familiar with Osama bin Laden but little benefit for someone who has good backround knowledge. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Government - U.S. Government    3. Islam    4. Jihad    5. Military - Strategy    6. Political Freedom & Security - Terrorism    7. Political Science    8. Politics / Current Events    9. Politics/International Relations    10. Religious aspects    11. Saudi Arabia    12. Terrorists    13. Violence    14. History / Military / Strategy    15. Terrorism, freedom fighters, armed struggle   

Reviews (5)

Backfire
John Sweet
Too bad it didn't get read by our leaders
I can't add to the description of the book, except to say that it's too bad more people haven't read it.Especially our leadership.It's horrendously important to recognize the failures that we're repeating in Iraq.

Hard book to put down
This is a remarkable book that I found very hard to put down. If you are interested in discovering why we went to war, and how we lost it, Backfire if for you.The author avoids the usual mantra of both the left and the right and gives us what may be the most comprehensive analysis of this war written to date. Although I will take issue with some of the authors assumptions, this book should be must reading for the politicians and military who wage war, and for parents who send their children to fight wars.Read more

Subjects:  1. 1945-    2. Asia - Southeast Asia    3. Civilization    4. History    5. History & Theory - General    6. History - General History    7. History: American    8. Military - Vietnam War    9. U.S. History - Vietnam Conflict (1965-1973)    10. United States    11. United States - 20th Century    12. Vietnam War, 1961-1975    13. Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975    14. American history: Second World War    15. Asian / Middle Eastern history: Second World War    16. Cultural studies    17. History / Europe / General    18. USA    19. Vietnam    20. War & defence operations   

Editorial Review

Stephen E. Ambrose combines history and journalism to describe how American GIs battled their way to the Rhineland. He focuses on the combat experiences of ordinary soldiers, as opposed to the generals who led them, and offers a series of compelling vignettes that read like an enterprising reporter's dispatches from the front lines. The book presents just enough contextual material to help readers understand the big picture, and includes memorable accounts of the Battle of the Bulge and other events as seen through the weary eyes of the men who fought in the foxholes. Highly recommended for fans of Ambrose, as well as all readers interested in understanding the life of a 1940s army grunt. A sort of sequel to Ambrose's bestselling 1994 book Read more

Reviews (257)

A great survey of the Army that defeated Fascism...
The point of this book is that the United States, after watching the first few years of the war, became, itself, a massive war-power of nearly unparalleled strength.
Comprehensive and Captivating
I thoroughly enjoyed Ambrose collection of stories from GIs who learned soldiering the hard way and returned to civilian life. Ambrose levels a severe criticism, well-deserved, on the US high command: their use of replacements. In this book you will see summary tables of how many men served in each division. This table reflects the quality, or lack of quality, of division commanders and the difficulty of the missions they accomplished. But, most of all, it shows how lack of experience increased casualties. Time and again veterans recount how, as raw replacements, they were sent to divisions in the line --- to watch other replacements quickly become casualties. Not only did the soldiers have to learn their craft --- the officers also learned some hard lessons. I remember a story of a battlelion commander in Normandy warning the green colonel replacing his to have his battlelion dig in before bivoacing. The officer ignored the advice, the Germans figured out where he was and his command became casualties. In this book, Ambrose recounts the experiences, in glory and sometimes humorous detail, of these GIs who fought on the western front.