Wikipedia:WikiProject Military history/News/January 2024/Book reviews
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Benjamín Labatut - The MANIAC |
- By Hawkeye7
Historical novelist Robert Harris once wrote that "history is too important to be left to the historians." Historian Daniel Aaron argued that this was because "good writers write the kind of history good historians can’t or don’t write." Aaron went on to quote Henry James:
Professional historians aren’t ordinarily attuned to these resonances and historical shudderings. Henry James likened them to coal miners working in the dark on hands and knees, eyes downcast, foreheads contracted, a “vast fabric of impenetrable fact” stretched over their heads. The historian, he wrote, “essentially wants more documents than he can really use.” Storytellers require just enough of them to quicken or discipline their imaginations without suffocating under an avalanche of fact. Yet James was a realist and suspicious of the historical novel as a literary form. The farther the past receded, the more inaccessible it seemed to him.[1]
Which brings us to this book, which is largely about John von Neumann. If you haven't heard of von Neumann, and want to see an example of his legacy, you're already looking right at it! Through his development of the MANIAC I computer, von Neumann introduced the Von Neumann architecture which defines the organisation of all modern computers. (He was also one of the first to recognise the potential of computer viruses.)
This book is written as a novel, with each chapter in the distinctive voice of one of von Neumann's collaborators, associates or family members, including boyhood friend
. Yet I have read a great deal about von Neumann, having written or expanded the sections in his article about defence work, including his work on the Manhattan Project, and it is completely factual. It is the manner in which the story is told, not the contents, that make it straddle the boundary between fiction and non-fiction.Whether the maniac of the title is the computer or the person is one of the running themes of this work. Early on, von Neumann was involved in
Good summer reading.
References
- ISSN 0002-8738.
Publishing details:
Alfred C. Mierzejewski - The Collapse of the German War Economy, 1944-1945: Allied Air Power and the German National Railway |
- By Hawkeye7
This detailed and thought-provoking book is about the German National Railway (Deutsche Reichsbahn and the Allied bombing campaign against it. It challenges many common misconceptions about the bomber offensive of World War II.
In the run-up to
The bombers were used to cut German communications and isolate the battlefield. British boffin
An opposing strategy was advocated by the USSTAF: the oil campaign. Mierzejewski notes that while Americans laud American exceptionalism - the notion that the United States is a distinctive or unique nation - they have difficulty imagining how another nation could be different. In this case, the United States's economy ran on oil, but Germany's did not; its primary source of energy was coal. Thus, German industry was not significantly affected by attacks on oil targets, although it impacted ground and air operations.
What brought about the final collapse of the German economy in 1945 was the attacks against transportation targets. This book explains how this occurred, and how Albert Speer and the Deutsche Reichsbahn attempted to prevent it. In the end, there were more locomotives than ever, and railway cars piled up in the sidings, but the vital coal did not get delivered because the bombing of the marshalling yards completely disrupted the transportation system.
Publishing details: Mierzejewski, Alfred C. (2007). The Collapse of the German War Economy, 1944-1945: Allied Air Power and the German National Railway. Lanham, Maryland: The University of North Carolina Press.
Gregory D. Bell - Logistics of the First Crusade |
- By Hawkeye7
This book is about the logistical support of the First Crusade. The crusaders had to traverse vast distances just to get to the frontier of Christendom, and then had conduct a major campaign involving a series of sieges and pitched battles against a strong and well-led if occasionally divided enemy.
No king, emperor or pontiff stepped forward to lead the crusade, so it consisted of contingents under lesser nobles whose names are now legendary:
Just getting there was a logistical feat of the highest magnitude. How they did it is the subject of this book. Keeping the troops' animals fed and providing drinking water for them were major concerns throughout, affecting the course of the campaign as the crusaders met and overcame formidable obstacles. Mostly the crusaders followed what remains sound advice to travellers today: take less baggage and more money. The resulting logistical system was very different from what many readers might imagine was used in the middle ages.
This book represents an important contribution to the history of the crusades and medieval logistics. It is highly recommended for anyone with an interest in either subject. This book is solidly based on recent scholarship while still being an easy read. However, it covers logistics, not battles. If you want to know more about the conduct of the campaigns (or need to brush up on them), I recommend John France's Victory in the East: A Military History of the First Crusade (1996).
Publishing details: Bell, Gregory (2020). Logistics of the First Crusade: Acquiring Supplies Amid Chaos. Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Books.
Recent external reviews |
Warren, Jack D. (2023). Freedom: The Enduring Importance of the American Revolution. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
- Turner, Ken (29 December 2023). "Freedom: The Enduring Importance of the American Revolution". Military Review. Army University Press.
Vigurs, Kate (2021). Mission France: The True History of the Women of SOE. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press.
- Pomiès-Maréchal, Sylvie (December 2023). "Review of Vigurs, Kate. Mission France: The True History of the Women of SOE". H-War, H-Net Reviews.
Treistman, Jeffrey (2022). When Bad States Win: Rethinking Counterinsurgency Strategy. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press.
- Benjamin, James A. Leo (January 2024). "Review of Treistman, Jeffrey. When Bad States Win: Rethinking Counterinsurgency Strategy". H-War, H-Net Reviews.
Vandenengel, Jeff (2023). Questioning the Carrier: Opportunities in Fleet Design for the U.S. Navy. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press.
- Hobbs, David (8 December 2023). "Questioning the Carrier". Australian Naval Institute.
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