Military Blunders the How and Why of Milit [Paperback]

Saul David (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 30, 1997

A professional military historian analyzes the most spectacular cock-ups in military history caused by everything from incompetent generals to interfering politicians, hopeless planning and misplaced confidence. 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. It covers more than 30 engagements, beginning in AD9 with the massacre of Varus and his legions in the Black Forest; including nightmares of the Victorian Age such as the Retreat from Kabul; crushing reverses of two World Wars such as the Siege of Kut, Mussolini's invasion of Egypt and the fall of Singapore; many fiascos such as the Second Crusade, Colenso and the Yalu River; and continuing right up to the present with Goose Green in the Falklands and the Bravo Two Zero SAS patrol in the Gulf War.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: London Bridge; First edition. edition (October 30, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1854879189
• ISBN-13: 978-1854879189
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,485,052 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Editorial Blunders by Scott D Matheson, September 26, 2006

By 

mptesteroni (Preparing to mount) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Military Blunders the How and Why of Milit (Paperback)

My apologies to Saul David. Four or five years ago, I saw a mention of this book here on Amazon and wrote a positive review. Somehow it escaped me that the book I was actually applying my four-star opinion to was called "Military Blunders" alright, but was written by Stephen Eden! It only covered up to WWI! You had to read the sequel to get the rest of the 20th Century! Not the book I read at all! OOPS!

This was the edition I had read, and used as reference, and have recommended to the handful of friends I know who are halfway interested in the "how and why of military failure". Therefore, below is the text of that "other" book's review, which I'll delete tonight.

And, to make up for it, I'm giving this one FIVE stars. Firstly, because I remember agonizing over what to give way back then, four or five. It's really a 4.5 star book, and I usually round up. I really enjoyed it and have read several chapters and sections over since my purchase in 1998. And secondly, because I feel that if a man can give a book he's never read four stars, he should have the right to go back and give the right book five. Make sense? Well, I'm confused. Probably because there are too many books called "Military Blunders".

Anyway, enough of my childishness, here's the old review:

I've had this book for a few years, and have turned to it as reference several times since. The chapters are concise and exciting, with lots of footnote sidebars and decent maps. Especially appreciated by me were the chapters on Goose Green (a battle in the Falklands War which I had never read details of before reading this), Kasserine Pass and the Raid on Dieppe. It also has an outsider's recounting of the events detailed in Andy McNab's excellent Bravo Two-Zero.

I also enjoyed the fact that the chapters are grouped in sections according to why these mistakes were committed. For example, the section on "Meddling Ministers" highlights various governments' failures to support their armies or operations which suffered from critically poor, but politically demanded, timing. Other sections prove the consequences of underestimating the enemy, lament poor performance from the soldiers involved, detail logistical oversights and ommissions, and cast deserved blame on the ineptitude or ignorance of battlefield commanders.

Sectioning makes the book easier to reference and more of a textbook on military disaster than a mere collection of war stories, although it serves admirably in that fashion as well.

This book would make an excellent addition to the library of anyone who has an interest in military strategy, or who has or is about to seize the reigns of command. Highly recommended in any regard.

4.0 out of 5 stars readable popular history of military blunders, April 23, 2005

By 

L. Carruthers "strategy geek" (Sydney Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Military Blunders the How and Why of Milit (Paperback)

This is a good popular history of military blunders. Covering battles from Teutoburger Wald to the Falklands this is a readable book that dissects the reasons for military failure. Worth reading for managers too (you can learn a lot about modern business from a book like this).