The Facts on File Dictionary of Military Science

Over 5,000 entries focus on the strategy, tactics, and technology of fighting, and provide definitions of terms for warfare from Napoleon's time to the present

This military reference work is potentially useful, but has a few shortcomings. It was written by skilled information compilers rather than by military experts, and the difference often shows. The book contains more than 5000 alphabetized definitions; they are cross-referenced, and bibliographic sources are given for the longer entries. However, many of the sources are not the most authoritative, and the text is often very opinionated--inappropriate in a descriptive dictionary--and contains some factual errors. Its scope runs from the age of Napoleon to the present, but most definitions deal with modern strategic warfare. It is more comprehensive than the standard commercial and governmental directories, e.g., Trevor Dupuy and others' Dictionary of Military Terms ( Wilson, 1986), Bill Gunnston's Jane's Aerospace Dictionary ( Jane's, 1986. 2d ed.), or Joint Chiefs of Staff Department of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms (Defense Technical Information Ctr., 1974), with longer entries. Recommended despite its limitations.
- Raymond L. Puffer, U.S. Air Force History Prog., Los Angeles
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.