Customer Reviews

Mud: A Military History

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This book is on the quite boring but very important subject of mud and its impact on the battlefield. In the half of the book, physical characteristics of mud are discussed. The book breaks out mud into 2 classifications, Type I and Type II. The definitions are quite simple. Type I is "bottomless" and Type II is "All others". These type are further broken down into 2 other classifications (Type Ia, Ib, IIa, IIb). These types are discussed in different environments (i.e., seasonal, etc.). In the remaining half of the book, the impacts of mud on the conduct operations are elaborated on in seperate chapters. For example, there are chapters on mud's impact on morale, health, fatigue and equipment. There is also a chapter on combat engineers and their own capabilities on the "war" on mud. The book presents its subject from a variety of national perspectives but primarily American, British and German and in a number of theaters but predominately Europe and the Far East (with emphasis on Vietnam and Southeast Asia). The time frame covered is nearly entirely this century.

The book does a very good job at describing mud and its impact on military operations. If the reader has only about 2 hours to get himself up to speed on the subject (book is about 135 shor pages) this book more than does its job. On the negative side the book is quite dry and boring but then again how can any book on such a topic be anything else?

If you are looking for an unwritten aspect of conflict, this is it. From categories of mud to their effects on everyday field life this book has first hand descriptions. It is an interesting read, I couldn't put the book down, but likely for the research crowd.

It only took 2 days to read this one. Nevertheless, however, I think this book will help to save many lives in the future wars, because it is the ultimate reminder of the chaos of past wars.