Patrick Shrier

I own this site see my About me page

De Re Militari is back up

by

Just a quick info post.

Anybody who has tried to follow the link to DeReMilitari on the sidebar of the blog in the past few weeks has discovered that Google says it is a malware hosting site.   They were hacked at the beginning of the month but are now back up.   They are having to completely rebuild their site because apparently the malware got them good.   So far they have their review section up because it was not affected by the hack.   The rest of their site should come back up over the next few weeks or months.

Glad to see them back they are an invaluable starting point for Medieval research.

Book Review: A Mighty Fortress by David Weber

by

This is the fourth book in the Safehold series by David Weber.   Weber is mainly famous for the Honor Harrington books and the original three Starfire books.   Personally I can’t think of any books of his that I have read that I did not like.   He has the gift of creating believable universes with characters that come to life.   I find myself easily losing track of time when I read Weber’s books.   As with any series, I recommend starting from the beginning, otherwise it is easy to get lost because there is so much back story that you just don’t know.   The Safehold books … More after the Jump…

The Battle of Jena-Auerstädt: 14 Oct 1806

by

The Battle of Jena-Auerstädt was fought in Germany on 1806 between the French Imperial Army and the Prussian Royal Army. It is actually two separate battles separated by about twenty miles. Both the French and Prussian armies were split leading to two separate engagements one was fought by Napoleon and Davout commanded the French Corps at Auerstädt. The battle at Jena was the larger of the two as far as forces involved are concerned but the action at Auerstädt was operationally the more decisive. Combined, the Prussians suffered a devastating defeat that they could not recover from and led to the virtual surrender of the kingdom in the face of … More after the Jump…

The Recent Furor over Catholics and Contraception

by

I felt compelled to post something about the current furor in the States between the Catholic Church and the Government over the announced mandate to force the church to cover contraception in contravention of church beliefs and doctrine.   I will say up front that I am Catholic and support eh church in its position. Firstly, I keep reading comments on articles about the controversy to the extent that Catholics should shut up and comply because not every employee of Catholic hospitals is Catholic.   To which I respond that accepting a job at any organization is a choice and you cannot convince me that employees of Catholic institutions do … More after the Jump…

Book Review: A Desert Called Peace by Tom Kratman

by

I have reviewed several of Mr Kratman’s books so far and this is another one. I have read all of his books before and find myself going back and rereading them while I wait for the next to come out. Kratman is one of those authors that makes me wish people could write as fast I can read so I would not have to wait so long in between books. Since they cannot, I settle for rereading what they have already published, Kratman’s work is well worth reading and A Desert Called Peace is no exception. The book is a thinly veiled recitation of what could happen to the earth. … More after the Jump…

SLDN Stay out of my Inbox

by

I have gotten two emails over the last twelve hours at my @military-history.us address from the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network(The Gays in the Military Advocacy Group), I don’t for the life of me know why.   I have never supported the repeal of DADT and was sure happy that I retired from the military less than a month after its official repeal.   I am guessing that since I have a military themed site and have not really commented on DADT they thought I might support them.   They could not be more wrong. I have strong moral reservations to homosexuality in general and personal objections to homosexuals serving openly. … More after the Jump…

Book Review: Julius Caesar: Lessons in Leadership from the Great Conqueror by Bill Yenne

by

[FULL DISCLOSURE: I received my copy of this book free from the publisher. I was not paid for this review and the opinion expressed is purely my own] I am someone who loves the ancients and loves reading the their stories. That being said, I am much more likely to read Caesar’s Commentaries or Plutarch’s Life of Caesar than a modern day biography derived from those sources. In fact, I have read all those ancient works, most in both English and the original Latin. This book was a pleasure to read anyway.   Bill Yenne has put together a comprehensive account of Caesar’s life that someone unfamiliar with Caesar’s exploits … More after the Jump…

Everyone should Read This

by

Truth, lies and Afghanistan: How military leaders have let us down LT. COL. Daniel L. Davis probably just ended his career by publishing the above linked article in the Armed Forces Journal. LTC Davis is calling out the administration and senior military leadership as liars in the reports they are publicly producing on the state of affairs in Afghanistan. I applaud LTC Davis for calling it like he sees it. Unfortunately, I don’t think anything will come of it except professional disgrace for an officer who is trying to stand up for what he believes in. No doubt, he tried to bring these issues up to his superiors and was … More after the Jump…

Book Review: Makers of Ancient Strategy – Edited by Victor David Hanson

by

This book was conceived as being a sort of prequel to the modern classic, Makers of Modern Strategy, edited by Peter Paret and first published in the 70’s and updated in the 90’s. As Dr Hanson states in his foreword the scholars who wrote the various essays presented in the book did so with an eye to drawing lessons from antiquity that are relevant to the challenges faced by modern states and statesmen. They have succeeded admirably. It is not as hard to do as you might think despite the fact that modern war is fought with the benefit of tanks, night vision, aircraft, and satellite communications. Modern commanders Face … More after the Jump…

The Battle of Rorke’s Drift

by

The 1879 Battle of Rorke’s Drift is one of the most celebrated, and smallest battles in British history. It occurred in 18179 during the Zulu War in South Africa at the Mission and Supply Station of Rorke’s Drift. During the battle, some 179 British soldiers held off and defeated a force of over 4,500 Zulu warriors winning a eleven VC’s in the process. The Battle itself occurred around Rorke’s Drift, a British mission station that had been converted to a logistics base and hospital by the British Army, it is located on the border between Natal Province in the colony of South Africa and Zululand. The battle occurred on the … More after the Jump…

Blitzkrieg and Other Funnies

by

I saw these posters several years ago at a site I can no longer remember and saw them again today in my random pictures folder.  As graphic design college students know, sometimes the words that accompany images can make them more humorous. I think they are hilarious so I decided to share them.  They no doubt exist in many other places on the intertubes as well. If anyone knows where to attribute these please let me know in the comments, a sense of humor like this needs to be encouraged.

Book Review: Race & Economics: How Much Can be Blamed on Discrimination? by Walter E. Williams

by

I was first motivated to buy this book by the blizzard of negative articles and news pieces about it when it was first published. I also realize that I am opening myself to charges that I am not competent to comment or even post a review of this book because I am white, as the picture on the About Me page clearly shows. I am going to review it anyway because I think the book was worth reading and worth talking about even if someone disagrees with its conclusions. Williams makes several highly controversial points in this book about policies that have kept black people and other minorities from achieving … More after the Jump…

Europe and Modern War

by

Saw an interesting piece awhile ago on the South African Business Day website called: GIDEON RACHMAN: Threat of war seems unreal in an age of peace. The essential point is that although war seems to have been eradicated in Europe, don’t count it out if the Euro crisis gets as bad as it possibly can. I think it is naive in the extreme to think that because there has not been a major war in Europe for the past 65+ years that one cannot happen.   We should keep in mind that it was 49 years between the Congress of Vienna ending the Napoleonic Wars and the Prusso-Danish war of … More after the Jump…

Book Review: The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman

by

The Guns of August is one of the classic histories of World War I. It was originally published in 1962 and has remained a mainstay of accounts of the opening months of the war ever since. The book reads more like fiction than reality as Mrs. Tuchman brings the main players alive through her descriptive style of writing. She effortlessly recounts the events of August, 1914 and tries to bring the reader into the mood of that month when world shaking events were happening. Not all of her conclusions about the cases of the war have withstood the test of time and she repeats some stories that have since been … More after the Jump…

The Battle of Zama – 202 B.C.

by

The Battle of Zama, fought in 202 B.C., was the culminating battle of the Second Punic War between Carthage and Rome. The short story of the battle is that a Roman army under Scipio met and destroyed the Carthaginian Army under Hannibal. The defeat forced the Carthaginian Senate to sue for peace and ended the war. What makes the battle interesting from my perspective is that the Roman army was outnumbered and on the offensive and still won. This is not typically what happens in warfare, especially in warfare in antiquity when numbers made a rather large difference in melee combat. One thing that makes Zama stand out is the … More after the Jump…

+ More