-
Book Review: Waging a Good War: How the Civil Rights Movement Won Its Battles, 1954–1968
Keith Nightingale
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 participants (such as PTSD), which reviewer Colonel Keith Nightingale (US Army, retired) calls "the most poignant matter in the book." Nightingale also praises the work as "a highly readable dissection of the movement" and "a history of the first order."
-
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
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."
-
Book Review: Forging the Anglo-American Alliance: The British and American Armies, 1917–1941
Dean Nowowiejski
Author: Tyler R. Bamford
Reviewed by Dr. Dean Nowowiejski, professor and Ike Skelton Distinguished Chair for the Art of War, US Army Command and General Staff College
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.
-
Book Review: Boots and Suits: Historical Cases and Contemporary Lessons in Military Diplomacy
Kenneth Weisbrode
Author: Philip S. Kosnett (editor)
Reviewed by Kenneth Weisbrode, assistant professor of history, Bilkent University
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.”
Printing is not supported at the primary Gallery Thumbnail page. Please first navigate to a specific Image before printing.
