Military Blunders

Very good read. Pass the hours away with no effort.

Reviewing this book is difficult for me as I suspect that I'm not the real audience to whom Saul David addressed it, so I'm not entirely qualified to comment really. You see, I'm a 'general' reader with a strong lean towards history and, in particular, military matters. So I'll read a novel followed by a history text book followed by a 'quirky' science book followed by another novel; you get the idea. That means that I know a bit about history but I am, by no stretch, expert. I've read articles and such by Saul David previously and have seen him pop up on a variety of TV documentaries so I know his background. My problem with 'Military Blunders' is that it's too detailed and authoritative for me. If I was a military cadet studying in an academy or even a 'proper' historian, then this book would be perfect. But I'm just not that good!The book is very well crafted and split into sections that each encompass a general reason for failure and then offers ten examples spanning the ages. Each example is apt and incredibly well researched. Mr David doesn't shy away from giving his personal opinion of where fault lies and one certainly can't accuse him of racism or nationalism as that blame is spread over a wide range of military empires and doesn't spare Britain, America or Europe at all. This is good stuff.Where I began to have a problem was that, having researched the absolute depth of a military situation, Mr David just can't resist setting it all down, whether it actually matters or not. In almost all cases, I might want to know that "Three units of infantry advanced up the hill", but I don't need to the know the battalion / unit / corps designations of each one, nor the names of their commanders etc. When this level of detail is set out once, it imparts a sense of confidence in the research but, after a few times, it becomes boring and, quite quickly, I was thinking "Oh not again!" when it, inevitably, cropped up in the next section. To me, this was padding but I can see that, to a student, this would be vital. detail.Most of the examples cited were incidents that I had heard about but knew little detail and these I found to be, on the whole, interesting. Some chimed with films I have seen (such as 'A Bridge Too Far' or 'The Bridge At Remagen' or 'Zulu') or major incidents such as the Dunkirk evacuation or Battle of Crecy. I don't, by the way, learn all of my history via the silver screen! A few were incidents of which I was previously entirely unaware and I felt educated by them. Most pleasing for me were those incidents where I thought that I knew quite a lot but still found something in 'Military Blunders' that I hadn't known. For example, I know a bit about 'Custer's Last Stand' but never knew why Custer was, unlike all of the other casualties, not scalped (you'll have to read the book to find out). Similarly, I knew that Jim Bowie was not the shinning hero of American 'spin history' but I didn't know about his incredible criminal empire with his brother and their ingenious scam to gain from the slave trade.For those interested in such matters, there is a very useful index at the back of the book so you can go back and find a particular item easily; again, more important to a student than to a general reader I wold imagine. One pleasing element is that, unlike some other Kindle renditions, the maps in here (and there are lots of them) can be enlarged to fill the page and, on my Kindle Fire, are very legible.I did enjoy this book but it became a bit of slog to get through the detail, hence the three stars. If I was either teaching a military class or attending that class as a student, this would get an easy five stars. If I might sound a little crass, this Kindle book was ridiculously cheap to buy so I was in no way cheated; it was, if anything, the best value couple of quid I've spent in a long time. Saul David knows his stuff!

A very enjoyable read. Each of the episodes is covered in enough detail to give the background to the event described and there is plenty of atmosphere as the stories are told.This is an ideal "taster" for the incidents in the book and encourage the reader to read further.I didn't give five stars because I felt the maps could have been clearer and more of them would have added to the narrative.

The content of this book is fascinating to a military history buff like me but unfortunately the presentation is somewhat lacking. Events are recounted with the blunt sterility of a journalistic dispatch, and as such quite a lot of what I read made no impression on me and was instantly forgotten. Certain chapters stood out by way of the events depicted being so exciting that the author's turgid approach could not diminish them. This was definitely an interesting read but it lacked the emotional depth and clarity that great historians like Laurence Rees imbue their work with.

A fairly basic book. David approaches the dissection of with relish as he casts his cold eye and a massive helping of wondourous hindsight on to a whole range of military failures.As you get into this book, it becomes blatantly obvious that David's insight is nothing more than cold hard science and his failure to grasp any concept of the hearts and minds renders the job only half done. He constantly complains about leaders dithering, as if throwing countless lives into battle is as easy as Sunday morning. David makes it out that managing battlefields and wars is extremely easy. This high horse judgement is laid on too thick and in such a callous way that it is difficult to see as a rational piece of work.

Much respected historian who is accessible to many readers. I share his interest in military history and especially the inevitable blunder that takes place when objectives are not clear, command is incompetent and communication is poor.Well worth a read

Tis book is a joy for military enthusiasts. Ideal for the train or plane as you can read a chapter and get the whole story expertly written and with the details of facts and terrain. The book covers conflicts from long ago to modern warfare and has the ability to show the reader that lessons from hisrory are not always learned even by the experts. This on won't go to Oxfam - it is staying on the bookshelf!

An interesting insight into what can go wrong in battle. The book highlights the need for good planning by experienced officers. Also that politicians should keep out of military decisions.