News

Review Essay: The War in Nicaragua
March 27, 2024 — Colonel Joerg Stenzel (German Army), an instructor at the US Army War College, lends his expertise in strategy to this review of "the most famous and successful" filibuster featured in William Walker's 1860 work, The War in Nicaragua. As Stenzel notes, the book is Walker's "personal description of his own war in Nicaragua" that it is "arguably biased" and written "in the third person in a style that differs greatly from his earlier editorials." Stenzel provides an overview of Walker's life and contextualizes his actions in relationship to slavery, North-South rivalries, the Gold Rush, and Manifest Destiny, noting that "A closer look at Walker and his actions shows that Central America, with its instabilities and turmoil, had and still has significant geopolitical relevance for the US government."... MORE

Colonel Joerg Stenzel (German Army), an instructor at the US Army War College, lends his expertise in strategy to this review of "the most famous and successful" filibuster featured in William Walker's 1860 work, The War in Nicaragua.

Book Review: Violence in Defeat: The Wehrmacht on German Soil, 1944–1945
February 22, 2024 — Military History | Author: Bastiaan Willems | Reviewed by Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Gipper, US Air Force, faculty development scholar, Air University | Through an analysis of the German Wehrmacht's "barbarization" toward the end of World War II, Violence in Defeat provides a useful and cautionary case study on military effectiveness, distinction,... MORE

Book Review: Violence in Defeat: The Wehrmacht on German Soil, 1944–1945
Daniel Gipper

Author: Bastiaan Willems

Reviewed by Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Gipper, US Air Force, faculty development scholar, Air University

Book Review: The Islamic State in Afghanistan and Pakistan: Strategic Alliances and Rivalries
February 22, 2024 — Counterterrorism | Author: Amira Jadoon with Andrew Mines | Thomas F. Lynch III, PhD, Distinguished Research Fellow, Institute of National Strategic Studies, National Defense University | Professor and historian Dean Nowowiejski presents a thoughtful review of historian Tyler R. Bamford’s study on the “long-term impact of the interwar... MORE

Book Review: The Islamic State in Afghanistan and Pakistan: Strategic Alliances and Rivalries
Authors: Amira Jadoon with Andrew Mines

Reviewed by Thomas F. Lynch III, PhD, Distinguished Research Fellow, Institute of National Strategic Studies, National Defense University

Book Review: Waging a Good War: How the Civil Rights Movement Won Its Battles, 1954–1968
February 22, 2024 — Leadership | Author: Thomas E. Ricks| Reviewed by Keith Nightingale, retired colonel, US Army | Pulitzer Prize winner Thomas E. Ricks frames the American civil rights movement in terms of a (nonviolent) war, examining the leadership, strategy, and tactics required for success. Ricks also discusses the postwar-like effects the movement had on its... MORE

Book Review: Waging a Good War: How the Civil Rights Movement Won Its Battles, 1954–1968
Author: Thomas E. Ricks

Reviewed by Keith Nightingale, retired colonel, US Army

Book Review: Small Armies, Big Cities: Rethinking Urban Warfare
February 22, 2024 — Dr. John P. Sullivan gives an overview of Louise A. Tumchewics's anthology on the "persistent challenge" of urban warfare and highlights the work's strongest chapters and their value to "commanders and planners of future urban operations." Sullivan mentions chapter author Patrick Finnegan's discussion of "liminality" as particularly valuable and also calls John Spencer's siege discussion "one of the book's core contributions."... MORE

Book Review: Small Armies, Big Cities: Rethinking Urban Warfare
John P. Sullivan

Author: Louise A. Tumchewics (editor)

Reviewed by Dr. John P. Sullivan, instructor, Safe Communities Institute, University of Southern California

Book Review: Forging the Anglo-American Alliance: The British and American Armies, 1917–1941
January 17, 2024 — Professor and historian Dean Nowowiejski presents a thoughtful review of historian Tyler R. Bamford’s study on the “long-term impact of the interwar relationship between army officers” of the United States and Great Britain, which “endured despite tensions” and “despite the absence of guidance and in advance of the political approval that would later lead to the formal alliance.” Nowowiejski highlights Bamford’s emphasis on military exchanges, mechanization, military attachés, and intelligence sharing and notes the refreshing significance of the book’s focus on army—rather than navy or executive-level—relationships, which makes this title of particular value... MORE

Book Cover: Forging the Anglo-American Alliance: The British and American Armies, 1917–1941

Book Review: Boots and Suits: Historical Cases and Contemporary Lessons in Military Diplomacy
January 17, 2024 — Historian and professor Kenneth Weisbrode reviews retired US ambassador Philip S. Kosnett’s anthology on “just how contested, and how significant,” military diplomacy is. After highlighting the value of General Kenneth F. McKenzie’s (US Marine Corps, retired) instructive foreword, which defines military diplomacy, Weisbrode outlines the book’s range of case studies across history (from the Confederacy to Afghanistan), author perspectives (“academics and government officials”), and subject matter (“strategy, operations, and tactics”). He distills some of the book’s essential policy lessons for readers and notes the book’s wide-ranging utility for “teachers, students, and aspiring (or even veteran) military diplomats.”... MORE

Book Review: Boots and Suits: Historical Cases and Contemporary Lessons in Military Diplomacy
https://press.armywarcollege.edu/parameters_bookshelf/33

Book Review: Military Dogs of World War II
December 20, 2023 — Author: Susan Bulanda | Reviewed by Reverend Dr. Wylie W. Johnson, chaplain (retired), US Army War College class of 2010 |In total war, the nation calls on everyone to direct all resources toward victory—during World War II, that call extended to man’s best friend. Retired military chaplain Dr. Wylie W. Johnson reviews certified animal behavior... MORE

Book Review: Military Dogs of World War II
Wylie W. Johnson
Author: Susan Bulanda
Reviewed by Reverend Dr. Wylie W. Johnson, chaplain (retired), US Army War College class of 2010

Book Review: Number One Realist: Bernard Fall and Vietnamese Revolutionary Warfare
December 20, 2023 — Author: Nathaniel L. Moir | Reviewed by John A. Nagl, professor of warfighting studies, US Army War College | Counterinsurgency expert John A. Nagl reviews the “long-overdue” biography of the American political scientist Bernard Fall who, as Nagl writes, was “always a couple years ahead of informed US public opinion” about the Vietnam War. Author... MORE

Book Review: Number One Realist: Bernard Fall and Vietnamese Revolutionary Warfare
Author: Nathaniel L. Moir
Reviewed by John A. Nagl, professor of warfighting studies, US Army War College

Book Review: War of Supply
November 22, 2023 — Author: David D. Dworak | Reviewed by Dr. John A. Bonin, consultant, US Army War College | The reviewer notes, “While there are thousands of books about World War II, there are relatively few on the war in the Mediterranean and fewer on its logistics.” Dworak provides just that, with a chronological account of Operation Torch in North Africa;... MORE

Book Review: War of Supply
John A. Bonin
Author: David D. Dworak
Reviewed by Dr. John A. Bonin, consultant, US Army War College
The reviewer notes, “While there are thousands of books about World War II, there are relatively few on the war in the Mediterranean and fewer on its logistics.” Dworak provides just that, with a chronological account of Operation Torch in North Africa; Operations Husky, Avalanche, and Shingle in Sicily and Italy; and Operation Dragoon in southern France.
https://press.armywarcollege.edu/parameters_bookshelf/30