This book was one of the first books I read by James Dunnigan. I purchased it during my days as an officer in the Army. It helped to put a lot things I was doing in uniform in perspective. Lots of information comparing military equipment, ships and fighting abilities of countries and militaries around the world. The author takes a numerical perspective by assigning relative numbers to the effectiveness of equipment and forces then comparing them.
Dunnigan's background is wargaming so this method of viewing military facts and forces makes sense. Go to Wikipedia to read up on Dunnigan. Interesting guy and experiences.
The book provides some good discussions of how certain types of warfare have evolved and lessons learned of past conflicts.
The book has gone through several revisions over time to adjust to new realities of military forces and world politics... WWII, Vietnam, the cold war, fall of the USSR, smaller conflicts of the 80's and 90's, desert warfare and growth of terrorism. Unfortunately my acquisition and reading of Dunnigan's revised books has not kept pace. Eventually I will catch up. This 3rd Edition represents the time period I served in the military up to 1991. With my son about a year away from commissioning as an officer in the Army, I should look at getting the latest revised book.
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