Journal of Military History
Vol. 80, No. 2
April 2016
Articles
The 2016 George C. Marshall Lecture in Military History
Rick Atkinson, “Projecting American Power in the Second World War,” The Journal of Military History, 80:2 (April 2016): 345-54
Rick Atkinson, “Projecting American Power in the Second World War,” The Journal of Military History, 80:2 (April 2016): 345-54
Arguably the greatest self-inflicted catastrophe in human history, the Second World War resulted in an estimated 60 million dead. Unprepared when the war began, the United States quickly gathered momentum to become the decisive economic power, with an unprecedented ability to project that power through the Atlantic, the Pacific, the Mediterranean, and elsewhere. While in the European theater the Soviet Union emerged as the preeminent killing power among the Allies, the United States demonstrated logistical brilliance, firepower, mobility, mechanical aptitude, and an economic preponderance that produced much more than the Axis powers, all while committing a smaller proportion of the country’s gross domestic product to the war than any other major belligerent.
Mark A. Smith, “The Politics of Military Professionalism: The Engineer Company and the Political Activities of the Antebellum U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,” The Journal of Military History, 80:2 (April 2016): 355-87
This article examines how the political activities of antebellum U.S. engineering officers on behalf of the Engineer Company demonstrate the range of mid-nineteenth-century military professionalism. These efforts indicate their sense of a professional responsibility to provide the nation with the military capability to defend itself, but this lobbying was circumscribed by the engineers’ awareness that as officers they had to remain subordinate to the civil government and its policies. This tension can be seen in the methods officers selected for their lobbying and in the internal politicking within the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers over the company’s proper role.
Richard Dunley, “Technology and Tradition: Mine Warfare and the Royal Navy’s Strategy of Coastal Assault, 1870–1890,” The Journal of Military History, 80:2 (April 2016): 398-409
Naval power projection operations were an important tool in Victorian Britain’s strategic arsenal. From the 1860s technological change in the form of mines presented a major threat to the Royal Navy’s strategy of coastal assault. In order to continue to operate in this environment the Royal Navy proactively engaged with mining technology. Through this process it shaped the new technology to suit its particular strategic and cultural requirements. The war scares with Russia in 1878 and 1885 provided the impetus to operationalise these developments and highlighted how the Royal Navy and its coastal assault strategy remained an important facilitator of British policy.
Thomas E. Jeffrey, “‘Commodore’ Edison Joins the Navy: Thomas Alva Edison and the Naval Consulting Board,” The Journal of Military History, 80:2 (April 2016): 411-45
The Naval Consulting Board, a civilian brain trust headed by Thomas Edison, was established by Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels in July 1915 to advise on naval warfare technology. This article turns conventional wisdom on its head, making the case that the impetus behind its creation came not from the government but from Edison’s chief engineer, Miller Reese Hutchison, who conceived it as the centerpiece of a marketing strategy to sell Edison submarine batteries to the navy. After submarine E-2 exploded in January 1916, the navy discontinued the use of Edison batteries and its investigation permanently soured Edison on the U.S. Navy.
Richard Hammond, “Fighting Under a Different Flag: Multinational Naval Cooperation and Submarine Warfare in the Mediterranean, 1940–1944,” The Journal of Military History, 80:2 (April 2016): 447-76
The exiled navies of many Allied nations came under British operational control in World War II. Six of these contributed significant proportions of their submarine fleets to the Mediterranean, where there was great need for them, yet troubled relations meant multinational naval cooperation (MNC) was often extremely difficult. British attempts to establish structures to improve this were frequently hampered, while perceived differing strategic “worth” led the British to treat their new allies in an unequal manner. Ultimately, while MNC was broadly successful in the British home theatre, it was much less effective in the Mediterranean and valuable resources subsequently went underused.
Peter Paret, “On War Then and Now,” The Journal of Military History, 80:2 (April 2016): 477-85
In the fall of 2015, the Acting Under Secretary of Defense, Brad Carson, chaired a series of lectures on Clausewitz’s theories at the Pentagon. On 11 December, Peter Paret gave the concluding talk, in which he traces the development of some of Clausewitz’s ideas from the 1790s to the early 1830s, and reflects on the extent and kind of their relevance today.
Historiographic Essay:
John H. Matsui, “Seven Score and Ten: American Civil War Historiography at the Close of the Sesquicentennial,” The Journal of Military History, 80:2 (April 2016): 487-509
John H. Matsui, “Seven Score and Ten: American Civil War Historiography at the Close of the Sesquicentennial,” The Journal of Military History, 80:2 (April 2016): 487-509
Reviews:
William Howe and the American War of Independence, by David Smith, reviewed by Jim McIntyre and by Robert M. Bliss, 511-14
Xerxes: A Persian Life, by Richard Stoneman, reviewed by Jennifer Finn, 514-16
Deciphering Sun Tzu: How to Read the Art of War, by Derek M. C. Yuen, reviewed by Eugenia C. Kiesling, 516-17
People and Spaces in Roman Military Bases, by Penelope M. Allison, reviewed by Lee L. Brice, 518-19
Alexander the Great and Hernán Cortés: Ambiguous Legacies of Leadership, by Justin D. Lyons, reviewed by David R. Gray, 519-20
La Bataille: Du fait d'armes au combat idéologique XIe-XIXe siècle, edited by Ariane Boltanski, Yann Lagadec, and Franck Mercier, reviewed by Paul Solon, 520-22
The Crusade Indulgence: Spiritual Rewards and the Theology of the Crusades, c. 1095-1216, by Ane L. Bysted, reviewed by Philip F. O’Mara, 522-23
Ecclesiastical Knights: The Military Orders in Castile, 1150-1330, by Sam Zeno Conedera, S. J., reviewed by Brian R. Price, 523-24
How to Plan a Crusade: Reason and Religious War in the Middle Ages, by Christopher Tyerman, reviewed by Burnam W. Reynolds, 525-26
The Hundred Years War IV: Cursed Kings, by Jonathan Sumption, reviewed by Stephen Lyons, 526-28
The Medieval Way of War: Studies in Medieval Military History in Honor of Bernard S. Bachrach, edited by Gregory I. Halfond, reviewed by Laurence W. Marvin, 528-29
Pour nous servir en l’armée: Le gouvernement et le pardon des gens de guerre sous Charles le Téméraire, duc de Bourgogne (1467-1477), by Quentin Verreycken, reviewed by Brian Sandberg, 530-31
Bosworth, 1485: The Battle that Transformed England, by Michael Jones, reviewed by Gilbert Bogner, 531-32
Defensive Positions: The Politics of Maritime Security in Tokugawa Japan, by Noell Wilson, reviewed by Robert Hellyer, 532-33
Connecticut Unscathed: Victory in the Great Narragansett War 1675-1676, by Jason W. Warren, reviewed by Joshua Allfree, 534-35
Bayonets and Scimitars: Arms, Armies, and Mercenaries, 1700-1789, by William Urban, reviewed by Stephen Morillo, 535-36
British Privateering Voyages of the Early Eighteenth Century, by Tim Beattie, reviewed by Claire S. Schen, 537-38
Youth, Heroism and War Propaganda: Britain and the Young Maritime Hero, 1745-1820, by D. A. B. Ronald, reviewed by Kevin D. McCranie, 538-39
Red Dreams, White Nightmares: Pan-Indian Alliances in the Anglo-American Mind, 1763-1815, by Robert M. Owens, reviewed by Yasuhide Kawashima, 540-41
The Myth of the Press Gang: Volunteers, Impressment, and the Naval Manpower Problem in the Late Eighteenth Century, by J. Ross Dancy, reviewed by Nicholas Rogers, 541-43
In These Times: Living in Britain through Napoleon’s Wars, 1793-1815, by Jenny Uglow, reviewed by Christine Haynes, 543-44
“We Never Retreat”: Filibustering Expeditions into Spanish Texas, 1812-1822, by Ed Bradley, reviewed by Irving W. Levinson, 545-46
Napoleon and the Struggle for Germany: The Franco-Prussian War of 1813. Vol. 1: The War of Liberation, Spring 1813, by Michael V. Leggiere, reviewed by Ralph R. Reinertsen, 546-48
Napoleon and the Struggle for Germany: The Franco-Prussian War of 1813. Vol. II: The Defeat of Napoleon, by Michael V. Leggiere, reviewed by Frank Garosi, 548-49
Coal & Empire: The Birth of Energy Security in Industrial America, by Peter A. Shulman, reviewed by Erik Loomis, 550-51
Dignity of Duty: The Journals of Erasmus Corwin Gilbreath, 1861-1898, edited by Susan Gilbreath Lane, reviewed by Kevin Adams, 551-52
Teacher of Civil War Generals: Major General Charles Ferguson Smith, Soldier and West Point Commandant, by Allen H. Mesch, reviewed by Bradford A. Wineman, 553-54
A Broken Regiment: The 16th Connecticut’s Civil War, by Lesley J. Gordon, reviewed by William B. Feis. 554-55
Rebels against the Confederacy: North Carolina’s Unionists, by Barton A. Myers, reviewed by Paul Quigley, 555-56
So Conceived and So Dedicated: Intellectual Life in the Civil War-Era North, edited by Lorien Foote and Kanisorn Wongsrichanalai, reviewed by Nicole Etcheson, 557-58
Living Hell: The Dark Side of the Civil War, by Michael C. C. Adams, reviewed by Judkin Browning, 558-59
Engineering Victory: The Union Siege of Vicksburg, by Justin S. Solonick, reviewed by Robert Gudmestad, 559-60
A Field Guide to Gettysburg: Experiencing the Battle through Its History, Places, and People, by Carol Reardon and Tom Vossler, reviewed by Michael W. Panhorst, 561-62
Appomattox: Victory, Defeat, and Freedom at the End of the Civil War, by Elizabeth R. Varon, reviewed by Stephen D. Engle, 562-63
Against the Grain: Colonel Henry M. Lazelle and the U.S. Army, by James Carson, reviewed by Frank N. Schubert, 563-65
God and Sea Power: The Influence of Religion on Alfred Thayer Mahan, by Suzanne Geissler, reviewed by Alan M. Anderson, 565-66
Echoes of Success: Identity and the Highland Regiments, by Ian Stuart Kelly, reviewed by Wayne E. Sirmon, 566-68
Japanese Taiwan: Colonial Rule and Its Contested Legacy, edited by Andrew D. Morris, reviewed by Nianshen Song, 568-69
Balkan Genocides: Holocaust and Ethnic Cleansing in the Twentieth Century, by Paul Mojzes, reviewed by Melissa Bokovoy, 570-71
Gli addetti militari alla vigilia della Grande Guerra 1914-1915, edited by Francesco Anghelone and Andrea Ungari, reviewed by Brian R. Sullivan, 571-72
The War of Guns and Mathematics: Mathematical Practices and Communities in France and Its Western Allies around World War I, edited by David Aubin and Catherine Goldstein; and Great Scientists Wage the Great War: The First War of Science, 1914-1918, by William van der Kloot, reviewed by Lewis Pyenson, 573-75
Elusive Alliance: The German Occupation of Poland in World War I, by Jesse Kauffman, reviewed by
David Stefancic, 575-76
Legacies of Violence: Eastern Europe’s First World War, edited by Jochen Böhler, Włodimierz Borodziej, and Joachim von Puttkamer, reviewed by Anthony D’Agostino, 576-78
The French Army and the First World War, by Elizabeth Greenhalgh, reviewed by Jonathan Krause, 578-79
British Battle Planning in 1916 and the Battle of Fromelles: A Case Study of Evolving Skill, by Roger Lee, reviewed by Ian Isherwood, 580-81
Bastion: Occupied Bruges in the First World War, by Sophie de Schaepdrijver, reviewed by Maartje Abbenhuis, 581-82
The Last Great Safari: East Africa in World War I, by Corey W. Reigel, reviewed by Meshack Owino, 582-84
Canada’s Great War, 1914-1918: How Canada Helped Save the British Empire and Became a North American Nation, by Brian Douglas Tennyson, reviewed by Jim Mochoruk, 585-86
The Stigma of Surrender: German Prisoners, British Captors, and Manhood in the Great War and Beyond, by Brian K. Feltman, reviewed by Erika Kuhlman, 587-88
New York and the First World War: Shaping an American City, by Ross J. Wilson, reviewed by Kenneth T. Jackson, 588-89
Antisemitism in the German Military Community and the Jewish Response, 1914-1938, by Brian Crim, reviewed by Richard Weikart, 589-91
War on the Silver Screen: Shaping America’s Perception of History, by Glen Jeansonne and David Luhrssen, reviewed by Kathryn Cramer Brownell, 591-92
Cloak of Enemies: Churchill’s SOE, Enemies at Home and the ‘Cockleshell Heroes’, by Tom Keene, reviewed by Frank L. Kalesnik, 592-93
Holocaust vs. Wehrmacht: How Hitler’s “Final Solution” Undermined the German War Effort, by Yaron Pasher, reviewed by Gil-li Vardi, 594-95
Casualties of History: Wounded Japanese Servicemen and the Second World War, by Lee K. Pennington, reviewed by Takashi Yoshida, 595-97
War Crimes in Japan-Occupied Indonesia: A Case of Murder by Medicine, by J. Kevin Baird and Sangkot Marzuki, reviewed by Fred L. Borch III, 597-98
Beyond Rosie: A Documentary History of Women and World War II, edited by Julia Brock, Jennifer W. Dickey, Richard J.W. Harker, and Catherine M. Lewis, reviewed by Michelle Haberland, 598-600
God and Uncle Sam: Religion and America’s Armed Forces in World War II, by Michael Snape, reviewed by Jacqueline E. Whitt, 600-1
From Stalingrad to Pillau: A Red Army Artillery Officer Remembers the Great Patriotic War, by Isaak Kobylyanskiy, edited by Sturt Britton, reviewed by Thomas Earl Porter, 601-3
Forgotten: The Untold Story of D-Day’s Black Heroes, at Home and at War, by Linda Hervieux, reviewed by Byron Greenwald, 603-4
Potsdam: The End of World War II and the Remaking of Europe, by Michael Neiberg, reviewed by Thomas W. Zeiler, 604-6
Rethinking World War Two: The Conflict and its Legacy, by Jeremy Black, reviewed by S. P. MacKenzie, 606-7
To Kill Nations: American Strategy in the Air-Atomic Age and the Rise of Mutually Assured Destruction, by Edward Kaplan, reviewed by Sarah Bridger, 607-9
Periphery or Contact Zone? The NATO Flanks 1961 to 2013, edited by Bernd Lemke, reviewed by David T. Zabecki, 609-10
The Vietnam War: An International History in Documents, edited by Mark Atwood Lawrence, reviewed by Philip E. Catton, 611-12
Beyond Combat: Women and Gender in the Vietnam War Era, by Heather Marie Stur, reviewed by Molly M. Wood, 612-13
Sacrificing Soldiers on the National Mall, by Kristin Ann Hass, reviewed by Robert Wettemann, 614-15
Politics and War in Lebanon: Unraveling the Enigma, by Mordechai Nisan, reviewed by Dylan Baun, 615-16
Working in the Killing Fields: Forensic Science in Bosnia, by Howard Ball, reviewed by David N. Gibbs, 617-18
A Gentle Occupation: Dutch Military Operations in Iraq, 2003-2005, by Arthur ten Cate and Thijs Brocades Zaalber, reviewed by James Russell, 618-19
Beyond the Band of Brothers: The US Military and the Myth that Women Can’t Fight, by Meghan Mackenzie, reviewed by D’Ann Campbell, 620-21
BOOKS RECEIVED: 622-27
RECENT JOURNAL ARTICLES: 628-37
