Journal of Military History
Vol. 71, No. 2
April 2007
Articles
Geoffrey Parker, "The Limits to Revolutions in Military Affairs: Maurice of Nassau, the Battle of Nieuwpoort (1600), and the Legacy," The Journal of Military History 71#2 (April 2007): 331-372.
"Revolutions in Military Affairs" (RMAs) currently interest both historians and strategic analysts, but how exactly do they occur, why do they prove so decisive, and what (if any) are their limits? This essay seeks answers through the detailed study of one critical element of an earlier "Revolution in Military Affairs"-infantry volley fire-tracing its invention, first in Japan in the 1560s and then in the Dutch Republic in the 1590s, and its first use in combat at the battle of Nieuwpoort in 1600 by a Dutch army commanded by Maurice of Nassau. It then examines the current RMA in the light of that case study.
Lorraine White, "Strategic Geography and the Spanish Habsburg Monarchy's Failure to Recover Portugal, 1640-1668," The Journal of Military History 71#2 (April 2007): 373-410
In a war lasting almost twenty-eight years (1640-68), Spanish forces endeavoured to recover Portugal for the Spanish Habsburg monarchy. This article examines the war in terms of strategic geography, a crucial but rather neglected dimension of early modern military history. Drawing comparisons with Alba's successful 1580 campaign to annex Portugal, it shows how geographic and climatic factors influenced the conduct of the 1640-68 war in terms of strategy, tactics, and logistics. It also reveals how these factors contributed to the outcome of the war and to Spain's military failure against its smaller neighbour.
Roger B. Jeans, Jr., "Alarm in Washington: A Wartime "Expos_" of Japan's Biological Warfare Program," The Journal of Military History 71#2 (April 2007): 411-40
In the summer of 1944, as the Pacific War entered its final and bloodiest phase, a book purporting to reveal Japan's biological warfare (BW) program, as well as the American government's incompetence in preparing to combat it, was published. After briefly outlining the Japanese and American wartime BW efforts as well as the contents of the book and the background of its author, this article focuses on the alarmed responses to the book of the U.S. government and the media. In closing, the article briefly comments on similarities and differences between the 1944 "alarm" and the 2001 anthrax "scares."
Gregory Hadley and James Oglethorpe, "MacKay's Betrayal: Solving the Mystery of the 'Sado Island Prisoner-of-War Massacre,'" The Journal of Military History 71#2 (April 2007): 441-464
Betrayal in High Places, a book written in 1996 by the late James MacKay, has created debate among World War II historians and former prisoners of war (POWs) because it claims to reveal suppressed Allied reports of Japanese war atrocities, such as the massacre of 387 American, Australian, British, and Dutch POWs in a gold mine at Aikawa on Sado Island, Japan, in 1945. Our investigation finds that the Sado Island massacre report is an intentional forgery, and that MacKay's book is a spurious historical source. We explain why he sought to deceive the public and contrast his fiction with the historical truth about Sado Island.
Saul Bronfeld, "Fighting Outnumbered: The Impact of the Yom Kippur War on the U.S. Army," The Journal of Military History 71#2 (April 2007): 465-498
Recent historiography tends to overstate the impact of the Yom Kippur War (1973) on the tactical reforms initiated by General William E. DePuy, the first commander of the U.S. Army's TRADOC (1973-77), while paying insufficient attention to the ways that DePuy used the war's lessons to leverage his legendary effort to rehabilitate the Army. The war's influence on General Donn A. Starry's operational reforms was equally profound, but came by a different route: the reconstructions of the Golan Heights defense and the discussions with his close friends Major General Israel ("Talik") Tal and Major General Moshe ("Musa") Peled provided vital inspiration for the AirLand Battle doctrine.
Note
David Kahn, "The Prehistory of the General Staff," The Journal of Military History 71#2 (April 2007): 499-504
The modern general staff evolved only after three preconditions of modern life came into being: secularization, bureaucracy, and management. Secularization provided control. Bureaucracy rationalized endeavor. Management overcame specialization.
Review Essay
Bruce Vandervort, "From the Halls of Montezuma," The Journal of Military History 71 #2 (April 2007): 505-511.
Reviews:
Sheila Dillon and Katherine E. Welch, editors, Representations of War in Ancient Rome, reviewed by Birgitta Hoffmann, 512-513.
Christopher Leslie Brown and Philip D. Morgan, editors, Arming Slaves: From Classical Times to the Modern Age, reviewed by John P. Dunn, 513-514.
Judith A. Green, Henry I: King of England and Duke of Normandy, reviewed by Stephen Morillo, 514-515.
John H. Pryor, editor, Logistics of Warfare in the Age of the Crusades, reviewed by Jonathan Riley-Smith, 515-516.
Galileo Galilei, Le Operazioni del Compasso Geometrico e Militare (Operations of the Geometric and Military Compass), reviewed by Maurice A. Finocchiaro, 516-517.
Malcolm Wanklyn, Decisive Battles of the English Civil War, reviewed by David N. Farr, 517-518.
Roger B. Manning, An Apprenticeship in Arms: The Origins of the British Army, 1585-1702, reviewed by Mark Charles Fissel, 519-520.
Stefan Felleckner, Combat-A Neglected Area of Military History: An Investigation into Eye-Witness Reports from the Seven Years' War (1756-63) and the First World War (1914-1918), reviewed by Ronald Schaffer, 520-521.
William R. Pinch, Warrior Ascetics and Indian Empires, reviewed by Douglas M. Peers, 521-522.
Alan C. Cate, Founding Fighters: The Battlefield Leaders Who Made American Independence, reviewed by John Buchanan, 522-524.
Joshua M. Smith, Borderland Smuggling: Patriots, Loyalists, and Illicit Trade in the Northeast, 1783-1820, reviewed by David R. Facey-Crowther, 524-525.
Owen Connelly, The Wars of the French Revolution and Napoleon, 1792-1815, reviewed by John G. Gallaher, 525-526.
Matthew Delamater et al., editors, Napoleon's Finest: Davout and His 3rd Corps. Combat Journal of Operations, 1805-1807, reviewed by Robert M. Epstein, 526-527.
James M. McCaffrey, The Army in Transformation, 1790-1860, reviewed by William B. Skelton, 527-528.
Michael L. Tate, Indians and Emigrants: Encounters on the Overland Trails, reviewed by R. Douglas Hurt, 528-529.
Mark Grimsley and Steven E. Woodworth, The Untold Story of Shiloh: The Battle and the Battlefield, by Timothy B. Smith; Shiloh: A Battlefield Guide, reviewed by Steven E. Sodergren, 530-531.
Glenn W. LaFantasie, Twilight at Little Round Top: July 2, 1863-The Tide Turns at Gettysburg, reviewed by Bart Talbert, 531-532.
Robert S. Davis, Ghosts and Shadows of Andersonville: Essays on the Secret Social Histories of America's Deadliest Prison, reviewed by Michael P. Gray, 533-534.
Donald B. Connelly, John M. Schofield and the Politics of Generalship, reviewed by David J. Fitzpatrick, 534-535.
Michéle Martin, Images at War: Illustrated Periodicals and Constructed Nations, reviewed by Gary P. Cox, 535-536.
T. G. Otte and Keith Neilson, editors, Railways and International Politics: Paths of Empire, 1848-1945, reviewed by Daniel R. Headrick, 536-537.
Jerry Keenan, The Life of Yellowstone Kelly, reviewed by Stacy Reaves, 537-538.
Duane A. Smith, A Time for Peace: Fort Lewis, Colorado, 1878-1891, reviewed by John H. Monnett, 538-539.
Michael S. Neiberg, Soldiers' Lives Through History: The Nineteenth Century, reviewed by Gregg Shimp, 539-541.
Charles A. Byler, Civil-Military Relations on the Frontier and Beyond, 1865-1917, reviewed by Robert Wooster, 541-542.
David R. Stone, A Military History of Russia From Ivan the Terrible to the War in Chechnya, reviewed by Walter C. Uhler, 542-543.
Elizabeth Greenhalgh, Victory Through Coalition: Britain and France During the First World War, reviewed by Robert K. Hanks, 543-544.
Edward Paice, Tip and Run: The Untold Tragedy of the Great War in Africa, reviewed by Robert Johnson, 545-546.
Bodleian Library, Oxford, editor, A Month at the Front: The Diary of an Unknown Soldier, reviewed by Ian F. W. Beckett, 546-547.
Joel A. Vilensky with Pandy R. Sinish, Dew of Death: The Story of Lewisite, America's World War I Weapon of Mass Destruction, reviewed by Jonathan Reed Winkler, 547-548.
Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg, edited by Charles Messenger, The Great War [an abridged version of Out of My Life, published by Cassell in 1920], reviewed by Adam R. Seipp, 549-550.
Jay Winter and Antoine Prost, The Great War in History: Debates and Controversies, 1914 to the Present, reviewed by Robert B. Bruce, 550-551.
Richard J. Shuster, German Disarmament After World War I: The Diplomacy of International Arms Inspection, 1920-1931, reviewed by James S. Corum, 551-552.
George F. Hofmann, Through Mobility We Conquer: The Mechanization of U.S. Cavalry, reviewed by Alexander M. Bielakowski, 552-553.
Briton Cooper Busch, Bunker Hill to Bastogne: Elite Forces and American Society, reviewed by Joseph R. Fischer, 554-555.
Tabea Alexa Linhard, Fearless Women in the Mexican Revolution and the Spanish Civil War, reviewed by Claire Brewster, 555-556.
Raffael Scheck, Hitler's African Victims: The German Army Massacres of Black French Soldiers in 1940, reviewed by Joe Lunn, 556-557.
Hugh Sebag Montefiore, Dunkirk: The Fight to the Last Man, reviewed by Nigel Hamilton, The 557-559.
Russell A. Hart, Guderian: Panzer Pioneer or Myth Maker? reviewed by Richard DiNardo, 559-560.
David E. Murphy, What Stalin Knew: The Enigma of Barbarossa, reviewed by Allen Blitstein, 561-562.
Johannes Hürter, Hitlers Heerführer. Die deutschen Oberbefehlshaber im Krieg gegen die Sowjetunion 1941/42, reviewed by Klaus Schmider, 562-564.
Peter G. Tsouras, editor, Hitler Triumphant: Alternate Decisions of World War II, reviewed by Michael Marino, 564-565.
Brian Cull with D. Haselden and P. Sortehaug, Buffaloes Over Singapore: RAF, RAAF, RNZAF and Dutch Brewster Fighters in Action Over Malaya and the East Indies, 1941-1942, reviewed by Murdock M. Moore, 565-566.
Peter Davies, Dangerous Liaisons: Collaboration and World War Two, reviewed by Judith Keene, 566-568.
Philip W. Blood, Hitler's Bandit Hunters: The SS and the Nazi Occupation of Europe, reviewed by Lee Baker, 568-569.
Violetta Hionidou, Famine and Death in Occupied Greece, 1941-1944, reviewed by Laurie Kaine Hart, 569-571.
John Wukovits, Eisenhower: A Biography, reviewed by William B. Pickett, 571-572.
Douglas E. Delaney, The Soldier's General: Bert Hoffmeister at War, reviewed by Marc Milner, 572-575.
Cole C. Kingseed, Old Glory Stories: American Combat Leadership in World War II, reviewed by Earl A. Reitan, 575-576.
Milan Vego, The Battle for Leyte, 1944: Allied and Japanese Plans, Preparations, and Execution, reviewed by Michael H. Coles, 576-577.
Samuel W. Mitcham, Jr., Panzers in Winter: Hitler's Army and the Battle of the Bulge, reviewed by Darryle Moody, 577-579.
Paul Addison and Jeremy A. Crang, editors, Firestorm: The Bombing of Dresden, 1945, reviewed by Anthony Clayton, 579-581.
Emiko Ohnuki-Tierney, Blossoms in the Wind: Human Legacies of the Kamikaze, by M. G. Sheftall; Kamikaze Diaries: Reflections of Japanese Student Soldiers, reviewed by Peter Clemens, 581-582
Maochun Yu, The Dragon's War: Allied Operations and the Fate of China, 1937-1947, reviewed by Katherine K. Reist, 582-583.
Benjamin Lieberman, Terrible Fate: Ethnic Cleansing in the Making of Modern Europe, reviewed by Hal Elliott Wert, 584-585.
Zeev Maoz, Defending the Holy Land: A Critical Analysis of Israel's Security and Foreign Policy, reviewed by Ralph Hitchens, 585-587.
Stephen Biddle, Military Power: Explaining Victory and Defeat in Modern Battle, reviewed by Carter Malkasian, 587-588.
Christopher Layne, The Peace of Illusions: American Grand Strategy from 1940 to the Present, reviewed by Mark A. Stoler, 589-590.
Dennis E. Showalter, editor, Forging the Shield: Eisenhower and National Security for the 21st Century, reviewed by Wyndham Whynot, 590-591.
Mark Moyar, Triumph Forsaken: The Vietnam War, 1954-1965, reviewed by John M. Carland, 591-594.
John Edmund Delezen, Red Plateau: Memoir of a North Vietnamese Soldier, reviewed by Henry L. Trimble, 594-595.
James T. Gillam, War in the Central Highlands of Vietnam, 1968-1970: An Historian's Experience, reviewed by James H. Willbanks, 595-596.
Edward C. Keefer and Carolyn Yee, editors, Foreign Relations of the United States 1969-1976, vol. 6, Vietnam: January 1969-July 1970, reviewed by John Prados, 596-598.
Richard Lock-Pullan, US Intervention Policy and Army Innovation from Vietnam to Iraq, reviewed by Roger Spiller, 598-599.
Andrew H. Myers, Black, White, and Olive Drab: Racial Integration at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, and the Civil Rights Movement, reviewed by Marcus S. Cox, 600.
Paul G. Gillespie, Weapons of Choice: The Development of Precision Guided Munitions, reviewed by Stephen L. McFarland, 601-602.
Theo Farrell, The Norms of War: Cultural Beliefs and Modern Conflict, reviewed by William Kautt, 602.
Paul Robinson, Military Honour and the Conduct of War: From Ancient Greece to Iraq, reviewed by Bertram Wyatt-Brown, 603-605.
Michael L. Gross, Bioethics and Armed Conflict: Moral Dilemmas of Medicine and War, reviewed by Robert J. T. Joy, 605-606.
David Kennedy, Of War and Law, reviewed by Gary Solis, 606-607.
John Wilson Lewis and Xue Litai, Imagined Enemies: China Prepares for Uncertain War, reviewed by Gary J. Bjorge, 608-609.
Film Review:
Sergei Loznitsa, Blockade. reviewed by Katrin Paehler, 609-610.
Other:
BOOKS RECEIVED, 611-619.
RECENT JOURNAL ARTICLES, 620-623.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR, 624.
