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Star Wars: The Essential Guide to Warfare

(Star Wars: Essential Guides)

Jason Fry (Goodreads Author),

Paul R. Urquhart

4.23 · Rating details · 393 ratings · 28 reviews

THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO THE ULTIMATE INTERGALACTIC BATTLEFIELD

Like many a great epic, Star Wars is rooted in a rich history of armed conflict. Now, for the first time, the facts, figures, and fascinating backstories of major clashes and combatants in the vast Star Wars universe have been documented in one fully illustrated volume. Extensively researched and inventively wr ...more

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ebook, 256 pages

Published October 2nd 2012 by Del Rey (first published July 24th 2008)

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Sep 02, 2018 Nathan Schmidt rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I have had a long love for Star Wars' essential guides, as they offer so much worldbuilding and bring together the many stories of the Star Wars films and their Expanded Universe. As someone who has at one time or another owned every essential guide, I've seen how the guides have gradually evolved over the many years of the fandom, and The Essential Guide to Warfare, coming out just before the split between Disney and Legends, stands at the pinnacle of the guides.

I greatly enjoyed reading about I have had a long love for Star Wars' essential guides, as they offer so much worldbuilding and bring together the many stories of the Star Wars films and their Expanded Universe. As someone who has at one time or another owned every essential guide, I've seen how the guides have gradually evolved over the many years of the fandom, and The Essential Guide to Warfare, coming out just before the split between Disney and Legends, stands at the pinnacle of the guides.

I greatly enjoyed reading about the many different aspects of warfare in the Star Wars galaxy and the many different events, people, places, and technologies involved in the war efforts. The sheer level of details keeps bringing me back for rereads, and the content is presented in a wide range of different ways to mix things up, from basic summaries to personal memoirs to individual scenes playing out. I learned a whole lot that I hadn't known about the Star Wars universe before this book, and I am amazed at the love and effort put into every page of the masterpiece.

That said, I should point out a few issues I had with the book. The first problem is that the book is shorter than it could have been, and not for lack of forethought on the writers' part. I appreciate that the authors compiled the extra content for online viewing, but I would have loved to have seen some of their scrapped plans, like the talk about the Celestials and Rakata (and fun reactions from Motti and Lemelisk), the Metalorn callback to some of the early comics, and the Coruscant Wars memoir. It didn't help that I felt that after the heavy focus on the main movie years of the Galactic Civil War, the coverage in the book kind of petered off. The following sections, which still cover decades of various battles and wars, seem rather short in comparison. A lot more could have been added. For starters, as someone who loved the Rogue Squadron books for bringing highly engaging war stories to the franchise, I was rather miffed that the book just lists Red Squadron (Yavin) and Rogue Squadron as of the Battle of Hoth; I wanted to see the post-Endor list of Rogue Squadron aces, plus, some mention of the crazy and awesome commando/trickster/fighter pilot maniacs in Wraith Squadron.

Number two, I feel most of the content focuses on the strategic side of warfare rather than the tactical side. Most of the information is about long-term strategies deployed in warfare. This is very interesting, but it leaves out the tactics of individual battles. I was kind of hoping to see some individual articles about specific battles from the series, complete with diagrams on the formations and movements. We get told about the Gungan Grand Army and how it fared in the Battle of Naboo, for instance, but we don't actually get a summary, much less maps, of how the actual battle played out.

Third, tying in with my first point, I felt that sometimes important maps were left out. I think that this could be partially due to the book's predecessor, The Essential Atlas, having detailed maps of key wars such as the Clone Wars, the post-Endor New Republic campaigns, and the Yuuzhan Vong War. I can understand why the authors might not have wanted to repeat the same maps, but their absence makes it harder to understand some of the war movements without access to the previous book. Plus, even leaving out the maps already done for the Atlas, there were some other maps I was hoping to see, such as a map of how sector groups were arranged under the Empire and a map of the various Imperial warlord territories. I appreciated the maps that were present such as the ones on the Orinda campaign and the Imperial Remnant, but I can't help but feel that the book missed some good opportunities.

Number four, the book has a serious issue in regard to organization. This is actually a problem that started with The Essential Atlas, where the authors began to insert a diverse range of little extra features to complement the traditional main focuses of the books. I'm not saying that this choice was bad; a lot of the earlier books, while still fun to read, were fairly straightforward with categorized lists, so it was a blast to have everything from opera brochures to a spacer's ramblings about inspection regulations accompanying the standard list of key planets/moons. However, this extra content is a double-bladed lightsaber in that it makes it a whole lot harder to keep track of where everything is in the book. The Essential Atlas at least limited the problem by splitting things into three major sections: a slew of introductory info on the political/geographic set-up of the galaxy as a whole, the standard list of important worlds, and finally a semi-chronology of the galaxy. The Essential Guide to Warfare, on the other hand, does not have as easy splits, and is basically set up as a combination of the introductory materials and the semi-chronology. Hence, remembering where some of the side articles are placed in the book is very difficult, especially when the placement is sometimes in spots you'd least expect. Why, for example, is the discussion of hyperspace interdictor technology right before the Ruusan Reformation, when the article clearly states that they didn't become especially prominent until the Empire?

Then there's one more issue, something that stands out from previous essential guides and may be the book's greatest weakness: lack of context. Part of the hallmark for the essential guides was its audience-friendly nature. Even if you weren't familiar with every part of the Star Wars universe, things were set up in a way that an average reader could still understand and find enjoyment in. In contrast, The Essential Guide to Warfare often seems to make the presumption that you already know certain details and does not work to make it understandable to an outsider. A prominent example of the problem can be found in the side-story with Boba Fett and the Assembler discussing the backstory of D'haran. Now, as someone who's read the Bounty Hunter Wars trilogy, I could make sense of what was going on. Problem is, anyone who has not read those three books is going to be blinking in confusion, wondering what the context of that story is and why it matters. The side picture and caption, simply stating that you are seeing D'haran fighting Shell Hutts ('what's a Shell Hutt?' someone is bound to ask), does little to clarify matters at all. If the preceding material had been discussing the Arkanian Revolution and other relatively minor side-wars that revealed the growing weakness of the Republic, then the side-story would make some sense in the overall flow of things, but that is not the case. My point is, while much of the book is still understandable to someone unfamiliar with Star Wars, the lack of clarified context will hinder their experience.

Still, with the rich trove of information and the diversified nature of the content, I am absolutely in love with this book. This was the last big guide before Disney's split with Legends ended the dream of unified guides to the galaxy, but Sithspit, if it didn't go out with a bang! With The Essential Guide to Warfare, the past EU went into Legends with a blaze of glory like none before it. ...more

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Jan 04, 2015 Callum Shephard rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Much like the previously reviewed Jedi Path, The Essential Guide to Warfare is a book which really helps to open the door to the Expanded Universe. Along with the many other Essential Guides produced over the years, the book ultimately serves to give greater insight upon background elements of the setting. However, whereas prior installments focused upon characters, droids, weapons and vehicles, this one emphasises upon the conflicts which give the franchise its name, showing how the galaxy as a Much like the previously reviewed Jedi Path, The Essential Guide to Warfare is a book which really helps to open the door to the Expanded Universe. Along with the many other Essential Guides produced over the years, the book ultimately serves to give greater insight upon background elements of the setting. However, whereas prior installments focused upon characters, droids, weapons and vehicles, this one emphasises upon the conflicts which give the franchise its name, showing how the galaxy as a whole has been shaped by fire many times over.

Divided up into multiple eras, The Essential Guide to Warfare is as much a book about the timeline as a whole as it is battles and conflicts. Starting out at the beginning, it covers the initial rise of the Infinite Empire and the battles which raged around those ancient eras, along with Xim the Despot’s wars and others. However, rather than simply focusing upon troop movements and the tactics used, many parts of the book divide themselves up into multiple sub-categories. In each one you’ll find a general outline of how the war progressed and developed over time, but with multiple sections breaking off to quickly examine the major players, key events and technologies involved. As a result of this, conflicts such as the Rebellion era and later Warlord eras both feel far more vibrant and alive, presented more like a collection of documents highlighting key areas of interest within these events. As a result, key figures such as Issard, Zsinj, Ackbar and Daala are all given a brief listing of their histories and what made them important to the war, giving the conflict a face without completely diverging to focus purely upon them.

The many sections of the book are often very brief and deliver only the basics, but in many respects that’s the major advantage of these tomes. While it’s always wrong to say that a universe can be too big or emphasise too much on continuity for its own good, it’s undeniable that so many books, comics and video games tying together can seem like a daunting experience to get into. Installments like these given a brief timeline of events, list the best and most interesting aspects of the universe, and leave enough information for an interested reader to follow up on in Wookieepedia or other areas.

It’s not that the book itself dumbs down the information or simplifies it, but it instead skims over certain points. While the Eye of Palpatine and Starbuster plots are both mentioned, neither is gone into to any great degree to keep things streamlined but there remains enough information for someone to follow up on. Equally, the starships and capital vessels involved have a few paragraphs devoted to them but as they are not the focus the authors give just enough information for someone to follow up on and examine for themselves. Even when it is in brief however, the information given is always the right kind of information, detailing the development of certain tactics or details about the setting. Notable among these are mentions of just why the AT-TE’s design evolved into the looming AT-AT and the direction of ship-to-ship warfare, veering away from the carrier emphasis seen in the real world.

What also helps to give this book real life is how authors Fry and Urquhart give some real balance to the depictions of every side. At no point does it ever seem that one faction is being pushed to prominence over others or being unfairly treated, a bullet the book narrowly dodged given that Karen Traviss was originally slated to be penning this one. This said, the very times it does delve into potentially biased accounts or information, it’s done intentionally, with many sections compiled being taken from interviews with other people. More often than not these are written with some contradictory aspects, as reading about Lando’s retelling of an old victory is entirely different from Daala’s acidic and vitriol filled accounts. Each is deftly handled however, both to capture the voice of each interviewee and also sell the reader on the idea of each conflict. As ludicrous as it seem to read about a stormtrooper detailing his battle against Ewoks as if it were a fight against the Viet Cong, the level of conviction in the description is just enough to be truly convincing.

Special mention also needs to be given to the artists involved in this one as many of the images here helped to give real impact to some of the descriptions by helping to punctuate certain points. As the book rarely focused upon single battles in any great detail in its writing, the occasional outstandingly well defined picture helped place emphasis upon certain engagements or victories. The fall of Coruscant to the Yuuzhan Vong and the infamous image showing two Super Star Destroyers engaging one another in a pitch battle are stand-out examples, and they do help to make the book truly memorable even beyond the well researched and crafted articles.

However, there are a few failings which are worthy of note. The unfortunate thing with focusing upon eras is that some sections of the Expanded Universe are swept under the rug as a result, with more time and dedication being spent in focusing upon the better known tales. As such the Warlord era is rather slimmed down while the Clone Wars and Rebellion era have more time and text spent outlining them, and some of the stories more akin to traditional adventures are barely mentioned. The Black Fleet Crisis and Kueller’s rebellion in particular are notably absent for the most part despite their impact to the setting. In addition to this, while some of the more unpopular stories are thankfully skipped, the much derided Second Galactic Civil War is given a massive chunk of the book to itself. Even with both authors doing their best to flesh it out and fit it in with events, it never fails to seem unnecessary or out of place in the timeline. Call it opinion, but trimming it down to a few pages and a brief mention, and spending that time expanding upon more acclaimed tales would have been a far better move.

Really though, beyond the occasional skewed focus, there’s very little to truly criticise here. While it might lack something akin to Xenology’s internal story or some potentially more immersive elements, it helps to open the door to a much bigger universe and outline areas of interest. If you want to see just how expansive a universe several decades of novels, video games and comics created, The Essential Guide to Warfare provides an excellent starting point and is well worth picking up if you’re at all invested in the galaxy far, far away. ...more

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Aug 03, 2018 RumBelle rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: star-wars, favorites, nonfiction

I have always enjoyed reading the Essential Guides. Be they about characters, droids, ships or timelines, each guide is incredibly informative and extremely interesting.

This particular guide covers from the galaxies earliest days, to the war with Abeloth, ending with the era of Darth Talon. It seemed to stick to, what is now known as the "Legends" or "Not Cannon" version of Star Wars history, that is to say, none of the new films or books appeared to be a part of the book.

The text, maps, illust ...more

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Nov 30, 2020 S.J. Saunders rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

A fascinating, near-comprehensive read about the conflicts throughout galactic history. Write-ups about ship and vehicle models are interspersed with historical and personal accounts of the wars that shaped the expansion from the Core, and spotlights on important figures further flesh out the characters integral to the galaxy's long, bloody history. My only gripe, really, is that I would have liked more info on wars besides the Galactic Civil War, and the book unfortunately came out before the S ...more

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Sep 09, 2019 Mati rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: 2019

It was type of must have book 6 years ago. It became obsolete with new canon and decaying reminded of EU, which is fading to oblivion.

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Dec 31, 2019 Henry rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

an epic book that is virtually a history book of Star Wars, from a different point of view.

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Jul 09, 2020 Thomas Myers rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

One of the best, well-researched, and lovingly illustrated "fictional non-fiction" of the galaxy far, far away. ...more

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Sep 21, 2020 Dylan Foley rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Pretty good book overall. It's much more like a history book than any kind of story. ...more

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Aug 04, 2019 Simon Taplin rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

StarWars History

The history of the original Star Wars universe and some of its most famous characters and equipment. A must for any Star Wars fan.

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Apr 18, 2014 Adam rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: star-wars, legends

The third generation of Essential Guides seems to have finally realized the need for original content and the unique potential they have as a medium for that content. It may be that simple incomplete encyclopedias are no longer satisfying when we have Wookieepedia, a source that will always surpass them in breadth and precision (if you check the continuity sections on the Essential Guides, you'll see all the errors the Wookieepedians found in the guides). So rather than try to give information o The third generation of Essential Guides seems to have finally realized the need for original content and the unique potential they have as a medium for that content. It may be that simple incomplete encyclopedias are no longer satisfying when we have Wookieepedia, a source that will always surpass them in breadth and precision (if you check the continuity sections on the Essential Guides, you'll see all the errors the Wookieepedians found in the guides). So rather than try to give information on existing canon material, Fry creates a new narrative history focusing, of course, on warfare. The great advantage of these summaries, including the Essential Chronologies, is that they put all stories at the same level. They get the same writing style and competence. Weird things still stick out - I was always and probably always will be baffled by Waru - but luckily, Fry has the freedom to elide most of those things here.

EGW is strongest when there is a lot of material to work with. In the Rebellion era, Fry invents new stories by reframing a bunch of random obscure continuity, placing those events in context and creating broad narratives for periods of time we haven't seen much of - like the mop-up of the Separatist holdovers by the new Empire, or the politics of the formation of the Rebel Alliance. A lot of this is done by extending characters into eras they must have lived through but never appeared in. General Romodi, Jan Dodonna, and Admiral Screed benefit especially from this treatment.

In the battlefield narratives on the front lines, it's often hard to get a bigger picture of how the war is progressing. I think this is the first decent narrative history we have that attempts to draw lines between those major flashpoints and form a coherent war narrative. In the process, Fry also cleans up a lot of complexities of canon - whether stormtroopers are clones or recruits, the logistics of the Death Star development and destruction, how superweapons fit in to the domination of a million star systems, the transition from an upper-class traditional Navy hierarchy to the reformed Imperial system, the complex history of the Republic's navy, and arms races and the development of new military tech, among many others. He makes them look like natural expressions of the multiple schemes and plots and simultaneous technical developments, a consequence of the breadth of the galaxy rather than of uncreative writers and lax editors.

The stories of less-discussed eras are progressively less satisfying, with the exception of the early republic era. The ancient aliens get some nice coverage, and as far as I know, the Alsakan Conflicts and Contispex's Crusades are essentially new (fleshed out tremendously from a few dropped hints in the corners of old sourcebooks). Legacy, Fate, and Legacy (again) don't have much of interest added.

In addition to the main chapter narratives, the stories are expanded through bios of arms and armor and major characters, along with a few POV fiction sections that give a few in-universe perspectives on history and how events affected individual soldiers and leaders. Some of those are better than others, of course - the Yuuzhan Vong thing read like an out-of-universe summary written with an anti-NR bias - but most of them are enriching.

The art assets are all phenomenal. Like the Star Wars: The Essential Reader's Companion, each section here is cross-referenced with maps based on the Essential Atlas. Fry incorporates all of the logistical elements he created for that book into the limitations of capabilities of warfare described here. More impressive are the new paintings. Ansel Hsiao does amazing work, and it's a lot of fun to see all of the obscure ship designs he's dredged up from various sources brought into official canon here. Most of the rest of the art is sweet as well. ...more

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Nov 30, 2012 Milan Pohl rated it really liked it · review of another edition

A solid addition to the "Essential Guides" library. The book offers a pleasantly coherent overview of the entire history of warfare in the galaxy far, far away, beginning with ancient times before the Old Republic and ending with the Legacy era. Every major conflict is covered with several main articles, as well as features on important war leaders and machines.

Inevitably, the 248-page book is far from being exhaustive. Some topics are dismissed with just a brief mention (clone commandos and th ...more

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Apr 19, 2012 Dan rated it liked it · review of another edition

A great book for Star Wars fans. The writers had some eerily acute things to say about asymmetrical warfare. Since the Expanded Star Wars universe has spanned 20+ years by now, they had a big job of fitting all the various conflicts together in a somewhat reasonable narrative. They even addressed the controversial re-designation of Kuat Drive Yards' Super Star Destroyer as the Super Dreadnought.

The format of the book makes it a bit challenging to read: the chapters are organized in a linear, ch ...more

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May 14, 2012 Mike Tuter rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: star-wars

Very disappointed in this book for one main reason, there is barely any mention of the Republic Commandos and where they are in the command structure of the Grand Army, or the battles they fought in.
I am insulted that Mr. Fry's idea of including the Republic Commandos is a picture of Jango Fett & Kal Skirata, and a mere mention that they existed. If this book was to be about the warfare of the star wars universe, then the battles & operations that Delta & Omega squad carried out deserve ment ...more

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Nov 03, 2014 Revan97 rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I give Star Wars The Essential Guide to Warfare four stars for only 1 reason: It is no longer cannon. Besides that fact, the book is really great. I like the exquisite artwork, the detailed maps, the in-depth information and the pictures of the ships, weapons and characters (I know these also count as artwork but they are very helpful, especially the pictures of those ships, weapons and characters not seen in the movies or TV shows.) I purchased my copy of the book from the Star Wars Action Team ...more

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Nov 28, 2012 Eric Farr rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This should be the standard for all manner of guide books. Beautiful artwork, paired with fascinating vignettes, character studies, and accounts of Star Wars battles. The narrative is packed with fascinating detail, trying to provide a cohesive overview of several areas of Star Wars lore. Because this universe is so large, and because the book covers battles, characters, weapons and starships and other technology, maps, and "historical" developments, the book's major weakness is that most elemen ...more

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Jan 01, 2013 Michael Alexander rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: star-wars, science-fiction

When I was younger I absolutely loved these essential Star Wars guides. I was ravenous for any bit of Star Wars info or trivia I could find, and these books had it in spades. Now I find that I enjoy them, but not with the fervor I used to. Mainly I'm just amazed by them, the amount of research that goes into these books, and the size of the universe is astounding. At times the book reads like a history book, filled with names, and dates, and battles you've never heard of. While that probably sou ...more

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Nov 17, 2014 Revan rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Star Wars: The Essential Guide to Warfare was an amazing read. The various illustrations provided vivid, clear pictures of the battles and technology the book tells of. The stories themselves were wonderfully written. It was easy to imagine each and all of these battles taking place. The biographies the ook gave were very entertaining, and provided an insight into the lives of the people they told about. The personal stories were also well written, each with their own individual personalities. O ...more

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Jun 20, 2012 Mike McDevitt rated it liked it · review of another edition

Admiral Terrinald Screed convinced me to read this: if a character from the Droids cartoon made it in, it's gotta be good. I learned Cindel Towani wrote a book in 37 ABY, and that Admiral Ackbar's first name was Gial. Not sure if that's pronounced Guile or Gill. If only I thought he needed a first name, I'd wish it was Gill. ...more

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Apr 24, 2012 Justin rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

A book I have been waiting for for years. This book details major battles, campaigns, vehicles and warships throughout the Star Wars universe. Just a great read that could have easily been double the size. Only negative I had was the lack of more individual starship classes written about, no doubt due to space constraints.

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Oct 06, 2012 Robert Barker rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Brilliantly researched. I was amazed at how the writers integrated a diverse amount of stories and information into a coherenant chronology. Will some people be happy with everything? No, but there is a lot to be liked here.

Star Wars writers should have this on their shelf of references.

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Jun 03, 2012 Brian Golightly rated it liked it · review of another edition

By no means a complete background overview, but it wasn't meant to be one to begin with. This gives a fairly well organized overview of the military theme in Star Wars. However, it does leave huge gaps in information for some of the more important story arcs. ...more

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Dec 22, 2012 William rated it really liked it · review of another edition

a bit unclear at the end, and more of a history than a guide. despite this it offers insight into the thought process behind battles within the universe and creates a greater appreciation of the fiction

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Apr 14, 2012 George rated it really liked it · review of another edition

The personal interviews are an amazing touch.

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Sep 09, 2013 Utah.J. rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

amazing! incredibly in-depth, and just plain cool! even though i would have liked it more if there had been a mention of clone commandos, i still loved it!

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Apr 01, 2012 Aaron Goins rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I highly recommend this book. Check out my review at starwarsreport.com.
http://www.starwarsreport.com/2012/04... ...more

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Jun 25, 2012 Zac rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I really love it when the literary world the book takes place in has depth and history. This book summed up the depth of one of my favorite literary worlds.

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Sep 20, 2013 Nick rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Stunningly dull. Sucks all the fun out of the Star Wars universe to present it as a dull textbook.

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Andrew rated it it was amazing
Sep 26, 2020

John Gitzlaff rated it really liked it
Dec 01, 2016

Kyle rated it it was amazing
Sep 12, 2017

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About Jason Fry

Jason Fry

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I am the author of The Jupiter Pirates series published by HarperCollins -- visit the official site at http://jupiterpirates.com.

In addition to Jupiter Pirates, I've written or co-written more than 30 novels and short stories set in the Star Wars galaxy, including The Essential Atlas, The Essential Guide to Warfare, The Weapon of a Jedi, and the Servants of the Empire quartet.

I spent more than 12 ...more