The Reader's Companion to Military History (First Printing)

An encyclopedia of military history covers the wars of Asia, South America, and Africa, as well as North America and Europe, and includes information on the major leaders, weapons, the use of propaganda, the evolution of uniforms, and more.

YA. This well illustrated, solidly researched, articulately written volume is a major contribution to the field of military history. YAs will find short articles helpful for researching term papers and for satisfying curiosity regarding wars and the people, institutions, and doctrines that fight, wage, and control them. While other compendia deal with military history from the start of recorded time, such as E. R. Dupuy and Trevor N. Dupuy's The Harper Encyclopedia of Military History (HarperCollins, 1993), none approach the subject from as many different aspects as this one. This objective work deals with military history on five continents (nothing on Australia) and from ancient times to this decade. It contains compact and thorough articles on conflicts from the Algerian War to the Zulu Wars; major battles from Actium to Zama; significant land, sea, and air combat leaders from Edmund Allenby to Georgii Zhukov. Also included are military philosophers and their theories from Sun Tzu to Karl von Clausewitz; and military technological advances from Greek Fire to land, sea, and air precision-guided munitions. Some articles are as current as today's newspaper, such as "Gays in the Military." What makes the publication so effective is its brilliantly composed, lengthy, and thorough index. Finally, and most importantly, the military historians who wrote the cogent essays are tops in the profession.?Alan L. Gropman, National Defense University, Washington, D.C.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Cowley edits MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History, and Parker, a well-known military historian, is a professor at Ohio State. Working with 150 other military historians, they have produced a companion to military history that manages to stand out in an overcrowded field of reference sources. Coverage centers on warfare in the West, giving "more weight to the conflicts, personalities, and developments that shaped warfare in the twentieth and, to a lesser degree, the nineteenth century." Limiting coverage enables the editors to devote more space to military leaders, battles, and topics of interest to readers in the U.S. and Europe. Non-Western personalities and battles are included, but entries are shorter, with fewer illustrations and recommended reading suggestions.

Among the topics included are "Knightly Orders," "Courage," "Change," "Mutiny," "Pacifism," and "Weather in War." One is surprised to find good discussions of war in Western art, in creative literature, and in Western music. These interesting essays serve to complement military dictionaries and encyclopedias devoted to battles, campaigns, and statistics, works such as The Harper Encyclopedia of Military History from 3500 B.C. to the Present (4th ed., HarperCollins, 1993) and Brassey's Battles, 3500 Years of Conflict, Campaigns and Wars from A^-Z (Brassey's, 1986).

Another pleasant surprise is finding "top ten" lists of the best historical fiction, the worst and greatest generals, the best war movies, the best military sites to visit, "Ten Military Might-Have-Beens," etc. Illustrations include black-and-white maps, drawings, and photographs. All entries are signed and there are cross-references. Suggested reading includes citations to both journal articles and books, mostly secondary sources.

Young adults and laypersons will enjoy this companion. It is highly recommended for school and public libraries; academic libraries might wish to include it in the circulating collection.

Cowley, editor of MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History, and Parker (naval and military history, Yale) bring together the contributions of 150 journalists, historians, scholars, and biographers in more than 590 entries to this polished one-volume encyclopedia of war. Although Western-oriented and with an emphasis on 19th- and 20th-century warfare, it offers more than just a routine listing of people, places, and events in the history of war. The editors have skillfully added well-written pieces on the art and science of war, including entries on deception, strategy, discipline, espionage, logistics, geography, laws of war, origins of war, weather, and treachery. Best are the entries on the theories of land and naval warfare, especially those by Clausewitz, Corbett, and Mahan. Also included are numerous sidebars of little relevance or value, most being entirely subjective and without historical foundation (e.g., "Ten Best War Movies," "Ten Best Works of Historical Fiction About War"). Recommended for general readers.?Col. William D. Bushnell, USMC (ret.), Brunswick, Me.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.