Book Reviews – MCA

Below are critical evaluations of books relevant to Marine Corps strategy, history, and leadership.

Strategy

Airpower in Small Wars by James S. Corum & Wray R. Johnson — Reviewed by Maj Charles D. Melson, USMC(Ret)

Amphibious Assault Falklands by Michael Clapp & Ewen Southby-Tailyour — Reviewed by LtCol Leonard A. Blasiol

The Arab-Israeli Wars by Chaim Herzog — Reviewed by Eric M. Hammel

The Art of War by Sun Tzu translated by Ralph D. Sawyer AND translated by J. H. Huang AND The Seven Classics of Ancient China translated by Ralph D. Sawyer — Reviewed by Col Bruce M. Mac Laren, USMC(Ret)

At the Water’s Edge by Theodore L. Gatchel — Reviewed by LtCol Kenneth W. Estes, USMC(Ret)

The Campaigns of Napoleon by David Chandler

Command in War by Martin Van Creveld — Reviewed by LtGen B. E. Trainor, USMC(Ret)

Commander of the Faithful by John W. Kiser — Reviewed by Jim Gant

Counterinsurgency Warfare by David Galula

Counterinsurgency Warfare by David Galula — Reviewed by LCDR Joseph D. Haines, MC, USN

Counterinsurgency Warfare by David Galula — Reviewed by Col Thomas X. Hammes, USMC(Ret)

Decoding Clausewitz by Jon Tetsuro Sumida — Reviewed by LtCol J. Alex Vohr

Diplomacy by Henry Kissinger — Reviewed by Maj F. G. Hoffman, USMCR

Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card — Released through DivPA

Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card — Reviewed by Maj Jonathan Burgess

Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card — Reviewed by 1stLt Jordan A. Blashek & Cpl John S. Galloup

Guardians of Empire by Brian M. Linn — Reviewed by Leo J. Daughterty III

Joint Publication 3-13, Joint Doctrine for Information Operations – USMC — Reviewed by Maj James E. McGinley

Learning to Eat Soup With a Knife by John A. Nagl — Reviewed by Capt Scott A. Cuomo

Marine Corps Operating Concepts for a Changing Security Environment – USMC — Reviewed by Maj Pierre G. Hollis

Marine Corps Planning Process – USMC — Reviewed by LtCol Mark W. Elfers

Masters of Chaos by Linda Robinson — Reviewed by LtCol Charles L. Armstrong, USMC(Ret)

Military Innovation in the Interwar Period edited by Williamson Murray & Allan R. Millett — Reviewed by LtCol F. G. Hoffman, USMCR

Military Misfortunes by Eliot A. Cohen & John Gooch — Reviewed by Maj E. Gray Payne, USMCR

On War by Carl von Clausewitz — Reviewed by Maj Scott Helminski

A Question of Command by Mark Moyar — Reviewed by Robert A. Hall

The Seven Military Classics of Ancient China translated by Ralph D. Sawyer with Mei-chun Sawyer — Reviewed by Matthew T. Robinson

Strategic Planning for Coalition Warfare by Maurice Matloff & Edwin M. Snell — Reviewed by Col S. R. Shaw

Strategy by B. H. Liddell Hart — Reviewed by LtCol Brooke Nihart

Strategy by B. H. Liddell Hart — Reviewed by Col H. D. Pratt

Strategy and Command by Louis Morton AND Triumph in the Philippines by Robert R. Smith

A Tentative Manual for Countering Irregular Threats AND Small Unit Leader’s Guide to Counterinsurgency – USMC — Reviewed by Concepts and Plans Division, MCWL

Thinking in Time by Richard E. Neustadt & Ernest R. May — Reviewed by Robert D. Steele

Naval Strategy

Command Missions by LtGen L. K. Truscott, Jr. — Reviewed by Col C. G. Reinhardt

The Fast Carriers by Clark G. Reynolds — Reviewed by LtCol Paul R. Hines

Fleet Tactics and Naval Operations by CAPT Wayne Hughes, Jr., USN(Ret) & RADM Robbert Girrier, USN(Ret) — Reviewed by Capts M. S. Hanks & M. P. Magyar

Neptunes Inferno by James D. Hornfischer AND Fleet Tactics and Naval Operations by CAPT Wayne Hughes, Jr., USN(Ret) & RADM Robbert Girrier, USN(Ret) — Reviewed by LtCol John Berry, USMC(Ret)

Sea Power by E. B. Potter — Reviewed by Maj Kenneth W. Estes

The U.S. Marines and Amphibious War by J. A. Isely & P. A. Crowl — Reviewed by Col J. C. Studt

Air Strategy

The Air Campaign by John A. Warden III — Reviewed by MajGen John R. Dailey AND Maj James P. Etter

Command of the Air by Giulio Douhet — Reviewed by Col Joseph A. Mitchell

The Limits of Airpower by Mark Clodfelter — Reviewed by Col S. N. Collins, Jr. USMCR(Ret)

Leadership

Command Missions by LtGen L. K. Truscott, Jr. — Reviewed by Col C. G. Reinhardt

FMFM 1-0, Leading Marines – USMC — Reviewed by Col Michael D. Wyly, USMC(Ret)

Leading Change by John P. Kotter — Reviewed by Gary Horne & LtCol F. G. Hoffman, USMCR

The Mask of Command by John Keegan — Reviewed by Capt Charles P. Neimeyer

Rules & Tools for Leaders by Perry M. Smith — Reviewed by Capt James F. Murphy, USMCR

Sources of Power by Gary Klein — Reviewed by LtCol F. G. Hoffman, USMCR

Taking Charge by Perry M. Smith introduction by James Bond Stockdale — Reviewed by Col Donald J. Myers

To Change an Army by Harold R. Winton — Reviewed by Capt Bruce I. Gudmundsson, USMCR

General Knowledge

The Armed Forces Officer by S. L. A. Marshall — Reviewed by LtCol G. D. Batcheller

The Battle for the Falklands by Max Hastings & Simon Jenkins — Reviewed by Col(sel) N. F. Vaux, DSO, RM

Civil Affairs by Harry L. Coles & Albert K. Weinberg

The Enlightened Soldier by Charles Edward White — Reviewed by Capt Robert N. Ellithorpe

First to Fight by LtGen Victor H. Krulak, USMC(Ret) — Reviewed by COL Chris Field, Australian Army

First to Fight by LtGen Victor H. Krulak, USMC(Ret) –Reviewed by Capt G. W. Myers

First to Fight by LtGen Victor H. Krulak, USMC(Ret) — Reviewed by Maj Scott A. Whipple

First to Fight by LtGen Victor H. Krulak, USMC(Ret) — Reviewed by Col J. E. Greenwood, USMC(Ret) AND Tarawa by Charles T. Gregg — Reviewed by MajGen Michael P. Ryan

For the Common Defense by Allan R. Millett & Peter Maslowski — Reviewed by George W. Baer

Modern Military Dictionary. English/Arabic. Arabic/English by Maher S. Kayyali — Reviewed by W. V. H. White

No Picnic by Julian Thompson — Reviewed by LtGen Bernard E. Trainor

With Sword and Shield by Warren W. Hassler, Jr. — Reviewed by Maj Kenneth W. Estes

MCDPs

The MCDPs – USMC

MCDP 1, Warfighting – USMC

MCDP 1, Warfighting – USMC — Reviewed by Capt Brandon Bocian

MCDP 1, Warfighting – USMC — Reviewed by 2ndLt Paige E. Dillard

MCDP 1, Warfighting – USMC — Reviewed by Maj Adam T. Strickland

MCDP 1-0, Marine Corps Operations – USMC — Reviewed by LtCol John A. Bass, USMC(Ret)

MCDP 1-2, Campaigning AND MCDP 1-3, Tactics AND MCDP 5, Planning – USMC

MCDP 2, Intelligence – USMC

MCDP 4, Logistics – USMC

Revolutionary War

George Washington’s Opponents edited by George A. Billias — Reviewed by Dr. R. W. Daly, USNA

Saratoga by Richard M. Ketchum — Reviewed by LtCol Horace S. Mazet, USMCR(Ret)

The Winter Soldiers by Richard M. Ketchum — Reviewed by LtCol C. E. Marean Sr., USMCR

Civil War

Battle Cry of Freedom by James M. McPherson — Reviewed by LtCol J. David Phillips, USMC(Ret)

Chancellorsville by Stephen W. Sears — Reviewed by Col Daniel C. O’Brien

Landscape Turned Red by Stephen W. Sears — Reviewed by Paul Kallina

World War 1

The Dynamics of Doctrine by Capt Timothy T. Lupfer, USA — Reviewed by Prof Williamson Murray

World War 2

A Bell for Adano by John Hersey — Reviewed by Paul Turnan

A Bias for Action by Russel H. S. Stolfi — Reviewed by Capt John R. Studt

The Canadian Army and the Normandy Campaign by John A. English — Reviewed by LtCol Donald F. Bittner, USMCR(Ret)

Crusade in Europe by Dwight D. Eisenhower — Reviewed by J. A. Donovan, Jr.

Crusade in Europe by Dwight D. Eisenhower — Reviewed by RPMacG

Defeat into Victory by Field Marshal Sir William Slim — Reviewed by LtCol L. E. Hudgins, Jr.

Eagle Against the Sun by Ronald H. Spector — Reviewed by Bob Jordan

Eagle Against the Sun by Ronald H. Spector –Reviewed by Brian M. Linn

The Fall of the Philippines by Louis Morton — Reviewed by Maj G. P. Averill

In the Ruins of Empire by Ronald H. Spector — Reviewed by Robert B. Loring

The Invasion of France and Germany by Samuel Eliot Morison — Reviewed by Col R. D. Heinl, Jr.

Leyte by RADM Samuel Eliot Morison, USNR(Ret) — Reviewed by Col R. D. Heinl, Jr.

New Guinea and the Marianas by Samuel Eliot Morison — Reviewed by LtCol V. J. Croizat

Northwest Africa by George F. Howe

Okinawa by Roy E. Appleman, James M. Burns, Russell A. Gugeler & John Stevens

Pacific Blitzkrieg by Sharon Tosi Lacey — Reviewed by Dr. John W. (Bill) Gordon

The Rising Sun in the Pacific by Samuel Eliot Morison — Reviewed by RPMacG

Sicily-Salerno-Anzio by RADM S. E. Morison — Reviewed by LtCol R. D. Heinl, Jr.

The Two Ocean War by Samuel E. Morison — Reviewed by LtCol Merrill L. Bartlett, USMC(Ret)

War Plan Orange by Edward S. Miller — Reviewed by Maj Robert E. Schmidle

Korea

Vietnam

The Army and Vietnam by Maj Andrew F. Krepinevich, USA — Reviewed by Maj Thomas X. Hammes

A Better War by Lewis Sorley — Reviewed by Robert Previdi

A Bright Shining Lie by Neil Sheehan — Reviewed by Maj Edward F. Palm

A Bright Shining Lie by Neil Sheehan — Reviewed by Jack Shulimson

The Co-Vans by John Grider Miller — Reviewed by R. R. Keene

Dereliction of Duty by H. R. McMaster — Reviewed by LtGen Victor H. Krulak, USMC(Ret)

Fields of Fire by James Webb — Reviewed by Maj Terrence P. Murray

In Retrospect by Robert S. McNamara with Brian VanDeMark — Reviewed by LtGen Victor H. Krulak, USMC(Ret)

Stolen Valor by B. G. Burkett & Glenna Whitley — Reviewed by Col Kenneth D. Jordan, USMC(Ret)

This Time We Win by James S. Robbins — Reviewed by Robert B. Loring

Triumph Forsaken by Mark Moyar — Reviewed by Robert A. Hall

Triumph Forsaken by Mark Moyar — Reviewed by Charles Melson

U.S. Marines in Vietnam by Jack Shulimson, LtCol Leonard A. Blasiol, USMC, Charles R. Smith & Capt David A. Dawson, USMC — Reviewed by Leo J. Daugherty III

U.S. Marines in Vietnam by Jack Shulimson, LtCol Leonard A. Blasiol, USMC, Charles R. Smith & Capt David A. Dawson, USMC — Reviewed by MCG, Staff

Vietnam at War by LtGen Phillip B. Davidson, USA(Ret) — Reviewed by LtCol Merrill L Bartlett, USMC(Ret)

War Comes to Long An by Jeffrey Race — Reviewed by Maj M. N. Carter

Gulf War

The Generals’ War by Michael R. Gordon & LtGen Bernard E. Trainor, USMC(Ret) — Reviewed by MajGen Harry W. Jenkins, Jr., USMC(Ret)

U.S. Marines in the Persian Gulf, 1990-1991 — Reviewed by Robert T. Foley

Afghanistan

The Wrong War by Bing West — Reviewed by Colin M. Colbourn

The Wrong War by Bing West — Reviewed by Col T. X. Hammes, USMC(Ret)

Iraq

Cobra II by Michael R. Gordon & Gen Bernard E. Trainor — Reviewed by MajGen Harry W. Jenkins, USMC(Ret)

Today’s Marines

The Bear Went Over the Mountain by Lester W. Grau — Reviewed by Capt Robert C. Fulford

The Bear Went Over the Mountain by Lester W. Grau AND The Soviet-Afghan War by Lester W. Grau and Michael A. Gress — Reviewed by Col Drew A. Bennett

Cyber War by Richard A. Clarke & Robert K. Knake — Reviewed by Maj Chris Buckham

Illicit by Moisés Naim — Reviewed by Kevin Johnston

Insurgency and Terrorism by Bard E. O’Neill — Reviewed by Capt James R. Finley

Insurgents, Terrorists, and Militias by Richard H. Shultz & Andrea J. Dew — Reviewed by LtCol Charles L. Armstrong, USMC(Ret)

Terrorism, Afghanistan, and America’s New Way of War by Norman Friedman — Reviewed by LtCol F. G. Hoffman, USMCR(Ret)

Victory on the Potomac by James R. Locher III — Reviewed by LtCol F. G. Hoffman, USMCR