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The Making of Strategy
by Williamson Murray Macgregor Knox Alvin BernsteinMost writing about strategy has focused on individual strategic theorists or great military leaders. This book focuses instead on the messy processes by which rulers and states have framed strategy in the past - a subject of vital practical importance to strategists, and of great interest to students of strategy and statecraft. It consists of 17 case studies that range from fifth-century Athens and Ming China to Hitler's Germany, Israel, and the post-1945 United States. The studies analyse, within a common interpretive framework, precisely how rulers and states have made strategy. The introduction emphasises the constants in the rapidly shifting world of the strategist; the concluding essay tries to understand the forces that have driven the transformation of strategy since 400 BC and seem likely to continue to transform it in the future.
The Making Of The British Army
by Allan MallinsonEdgehill, 1642: Surveying the disastrous scene in the aftermath of the first battle of the English Civil War, Oliver Cromwell realized that war could no longer be waged in the old, feudal way: there had to be system and discipline, and therefore - eventually - a standing professional army.From the 'New Model Army' of Cromwell's distant vision, former soldier Allan Mallinson shows us the people and events that have shaped the British army we know today. How Marlborough's momentous victory at Blenheim is linked to Wellington's at Waterloo; how the desperate fight at Rorke's Drift in 1879 underpinned the heroism of the airborne forces at Arnhem in 1944; and why Montgomery's momentous victory at El Alamein mattered long after the Second World War was over . . . From the British Army's origins at the battle of Edgehill to the recent conflict in Afghanistan, The Making of the British Army is history at its most relevant - and most dramatic.
The Making of the Indian Princes
by Edward John ThompsonIndia’s political framework was made in twenty years: in 1799-1819, between the death of Tipu Sultan and the elimination of the Peshwa. The period opens with the destruction of the Muslim kingdom of Mysore and ends with the disintegration of the Maratha Confederacy into a series of separate chieftaincies. These two conquests gave the British the control of India.After Tipu’s destruction the Marathas remained. When they were finally beaten down, Modern India was formed and its map in essentials drawn. The arrangement was to stay until the slow process of time and the coming of new systems of political thinking made it an anachronism, calling for Round Table Conferences, White Papers, and their sequel in constitutional legislation and political offers. India, as we knew it yesterday and the world has known it, was made in the space of these twenty years, first by the shattering of what Lord Wellesley styled ‘the Mahratta Empire’ and then, after a brief period of uncertain and faltering doctrine, by Lord Hastings’ firm establishment of the States which had survived, each in the niche and status which was to be legally accepted as its own until our day. The Indian ‘Prince’ emerged in 1806, arising, like the Puranic Urvasi, from the churning of the Ocean by the Gods and Demons, and received his position in India’s polity in 1819.
The Making of the Modern Admiralty: British Naval Policy-Making 1805-1927
by C. I. HamiltonThis is an important new history of decision-making and policy-making in the British Admiralty from Trafalgar to the aftermath of Jutland. C. I. Hamilton explores the role of technological change, the global balance of power and, in particular, of finance and the First World War in shaping decision-making and organisational development within the Admiralty. He shows that decision-making was found not so much in the hands of the Board but at first largely in the hands of individuals, then groups or committees, and finally certain permanent bureaucracies. The latter bodies, such as the Naval Staff, were crucial to the development of policy-making as was the civil service Secretariat under the Permanent Secretary. By the 1920s the Admiralty had become not just a proper policy-making organisation, but for the first time a thoroughly civil-military one.
The Making of the Second World War
by Anthony P. Adamthwaite"The Reformation, the French Revolution, the First World War were episodes so explosive and cataclysmic that the discussion of their origins exercises a perennial fascination. The Second World War is in a similar category. There are several reasons for the attraction it exerts: fashionable nostalgia; the background of intense ideological struggle between fascism, communism and democracy; the decisive contribution of the war to the decline of western Europe from the political pre-eminence enjoyed for four hundred years; the mass of public and private papers - never before have historians been able to write so close to events with the benefit of archives; lastly the fact that it was a peoples’ war, involving all the machinery and resources of the modern state." -Introduction: Sources and Historiography
Making The Russian Bomb: From Stalin To Yeltsin
by Thomas B. CochranThe Natural Resources Defense Council once again provides the definitive account of the current status of Russian nuclear weapons. Taking advantage of previously unavailable information the authors describe the origins, growth, and decline of the massive Soviet nuclear weapons production complex-the places involved in the recent headline-making epi
Making Sense of Ballistic Missile Defense: An Assessment of Concepts and Systems for U.S. Boost-Phase Missile Defense in Comparison to Other Alternatives
by Committee on an Assessment of Concepts Systems for U.S. Boost-Phase Missile Defense in Comparison to Other AlternativesThe Committee on an Assessment of Concepts and Systems for U. S. Boost-Phase Missile Defense in Comparison to Other Alternatives set forth to provide an assessment of the feasibility, practicality, and affordability of U. S. boost-phase missile defense compared with that of the U. S. non-boost missile defense when countering short-, medium-, and intermediate-range ballistic missile threats from rogue states to deployed forces of the United States and its allies and defending the territory of the United States against limited ballistic missile attack. To provide a context for this analysis of present and proposed U. S. boost-phase and non-boost missile defense concepts and systems, the committee considered the following to be the missions for ballistic missile defense (BMD): protecting of the U. S. homeland against nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction (WMD); or conventional ballistic missile attacks; protection of U. S. forces, including military bases, logistics, command and control facilities, and deployed forces, including military bases, logistics, and command and control facilities. They also considered deployed forces themselves in theaters of operation against ballistic missile attacks armed with WMD or conventional munitions, and protection of U. S. allies, partners, and host nations against ballistic-missile-delivered WMD and conventional weapons. Consistent with U. S. policy and the congressional tasking, the committee conducted its analysis on the basis that it is not a mission of U. S. BMD systems to defend against large-scale deliberate nuclear attacks by Russia or China. Making Sense of Ballistic Missile Defense: An Assessment of Concepts and Systems for U. S. Boost-Phase Missile Defense in Comparison to Other Alternatives suggests that great care should be taken by the U. S. in ensuring that negotiations on space agreements not adversely impact missile defense effectiveness. This report also explains in further detail the findings of the committee, makes recommendations, and sets guidelines for the future of ballistic missile defense research.
Making Sense of Suicide Missions
by Diego GambettaBased on a wealth of original information and research, and containing contributions from internationally distinguished scholars, 'Making Sense of Suicide Missions' furthers our understanding of this chilling feature of the contemporary world in radically new and unexpected ways.
Making the Corps: 61 Men Came to Parris Island to Become Marines
by Thomas E. RicksThe United States Marine Corps, with its proud tradition of excellence in combat, its hallowed rituals, and its unbending code of honor, is part of the fabric of American myth. Making the Corps visits the front lines of boot camp in Parris Island, South Carolina. Here, old values are stripped away and new Marine Corps values are forged. Bestselling author Thomas E. Ricks follows these men from their hometowns, through boot camp and into their first year as Marines. As three fierce drill instructors fight a battle for the hearts and minds of this unforgettable group of young men, a larger picture emerges, brilliantly painted, of the growing gulf that divides the military from the rest of America. Included in this edition is an all-new afterword from the author that examines the war in Iraq through the lens of the Marines from Platoon 3086, giving readers an on-the-ground view of the conflict from those who know it best
Making the Future: Occupations, Interventions, Empire and Resistance
by Noam ChomskyMaking the Future presents more than fifty concise and persuasively argued commentaries on U.S. politics and policies, written between 2007 and 2011. Taken together, Chomsky's essays present a powerful counter-narrative to official accounts of the major political events of the past four years: the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq; the U.S. presidential race; the ascendancy of China; Latin America's leftward turn; the threat of nuclear proliferation in Iran and North Korea; Israel's invasion of Gaza and expansion of settlements in Jerusalem and the West Bank; developments in climate change; the world financial crisis; the Arab Spring; the assassination of Osama bin Laden; and the Occupy protests. Laced throughout his critiques are expressions of commitment to democracy and the power of popular struggles. "Progressive legislation and social welfare," writes Chomsky, "have been won by popular struggles, not gifts from above. Those struggles follow a cycle of success and setback. They must be waged every day, not just once every four years, always with the goal of creating a genuinely responsive democratic society, from the voting booth to the workplace." Making the Future is a follow-up to Interventions, published by City Lights in 2007 and banned from Guantánamo Bay by U.S. military censors. Both books are drawn from articles Chomsky has been writing regularly for the New York Times Syndicate, but which go largely ignored by newspapers in the United States. Making the Future offers fierce, accessible, timely, gloves-off political writing by one of America's foremost intellectual and political dissidents.
Making the Immigrant Soldier: How Race, Ethnicity, Class, and Gender Intersect in the US Military
by Cristina-Ioana DragomirImmigrants to the United States have long used the armed forces as a shortcut to citizenship. Cristina-Ioana Dragomir profiles Lily, Alexa, and Vikrant, three immigrants of varying nationalities and backgrounds who chose military service as their way of becoming American citizens. Privileging the trio’s own words and experiences, Dragomir crafts a human-focused narrative that moves from their lives in their home countries and decisions to join the military to their fraught naturalization processes within the service. Dragomir illuminates how race, ethnicity, class, and gender impacted their transformation from immigrant to soldier, veteran, and American. She explores how these factors both eased their journeys and created obstacles that complicated their access to healthcare, education, economic resources, and other forms of social justice. A compelling union of analysis and rich storytelling, Making the Immigrant Soldier traces the complexities of serving in the military in order to pursue the American dream.
Making the March King: John Philip Sousa's Washington Years, 1854-1893
by Patrick WarfieldJohn Philip Sousa's mature career as the indomitable leader of his own touring band is well known, but the years leading up to his emergence as a celebrity have escaped serious attention. In this revealing biography, Patrick Warfield explains the making of the March King by documenting Sousa's early life and career. Covering the period 1854 to 1893, this study focuses on the community and training that created Sousa, exploring the musical life of late nineteenth-century Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia as a context for Sousa's development. Warfield examines Sousa's wide-ranging experience composing, conducting, and performing in the theater, opera house, concert hall, and salons, as well as his leadership of the United States Marine Band and the later Sousa Band, early twentieth-century America's most famous and successful ensemble. Sousa composed not only marches during this period but also parlor, minstrel, and art songs; parade, concert, and medley marches; schottisches, waltzes, and polkas; and incidental music, operettas, and descriptive pieces. Warfield's examination of Sousa's output reveals a versatile composer much broader in stylistic range than the bandmaster extraordinaire remembered as the March King. Warfield presents the story of Sousa as a self-made business success, a gifted performer and composer who deftly capitalized on his talents to create one of the most entertaining, enduring figures in American music.
Making the Military Moral: Contemporary Challenges and Responses in Military Ethics Education (Military and Defence Ethics)
by Don Carrick, James Connelly and David WhethamThis book offers a critical analysis, both theoretical and practical, of ethics education in the military. In the twenty-first century, it has become increasingly important to ensure that the armed forces of Western and other democracies fight justly and behave ethically. The ‘good soldier’ has to be not only professionally skilled but morally intelligent. At a time of relentless media scrutiny, the publicising of incidents of morally and legally unacceptable behaviour, such as the gross mistreatment of prisoners and the torture of suspected terrorists, can do much to undermine the credibility of those who claim to hold the moral high ground in any particular conflict. Written by an international team of academic theorists and military practitioners, this volume provides inter-disciplinary insights into the present state, and the future, of ethics education in the militaries of Western democracies. The contributors critically address the central question of whether such education is sufficient to prepare members of the armed forces to face the peculiar challenges of conflict environments that are now primarily ‘wars among the people’, in which the opposing combatants may have little or no regard for human life and fail to discriminate between soldiers and civilians when choosing their targets. Drawing lessons from recent examples of unethical conduct, this original book offers insightful and constructive advice, both theoretical and practical, as to how situations can be improved and on the means that could and should be employed towards this end. This book will be of much interest to students of military studies, ethics and international relations.
Making the Soldier Decisive on Future Battlefields
by Division On Engineering Physical SciencesThe U. S. military does not believe its soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines should be engaged in combat with adversaries on a "level playing field. " Our combat individuals enter engagements to win. To that end, the United States has used its technical prowess and industrial capability to develop decisive weapons that overmatch those of potential enemies. In its current engagement--what has been identified as an "era of persistent conflict"-- the nation's most important weapon is the dismounted soldier operating in small units. Today's soldier must be prepared to contend with both regular and irregular adversaries. Results in Iraq and Afghanistan show that, while the U. S. soldier is a formidable fighter, the contemporary suite of equipment and support does not afford the same high degree of overmatch capability exhibited by large weapons platforms--yet it is the soldier who ultimately will play the decisive role in restoring stability. Making the Soldier Decisive on Future Battlefields establishes the technical requirements for overmatch capability for dismounted soldiers operating individually or in small units. It prescribes technological and organizational capabilities needed to make the dismounted soldier a decisive weapon in a changing, uncertain, and complex future environment and provides the Army with 15 recommendations on how to focus its efforts to enable the soldier and tactical small unit (TSU) to achieve overmatch.
Making Twenty-First-Century Strategy: An Introduction to Modern National Security Processes and Problems
by Dennis M. Drew Donald M. SnowMaking Twenty-first-century Strategy: An Introduction to Modern National Security Processes and Problems
Making War at Fort Hood: Life and Uncertainty in a Military Community
by Kenneth T. MacLeishAn intimate look at war through the lives of soldiers and their families at Fort HoodMaking War at Fort Hood offers an illuminating look at war through the daily lives of the people whose job it is to produce it. Kenneth MacLeish conducted a year of intensive fieldwork among soldiers and their families at and around the US Army's Fort Hood in central Texas. He shows how war's reach extends far beyond the battlefield into military communities where violence is as routine, boring, and normal as it is shocking and traumatic.Fort Hood is one of the largest military installations in the world, and many of the 55,000 personnel based there have served multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. MacLeish provides intimate portraits of Fort Hood's soldiers and those closest to them, drawing on numerous in-depth interviews and diverse ethnographic material. He explores the exceptional position that soldiers occupy in relation to violence--not only trained to fight and kill, but placed deliberately in harm's way and offered up to die. The death and destruction of war happen to soldiers on purpose. MacLeish interweaves gripping narrative with critical theory and anthropological analysis to vividly describe this unique condition of vulnerability. Along the way, he sheds new light on the dynamics of military family life, stereotypes of veterans, what it means for civilians to say "thank you" to soldiers, and other questions about the sometimes ordinary, sometimes agonizing labor of making war.Making War at Fort Hood is the first ethnography to examine the everyday lives of the soldiers, families, and communities who personally bear the burden of America's most recent wars.
Making War to Keep Peace: Trials and Errors in American Foreign Policy from Kuwait to Baghdad
by Jeane J. KirkpatrickWith the powerful words that marked her long and distinguished career, Jeane J. Kirkpatrick explores where America has gone wrong—and raises lingering questions about what perils tomorrow might hold. In Making War to Keep Peace, the former U.S. Ambassador to the UN traces the course of diplomatic initiatives and armed conflict in Iraq, Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia, and Kosovo to illuminate the dangerous shift from the first Bush administration's ambitious vision of a New World Order to the overambitious nation-building efforts of the Clinton administration. Kirkpatrick questions when, how, and why the United States should resort to military solutions—especially in light of the George W. Bush administration's challenging war in Iraq, about which Kirkpatrick shares her "grave reservations" for the first time.
Un mal necesario (Tríptico de Asclepia #Volumen 3)
by Ian TregillisUn mal necesario cierra la historia del Tríptico de Asclepia, la historia bélica sobrenatural y alternativa sobre la Segunda Guerra Mundial 12 de mayo de 1940. Cuartel General de Asclepia (Londres, Inglaterra) VOLVEMOS A EMPEZAR La historia del siglo XX, cincelada a golpe de tecnología y magia, se ha visto fatalmente marcada por los retorcidos experimentos de un peligroso científico nazi, capaz de dotar de superpoderes a simples mortales. Su legado se ha convertido en el codiciado tesoro que el Tercer Reich primero, y la Unión Soviética después, han buscado sin descanso en los últimos años. Tan solo los brujos británicos, gracias a los oscuros demonios de la naturaleza que apenas pueden controlar, han logrado contener el avance de este ejército de superhombres. Sumidos en la cruenta contienda, nadie sospecha el papel determinante que ha tenido durante décadas Gretel, poderosa clarividente. Ahora, su plan está a punto de completarse, y con él, llegará el fin de la humanidad. En un último y desesperado intento por cambiar el curso de la historia, Raybould Marsh, oficial del Servicio Secreto de Inteligencia británico, viajará al pasado para salvar, de una vez por todas, a su familia y su país. La crítica ha dicho... «La conclusión del Tríptico de Asclepia de Tregillis es una obra maestra. Un mal necesario es la mezcla perfecta de ciencia ficción, fantasía e historia alternativa. Su narrativa fluye sin interrupciones, y su argumento es asombrosamente convincente. Sus personajes te dejan pasmado, tanto los héroes como los villanos, sobre todo el honorable, atormentado y, aun así, audaz Raybould.» RT Book Reviews «Ian Tregillis nos deja alucinados con este libro y demuestra que es uno de los mejores escritores noveles de ciencia ficción. No se pierda bajo ningún concepto esta trilogía. Un mal necesario cierra una historia fabulosa.» Fantasy Book Critic «Enigmáticamente fascinante. Una conclusión absolutamente satisfactoria a un imaginativo tour de force.» Kirkus Review
Malaya 1942 (Australian Army Campaigns Series #5)
by Brian Farrell Gareth PrattenWhen Imperial Japan unleashed the Pacific War in December 1941, Australian forces went into action, as part of a larger British Empire force, to defend Malaya and Singapore. Australia's principal contribution to defending Malaya and Singapore was the 8th Division. Originally raised for service in the Mediterranean, the division was committed piecemeal to Malaya and its performance was bedevilled by poor command decisions in the face of an enemy better prepared on all counts for the campaign at hand. The 8th Division, however, also reflected some strengths of the AIF at large: stubbornness in positional defence, effective and flexible small unit tactics and leadership, and skill and determination in close quarter combat. Singapore was lost more in spite than because of Australian efforts, but its loss underlined Australia's strategic dependence on `great and powerful friends' during the Second World War.
Malayan Emergency and Indonesian Confrontation: 1950-1966
by Mark LaxAustralia&’s involvement in the Malayan Emergency from 1950 to 1960 and later in a confrontation with Indonesia in the 1960s is little remembered today. Yet the deployment of over a third of the RAAF to support the British and Malayan governments in what became a long war of attrition against communist insurgents in the former case, and against Indonesian regulars and militia in the latter, kept the RAAF engaged for over 15 years. Wars by another name, these two events led to the birth of Malaysia and the establishment of an ongoing RAAF presence in South East Asia. Until recent operations in Afghanistan, the Malaya Emergency was Australia&’s longest conflict. Malayan Emergency and Indonesian Confrontation recounts the story of the politics, strategies and operations that brought these two conflicts to a close.
The Malayan Emergency & Indonesian Confrontation: The Commonwealth's Wars, 1948–1966
by Robert JacksonThe struggle with Communist terrorists in Malaya known as The Emergency became a textbook example of how to fight a guerrilla war, based on political as much as military means. This book deals with both the campaign fought by British, Commonwealth and other security forces in Malaya against Communist insurgents, between 1948 and 1960, and also the security action in North Borneo during the period of Confrontation with Indonesia from 1962 to 1966. Both campaigns provided invaluable experience in the development of anti-guerrilla tactics, and are relevant to the conduct of similar actions which have been fought against insurgent elements since then. The book written with the full co-operation of various departments of the UK Ministry of Defence contains material that untilrecently remained classified.This is the first full study to cover the role of airpower in these conflicts. It will be of relevance to students at military colleges, and those studying military history, as well as having a more general appeal, particularly to those servicemen and women who were involved in both campaigns.
Malditos Bastardos
by Quentin TarantinoDurante la II Guerra Mundial, un pelotón de soldados judíoamericanos conocidos como «Los Bastardos» son seleccionados para sembrar el terror a lo largo y ancho del Tercer Reich. Su misión: asesinar tantos nazis como puedan. Sus métodos: todo está permitido. Todo es válido. Ojo por ojo, diente por diente. Hitler no sabe lo que le espera.
Malice Aforethought: A History of Booby Traps from the First World War to Vietnam
by Ian JonesWar has always provided a stimulus to technological development, and throughout the twentieth century this new technology was harnessed to produce increasingly deadly and malicious types of explosives in the form of booby traps, mines, delayed-action devices and mobile charges. Designed, constructed or adopted to kill or injure, these lethal mechanisms function when a person disturbs or approaches a seemingly harmless object or performs an apparently safe act. In other instances they are set off by remote control or automatically after a lapse of time. Fully illustrated with diagrams and photographs, Malice Aforethought traces the design, deployment and effectiveness of these deadly devices throughout both world wars to the Vietnam War. Expertly and compellingly written, this unique study is a tribute to the brave men who risked their lives daily to neutralise the booby traps laid in the dimly lit dugouts of the Western Front, on the beaches of Normandy, or in the dark and dangerous tunnels of Chu Chi.
Malice Aforethought: A History of Booby Traps from the First World War to Vietnam
by Ian JonesAn examination of the uses of explosive traps in a military context and the measures that have been taken to negate their effects and to neutralize them. War has always provided a stimulus to technological development, and throughout the twentieth century this new technology was harnessed to produce increasingly deadly and malicious types of explosives in the form of booby traps, mines, delayed-action devices and mobile charges. Designed, constructed or adopted to kill or injure, these lethal mechanisms function when a person disturbs or approaches a seemingly harmless object or performs an apparently safe act. In other instances they are set off by remote control or automatically after a lapse of time. Fully illustrated with diagrams and photographs, Malice Aforethought traces the design, deployment and effectiveness of these deadly devices throughout both world wars to the Vietnam War. Expertly and compellingly written, this unique study is a tribute to the brave men who risked their lives daily to neutralize the booby traps laid in the dimly lit dugouts of the Western Front, on the beaches of Normandy, or in the dark and dangerous tunnels of Chu Chi.
The Maligned Militia: The West Country Militia of the Monmouth Rebellion, 1685
by Christopher L. ScottDespite its failure to unseat King James II, the Monmouth Rebellion had a profound influence upon English politics. In particular, it reignited the debate about whether the country should rely on a professional army under direct royal control or local country militias made up of part-time soldiers. King James favoured the former, and used criticism of the militia’s performance during the rebellion to support his argument. Contemporary commentators and historians alike all certainly seemed to agree that the king’s victory was won in spite of - not because of - the militia. But is this a fair judgement? Drawing upon a wealth of information gathered from personal accounts, private papers, letters, financial records, diaries and memoirs, this book revisits the events of 1685 to assess the militia’s performance in helping to defeat the so-called ’pitchfork rebellion’. Through an extensive investigation into the militia itself, its social composition, role, training, armament and leadership the study sets a benchmark for what could have been realistically expected of these part-time soldiers, and then sets this against the actual tasks that were asked of it in 1685. The results that emerge from this exercise paint a very different picture of the militia’s role in the rebellion than has hitherto been accepted by historians. Judged by these criteria, a convincing case is made that the militia was in fact an efficient military organisation according to contemporary expectations and demands made of it. Criticisms of it, it is argued, stem more from political expediency than impartial judgment. As well as being of interest to military and social historians, this book demonstrates the dangers to all historians of taking at face value contemporary comments. It shows how subtle and interlocking forces, that may at first glance appear unrelated, can work together to colour opinions of events and organisations.