Snafu

Snafu
Author: Geoffrey Regan
Publisher:
Total Pages: 314
Release: 1993
Genre: History
ISBN:

Military Blunders

Military Blunders
Author: Saul David
Publisher: Hachette UK
Total Pages: 278
Release: 2012-09-06
Genre: History
ISBN: 1780338619

Retelling the most spectacular cock-ups in military history, this graphic account has a great deal to say about the psychology of military incompetence and the reasons even the most well-oiled military machines inflict disaster upon themselves. Beginning in AD9 with the massacre of Varus and his legions in the Black Forest all the way up to present day conflict in Afghanistan it analyses why things go wrong on the battlefield and who is to blame.

On the Psychology of Military Incompetence

On the Psychology of Military Incompetence
Author: Norman F Dixon
Publisher: Basic Books
Total Pages: 529
Release: 2016-05-31
Genre: History
ISBN: 0465097812

A classic study of military leadership uncovering why generals fail The Crimea, the Boer War, the Somme, Tobruk, Pearl Harbor, the Bay of Pigs: these are just some of the milestones in a century of military incompetence, of costly mishaps and tragic blunders. Are these simple accidents—as the "bloody fool" theory has it—or are they inevitable? The psychologist Norman F. Dixon argues that there is a pattern to inept generalship, and he locates this pattern within the very act of creating armies in the first place, which in his view produces a levelling down of human capability that encourages the mediocre and limits the gifted. In this light, successful generals achieve what they do despite the stultifying features of the organization to which they belong. On the Psychology of Military Incompetence is at once an original exploration of the battles that have defined the last two centuries of human civilization and an essential guide for the next generation of military leaders.

Military Misfortunes

Military Misfortunes
Author: Eliot A. Cohen
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 324
Release: 2012-04-17
Genre: History
ISBN: 1439135487

Why do competent armies fail? Eliot Cohen and John Gooch explore answers to this question throughout this extensive analysis of unsuccessful military operations. Since it was first published in 1990, Military Misfortunes has become the classic analysis of the unexpected catastrophes that befall competent militaries. Now with a new Afterword discussing America's missteps in Iraq, Somalia, and the War on Terror, Eliot A. Cohen and John Gooch's gripping battlefield narratives and groundbreaking explanations of the hidden factors that undermine armies are brought thoroughly up to date. As recent events prove, Military Misfortunes will be required reading for as long as armies go to war.

Great Military Disasters

Great Military Disasters
Author: Michael E. Haskew
Publisher: Parragon Pubishing India
Total Pages: 216
Release: 2009
Genre: Battles
ISBN: 9781407555638

Provides detailed coverage and tactical maps of various historic battles from Cannae to Mogadishu.

Military Intelligence Blunders

Military Intelligence Blunders
Author: John Hughes-Wilson
Publisher: Kings Road Publishing
Total Pages: 556
Release: 2023-03-30
Genre: History
ISBN: 1789466768

'A cracking good read... I will recommend this book to anyone' - Professor Richard Holmes, CBE 'The Falklands, Yom Kippur, Tet and Pearl Harbor? Avoidable intelligence blunders or much worse? Altogether a compelling read from someone who knows the business' - Nigel West This book is a professional military-intelligence officer's - and controversial insider's - view of some of the greatest intelligence blunders of recent history. It includes the serious developments in government misuse of intelligence in the US-led coalition's 2003 war with Iraq, as well as failures of intelligence in Ukraine following Russia's invasion in February 2022. Colonel John Hughes-Wilson analyses not just the events that conspire to cause disaster, but why crucial intelligence is so often ignored, misunderstood or spun by politicians and seasoned generals alike. This book analyses: how Hitler's intelligence staff misled him in a bid to outfox their Nazi Party rivals; the bureaucratic bungling behind Pearl Harbor; how in-fighting within American intelligence ensured they were taken off guard by the Viet Cong's 1968 Tet Offensive; how overconfidence, political interference and deception facilitated Egypt and Syria's 1973 surprise attack on Israel; why a handful of marines and a London taxicab were all Britain had to defend the Falklands; the mistaken intelligence that allowed Saddam Hussein to remain in power until the second Iraq War of 2003; the truth behind the US failure to run a terrorist warning system before the 9/11 WTC bombing; and how governments are increasingly pressurising intelligence agencies to 'spin' a party-political line.

The Face of Battle

The Face of Battle
Author: John Keegan
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 380
Release: 1983-01-27
Genre: History
ISBN: 1440673993

John Keegan's groundbreaking portrayal of the common soldier in the heat of battle -- a masterpiece that explores the physical and mental aspects of warfare The Face of Battle is military history from the battlefield: a look at the direct experience of individuals at the "point of maximum danger." Without the myth-making elements of rhetoric and xenophobia, and breaking away from the stylized format of battle descriptions, John Keegan has written what is probably the definitive model for military historians. And in his scrupulous reassessment of three battles representative of three different time periods, he manages to convey what the experience of combat meant for the participants, whether they were facing the arrow cloud at the battle of Agincourt, the musket balls at Waterloo, or the steel rain of the Somme. The Face of Battle is a companion volume to John Keegan's classic study of the individual soldier, The Mask of Command: together they form a masterpiece of military and human history.

Scottish Military Disasters

Scottish Military Disasters
Author: Paul Cowan
Publisher: Neil Wilson Publishing Ltd
Total Pages: 220
Release: 2008
Genre: History
ISBN:

A compilation of Scotland's failures on the battlefields of the world from Mons Graupius to Korea.

Kharkov 1942

Kharkov 1942
Author: David Glantz
Publisher: Ian Allan Publishing
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2010
Genre: Kharkov, Battle of, Kharkiv, Ukraine, 1942
ISBN: 9780711034686

America's foremost expert on Russian military history has written the first book in English on one of the great battles on the Eastern front during World War II. Illustrations & maps.