Customer Reviews

Command Decisions

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"Command Decisions" is a excellent product of the U.S. Army's Center for Military History, first published in 1960 and since periodically reprinted. It contains 23 separate chapters on civil-military decision-making at the operational and strategic levels during the Second World War. The authors were nearly all well-known historians, if of an earlier generation. While most of the studies center on American decisions, some chapters focus on the German, Japanese, and British high commands. This edition includes a nice set of fold-out maps.

Among the command decisions included in the book: The Germany First decision by the US; Japan's Decision for war with the US; the OVERLORD versus the Mediterranean Anglo-US strategy dispute; and the Allied Decision to Stop at the Elbe River in 1945. Some topics are still controversial: The Decision to Evacuate Japanese nationals from the West Coast; the Decision to Launch Operation MARKET-GARDEN ("A Bridge Too Far"); and the Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb on Japan in 1945.

World War II scholarship and its interpretation have progressed since 1960, but these essays stand the test of time fairly well. The respective historians had the benefit of access to archives and to participants in the decision-making processes. "Command Decisions" is very highly recommended to the general reader and the student of the Second World War.

This book is on the HQDA Recommended Reading list! Enjoy!