For those needing fast background on military types
Written: Jan 04 '09
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Quick background on three thousand men of violence (with a few women thrown in)
Cons: European and American bias. Not much detail.
The Bottom Line: This is a good purchase for those needing background on military figures. Not as detailed as it could be.
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| buffoonery's Full Review: Trevor N. Dupuy, David L. Bongard, Curt Johnson - ... |
Trevor N. Dupuy was a U.S. Army officer in the Far East during WWII who subsequently served on the faculty at Harvard University as a military historian. The author or co-author of some fifty books, one of his better-known efforts is The Harper Encyclopedia of Military Biography (co-written by Curt Johnson and David L. Bongard), an important source not only for the armchair military historian and wargamer but for anyone who has a general or professional knowledge of history; one can't understand history without a knowledge of armed conflict.
At some eight hundred pages plus long, this book contains entries on important (or famous-not the same thing) military leaders from the dawn of history to the First Gulf War (in the most recent edition), this is not the sort of book that one digests at one reading. Names are arranged alphabetically rather than by era. The primary focus is European, an while there is some coverage of non-European leaders, you should understand in advance that this is really a tome on the "big names" in the West.
Entries range from a few lines to a page and a half in length, with the typical entry garnering a column or so in coverage. Each entry begins with the subject's life span and major campaigns. The rest of the entry is a summary of major events and activities, written in run-on sentences with each topic separately be a semi-colon. (These guys didn't spend a lot of money on editing or creative writing.) Many entries are also followed by short bibliographies.
In short, don't expect highly detailed entries for these guys, many of whom have had multiple if not many books written about them anyway. This book is for someone needing quick background.
All the big guys you would expect to see here are here. The book is particularly strong on World Wars I and II as well as ancient Rome. As one might expect, there are curious inconsistencies and omissions. There is no entry for Admiral Sir John Tovey, for example, while there are lots of entries for less-important US naval leaders of WWII. Winston Churchill and Stalin get a page each but FDR gets three line (maybe there are some books written about him)? There is a particular prejudice to American leaders-is George Armstrong Custer all that important, or does an American buyer of this book just expect to see him here?
These quibbles aside, this is a excellent reference work for someone needing broad background on key military figures through the ages. Non-military historians and current events writers will find this quite useful. There are more focused military biographies available, but for wide coverage, this one does the trick.
Recommended:
Yes
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