Overview

Throughout history, from Kublai Khan's attempted invasions of Japan to Rommel's desert warfare, military operations have succeeded or failed on the ability of commanders to incorporate environmental conditions into their tactics. In this volume, geographer Harold A. Winters and former US Army officers Gerald E. Galloway Jr., William J. Reynolds and David W. Rhyne, examine the connections between major battles in world history and their geographic components, revealing what role factors such as weather, climate, terrain, soil and vegetation have played in combat. Each chapter offers a detailed explanation of a specific environmental factor and then looks at several battles that highlight its effects on military operations. As this cogent analysis of geography and war makes clear, those who know more about the shape, nature and variability of battleground conditions will always have a better understanding of the nature of combat and at least one significant advantage over a less knowledgeable enemy.

Full Product Details

Author:   Harold A. Winters ,  Gerald A. Galloway, Jr. ,  William J. Reynolds ,  David W. Rhyne
Publisher:   Johns Hopkins University Press
Imprint:   Johns Hopkins University Press
Edition:   New edition
Dimensions:   Width: 17.50cm , Height: 2.40cm , Length: 25.40cm
Weight:   0.567kg
ISBN:  

9780801866487

ISBN 10:   0801866480
Pages:   336
Publication Date:   16 May 2001
Recommended Age:   From 17
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  Undergraduate ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.

Table of Contents

Contents: 1 Storms, Fair Weather, and Chance Kamikazes, Dunkirk, and Normandy 2 Too Much and Too Wet The Civil War Mud March and Flander's Fields 3 Clouds and Fog The Bulge and Khe Sanh 4 Invading Another Climate as Seasons Change Napoleon and Hitler Russia 5 Forests and Jungles The Wilderness and the Ia Drang Valley 6 Terrains and Corridors The American Civil War's Eastern Theater and World War I Verdun 7 Troubled Waters River Crossings at Arnhem and Remagen 8 Glaciers Shape the Land Alpine Fighting and the Road to Moscow 9 Peninsulas and Sea Coasts Anzio and Inchon 10 Island Battles Tarawa and Iwo Jima 11 Hot, Wet, and Sick New Guinea and Dien Bien Phu 12 Heat, Rock, and Sand The Western Desert and the Sinai

Reviews

<p> Military geographer Winters and his contributors use specific case studies to illustrate the importance in military operations of five elements of physical geography: weather, climate, terrain, soil, and vegetation. The range is impressive and the examples are well chosen... These case studies will usefully expand the limited sense of military geography possessed by most readers of military history. -- Publishers Weekly

A remarkable guide to nature's effects on the conduct of military operations... Accessible to the layman but still of considerable utility for the expert, this book belongs on the shelf of any serious student of military affairs. Foreign Affairs This work... underscores the importance of weather, terrain, and soil type on military operations... An intriguing perspective that goes beyond instructing plebes to engaging recreational readers of military affairs. Booklist Military geographer Winters and his contributors use specific case studies to illustrate the importance in military operations of five elements of physical geography: weather, climate, terrain, soil, and vegetation. The range is impressive and the examples are well chosen... These case studies will usefully expand the limited sense of military geography possessed by most readers of military history. Publishers Weekly An excellent book and an important addition to the library of serious students of the military art... Well written, educational, multidisciplinary, and interesting. Parameters

Author Information

Harold A. Winters is a professor emeritus of geography at Michigan State University. Gerald E. Galloway Jr., who retired as a brigadier general after serving thirty-nine years in the U.S. army, is secretary for the U.S. Section of the International Joint Committee. William J. Reynolds, a retired colonel and Vietnam veteran, is northwest regional manager for Science Applications International Corporation. David W. Rhyne, a retired lieutenant colonel, teaches at Stonewall Jackson Middle School in Hanover County, Virginia.

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