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A Scientific Way of War
- Antebellum Military Science, West Point, and the Origins of American Military Thought - Studies in War, Society, and the Military
- Narrated by: Kevin F Spalding
- Length: 9 hrs and 23 mins
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Publisher's summary
A Scientific Way of War analyzes how the doctrine of military science evolved from teaching specific Napoleonic applications to embracing subjects that were useful for war in North America. Drawing from a wide array of materials, Ian C. Hope refutes earlier charges of a lack of professionalization in the antebellum American army and an overreliance on the teachings of Swiss military theorist Antoine de Jomini. Instead, Hope shows that inculcation in West Point's American military curriculum eventually came to provide the army with an officer corps that shared a common doctrine and common skill in military problem solving. The proliferation of military science ensured that on the eve of the Civil War there existed a distinctly American, and scientific, way of war.
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Called "the preeminent survey of American military history" by Russell F. Weigley, America's foremost military historian, For the Common Defense is an essential contribution to the field of military history. This third edition provides the most complete and current history of United States defense policy and military institutions and the conduct of America's wars. Without diminishing the value of its earlier editions, authors Allan R. Millett, Peter Maslowski, and William B. Feis provide a fresh perspective on the continuing issues that characterize national security policy.
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The chapters in the book are badly labled
- By Hermione on 01-31-23
By: Allan R. Millett, and others
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A Savage War
- A Military History of the Civil War
- By: Wayne Wei-siang Hsieh, Williamson Murray
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 24 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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The Civil War represented a momentous change in the character of war. It combined the projection of military might across a continent on a scale never before seen with an unprecedented mass mobilization of peoples. Yet despite the revolutionizing aspects of the Civil War, its leaders faced the same uncertainties that have vexed combatants since the days of Thucydides and the Peloponnesian War.
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A Book about Conclusions
- By Terry Masters on 10-18-17
By: Wayne Wei-siang Hsieh, and others
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George Washington’s Military Genius
- By: Dave R. Palmer
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 7 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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George Washington’s military strategy has been called bumbling at worst and brilliant at best. So which is it? Was George Washington a strategic genius or just lucky? So asks Dave R. Palmer in George Washington’s Military Genius. An updated edition of Palmer’s earlier work, The Way of the Fox, George Washington’s Military Genius breaks down the American Revolution into four phases and analyzes Washington’s strategy during each.
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Genius
- By John on 08-08-22
By: Dave R. Palmer
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A Warrior Dynasty
- The Rise and Fall of Sweden as a Military Superpower 1611-1721
- By: Henrik O. Lunde
- Narrated by: Mark Ashby
- Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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This audiobook examines the meteoric rise of Sweden as the pre-eminent military power in Europe during the Thirty Years War during the 1600s, and then follows its line of warrior kings into the next century until the Swedes finally meet their demise, in an overreach into the vastness of Russia. A small Scandinavian nation, with at most one and a half million people and scant internal resources of its own, there was small logic to how Sweden could become the dominant power on the Continent.
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An author with an idea but not the skills
- By chris loomis on 08-07-15
By: Henrik O. Lunde
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The First World War
- By: Hew Strachan
- Narrated by: Clive Chafer
- Length: 13 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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A century has passed since the outbreak of World War I, yet as military historian Hew Strachan argues in this brilliant and authoritative new book, the legacy of the "war to end all wars" is with us still. The First World War was a truly global conflict from the start, with many of the most decisive battles fought in or directly affecting the Balkans, Africa, and the Ottoman Empire. Even more than World War II, the First World War continues to shape the politics and international relations of our world.
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Outstanding narrative of the military action
- By Tad Davis on 04-30-17
By: Hew Strachan
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The Myth of the Lost Cause
- Why the South Fought the Civil War and Why the North Won
- By: Edward H. Bonekemper III
- Narrated by: C.J. McAllister
- Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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The former Confederate states have continually mythologized the South's defeat to the North, depicting the Civil War as unnecessary, or as a fight over states' Constitutional rights, or as a David v. Goliath struggle in which the North waged "total war" over an underdog South. In The Myth of the Lost Cause, historian Edward Bonekemper deconstructs this multi-faceted myth, revealing the truth about the war that nearly tore the nation apart 150 years ago.
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The Civil War was about Slavery. Period.
- By Reg on 02-07-17
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The Pursuit of Power
- Technology, Armed Force, and Society since A.D. 1000
- By: William H. McNeill
- Narrated by: Chris Andrew Ciulla
- Length: 15 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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In this magnificent synthesis of military, technological, and social history, William H. McNeill explores a whole millennium of human upheaval and traces the path by which we have arrived at the frightening dilemmas that now confront us. McNeill moves with equal mastery from the crossbow - banned by the Church in 1139 as too lethal for Christians to use against one another - to the nuclear missile, from the sociological consequences of drill in the 17th century to the emergence of the military-industrial complex in the 20th.
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Brilliant, lucid history
- By Ariel on 07-04-22
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Verdun
- The Lost History of the Most Important Battle of World War I, 1914-1918
- By: John Mosier
- Narrated by: Wes Talbot
- Length: 11 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Alongside Waterloo and Gettysburg, the Battle of Verdun during World War I stands as one of history’s greatest clashes. Yet it is also one of the most complex and misunderstood. Conventional wisdom holds that the battle began in February 1916 and lasted until December, when the victorious French wrested all the territory they had lost back from the Germans. In fact, says historian John Mosier, from the very beginning of the war until the armistice in 1918, no fewer than eight distinct battles were waged for the possession of Verdun.
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A good book ruined by its reader
- By E. Keenan on 01-12-14
By: John Mosier
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Enduring the Whirlwind
- The German Army and the Russo-German War 1941-1943
- By: Gregory Liedtke
- Narrated by: James Anderson Foster
- Length: 9 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Despite the best efforts of a number of historians, many aspects of the ferocious struggle between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union during the Second World War remain obscure or shrouded in myth. One of the most persistent of these is the notion - largely created by many former members of its own officer corps in the immediate postwar period - that the German Army was a paragon of military professionalism and operational proficiency whose defeat on the Eastern Front was solely attributable to the amateurish meddling of a crazed former Corporal.
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WW2 east/west military might.
- By William R. Todd-Mancillas (Name includes hyphen and capitalized M). on 11-07-17
By: Gregory Liedtke
What listeners say about A Scientific Way of War
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- James
- 11-22-16
A Scientific Way of War is a big win!
Would you listen to A Scientific Way of War again? Why?
I would listen to A Scientific Way of War again. The narration by Kevin F. Spalding was engaging, holding my attention and interest throughout the entire audiobook. I was fascinated to learn about the Enlightenment's influence on military science and the focus on math,science, and engineering in the education of West Point cadets from the 18th century up to the Civil War, and even still today.
What other book might you compare A Scientific Way of War to and why?
Personally, I had never listened to a book comparable to A Scientific Way of War. I am one who tends to gravitate towards military biographies, and Ian C. Hope's material was more technical and scholarly in nature than most books in my library. However, I am thankful for the recommendation and the insight I gained by listening to this book.
Which scene was your favorite?
My favorite scene came towards the end when Ian C. Hope examines the Civil War and the fact that West Point had produced leaders on both sides well versed in the art of military science, who ultimately face off on the field of battle. As we all know, the Union prevails in this war, in large part because of industrialization, which is in itself an arm of military science.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
Because of the technical nature of the book, it was best for me to listen, absorb, and enjoy the material over multiple sittings.
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- Kevin Roberts
- 10-17-16
The history of an amazing place!!
This book provided an insight to the creation, purpose, and evolution of the United States Military Academy, what an amazing story! The "performance" of Kevin Spalding, kept the book engaging and enjoyable. Not sure I could have read this entire book!
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- Elijah
- 06-13-16
A New Perspective on History
This was extremely eye opening. Looking at Antebellum American History through the lens of not just battles and generals, but the science and theory behind those battles. I had no idea that the enlightenment had such an effect on military thought. Extremely fascinating!
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