The author’s name suggests that he is of German descent, but he is one of the most anti-German WWII historians I have ever read. He does not accept that the Versailles treaty was an injustice to Germany, nor does he buy into the claim that Hitler admired the British and would have rather allied with …
Tag: War
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2014/09/20/a-world-at-arms-by-gerhard-weinberg/
Jun 22 2014
The Korean War by Max Hastings
This is the best book on the subject I have read so far. The author is British and therefore has no patriotic ax to grind about either the motives or the performance of the United States in this war. He acknowledges that Syngman Rhee was a brutal and corrupt dictator who committed numberless atrocities against …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2014/06/22/the-korean-war-by-max-hastings/
May 12 2014
For Reasons of State by Noam Chomsky
The first four chapters of this book deal with the perceived immorality and injustice of the Vietnam War. By now I am so used to Chomsky’s blame-America-first arguments that I tend to be dismissive of them, but his indictments in this book do make me stop and think. The rest of this book consists of …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2014/05/12/for-reasons-of-state-by-noam-chomsky/
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2012/06/18/the-march-of-folly-by-barbara-tuchman/
May 18 2012
A Better War by Lewis Sorley
Every now and then you get a revisionist account of Vietnam that argues that the U.S. military knew what it was doing and could have won the war if not for the hippies, the journalists, and the politicians. Sorley makes a decent case that the war under the command of General Creighton Abrams was not …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2012/05/18/a-better-war-by-lewis-sorley/
Feb 20 2012
Napoleon by Frank McLynn
This is the best and most balanced biography of Napoleon I have read so far. It contains much excellent scholarship and critical commentary; however, it also contains a lot of amateur Freudian analysis that is pure rubbish. While I am neither a warmonger nor an imperialist, I find it hard to read a biography of …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2012/02/20/napoleon-by-frank-mclynn/
Jan 09 2012
A History of Warfare by John Keegan
This is Keegan’s best work. In most of his works he analyzes the science of warfare; in this book he also analyzes the psychology and culture of warfare. He takes exception from the beginning with Clausewitz’s dictum that war is politics by other means, and shows with ample evidence from history that war often is …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2012/01/09/a-history-of-warfare-by-john-keegan/
Oct 25 2011
War and Our World by John Keegan
This is a very thoughtful and rational analysis of a very diabolical subject. Keegan acknowledges that war has evolved into something so terrible that it is to be avoided at all costs, but at the same time argues that war and preparedness for war remain unfortunate necessities in the fallen world in which we live. …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2011/10/25/war-and-our-world-by-john-keegan/
Jul 25 2011
The Second World War by John Keegan
War is terrible to experience, but fascinating to read about. I have read this book before, but it was worth rereading. Keegan’s approach to the study of war is coldly technical and rather short on human feeling, but his tactical and strategic analysis is admirably thorough. For a snobby Brit, he is a great admirer …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2011/07/25/the-second-world-war-by-john-keegan/
Apr 22 2011
Infantry Attacks by Erwin Rommel
This book reads like a series of military field reports, which is basically what it is. Rommel displays his flair for aggressive command of infantry under extremely challenging circumstances in the First World War, and I suppose many might find his accounts of courage and resourcefulness under fire very inspiring. But reading this memoir gives …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2011/04/22/infantry-attacks-by-erwin-rommel/
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