Category Campaigns & Operations
Modern interpretations of the law of war are flawed from a war winning perspective This point cannot be hammered home enough as it is the root of the problem with Western war making in my opinion. The establishment of the… Continue Reading →
The French Army in Italy was a failing army but was revitalized in 1796 by the arrival of Napoleon and his dynamic leadership style that allowed his soldiers to realize their potential. The soldiers were unpaid and underfed; they… Continue Reading →
[FULL DISCLOSURE: I received my copy of this book free from the author and/or publisher. I was not paid for this review and the opinion expressed is purely my own] October, 2015 was the 650th anniversary of the French defeat… Continue Reading →
I got to thinking about the question at the title of this post a few months ago. Being me I started doing some research and then put my thoughts down in what ended up being a fairly long paper for… Continue Reading →
I will admit that when I first got the request to review Pearl Harbor: The Missing Motive I was skeptical. After finishing it I remain skeptical but will admit that the author makes a well-written, if not necessarily compelling case… Continue Reading →
The Battlefield of Cannae: a Site Visit The Battle of Cannae in 212 B.C. is perhaps the platonic ideal of what a decisive victory should look like. Western commanders have been trying to replicate it since it happened over two… Continue Reading →
Storming the City: U.S. Military Performance in Urban Warfare from World War II to Vietnam by Alec Wahlman is a study of the 20th Century United States experience in urban warfare. It examines four urban battles fought by US forces… Continue Reading →
This episode explores the differences between hard and soft power and discusses what is normally meant when the to terms are used. Download this episode (right click and save)
A discussion of what terrorism is, what are terrorism’s goal, and what are the realistic options for dealing with it. Download this episode (right click and save)
This podcast is a wider discussion of strategy and the different aspects and types of strategy there are. Strategy is not one overarching concept except at its most basic. There are different nuances to strategy and strategy development that exist… Continue Reading →
While not strictly military history, Hidden Warships is a very interesting book nonetheless. It details how and where to visit many shipwrecks and sunken ships from World War II all over the world. The book is 237 pages of text with… Continue Reading →
A discussion of what the different terms Tactical, Operational, & Strategic actually mean and how they are so often misused both in history books but especially within the media. Download this episode (right click and save)
[FULL DISCLOSURE: I received my copy of this book free from the author and/or publisher. I was not paid for this review and the opinion expressed is purely my own] McNamara’s Folly is a book about a topic that needed… Continue Reading →
This podcast discusses Air Power and its limits. Specifically I expose the myth that it is possible to win a war with airpower alone. The example of Kosovo often held up as showing airpower can win wars is discussed as… Continue Reading →
The 2014 US Army Chief of Staff Professional Reading List (PRL) was released in the Summer of 2014 and I was relieved in the extreme to see that there was only one novel on the list, Once an Eagle by Anton Myrer. The… Continue Reading →