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Military Misfortunes: The Anatomy of Failure in War
by
WHY DO COMPETENT ARMIES FAIL?
Why did the American-led coalition in Iraq fail to wage a classic counter-insurgency campaign for so long after the fall of Baghdad?
Why was the sophisticated Israeli intelligence service so thoroughly surprised by the onslaught of combined Arab armies during the Yom Kippur War of 1973?
How did a dozen German U-boats manage to humiliate the ...more
Why did the American-led coalition in Iraq fail to wage a classic counter-insurgency campaign for so long after the fall of Baghdad?
Why was the sophisticated Israeli intelligence service so thoroughly surprised by the onslaught of combined Arab armies during the Yom Kippur War of 1973?
How did a dozen German U-boats manage to humiliate the ...more
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Paperback, 320 pages
Published
January 5th 2006
by Free Press
(first published 1990)
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Start your review of Military Misfortunes: The Anatomy of Failure in War

An impulse buy from the bookgrocer when they were having a sale.
An interesting read and at the price( $4 ) good value.
Attempts to look at why certain military operations fail and looks at one example for each of their types of failures. The choice of examples was personally interesting as they covered several of my minor interests ie Yom Kippur, Korea, France 40 and Gallipoli and I will probably add a couple of their referances to my reading list.
There are no real surprise in the book if you kn ...more
An interesting read and at the price( $4 ) good value.
Attempts to look at why certain military operations fail and looks at one example for each of their types of failures. The choice of examples was personally interesting as they covered several of my minor interests ie Yom Kippur, Korea, France 40 and Gallipoli and I will probably add a couple of their referances to my reading list.
There are no real surprise in the book if you kn ...more

A solid look at some of the larger operational failures beginning with Gallipoli. As one reviewer noted, there is nothing really ground breaking for those who are familiar with the events discussed. The value of this work lies in the fact that the authors succinctly outline, in one place, why these failures happened, and what should have been the take aways for each side. It was an easy read, and quite fascinating.

Some decent case studies and great food for thought. Sadly, Cohen does his normal shtick--tells good history but has to bend over backward to show how it supports his reductionist theory. I would not hesitate to use the book as a jumping-off point for broader discussions of the historical case studies that Cohen examines in the book.

I have to admit that due to the cover (my copy is different than this one) that I expected something different. However, as a retired Canadian Army officer and student of military history, I was more than happy to read the examination that Cohen and Gooch provided of five particularly spectacular failures in military history: Pearl Harbor (though not one of the big five examined more thoroughly) the American Anti-Submarine Warfare efforts in 1942, Israeli Defence Forces during the opening days o
...more

A fine analytic methodology presented to show how to understand complex failure in war time is presented with case studies of Pearl Harbor, Korea, France 1940, the Yom Kippur War. The heart of their method is the development of a matrix show the hierarchy of organizations involved from the civilian heads of state down to the field units cross referenced with the multiple functions involved in the failure that led to catastrophe. They try to highlight how failures at one level can impact failures
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As the authors noted, military organisations are built on a strict hierarchy of rank and authority. Consequently, there is a natural proclivity to focus on the effectiveness of generals when analysing military misfortunes. While acknowledging that good generals make a huge difference (e.g MB Ridgway in Korea, 1951), the authors provide an analytical construct to assess the causes of military debacles. They categorise the causes of such under 'failure to learn', 'failure to anticipate' and 'failu
...more

This was a recommended read for a college course I took back in 2015 combining military history and psychology, the class was titled "Principles of War." I really enjoyed the course and learned a lot.
This was before the age of everything being on .pdf (at least for online college classes) and being a good student and wanting to really dive into my class with the best intentions, I purchased all the supplemental readings that went along with the course.
Hands down, this was #1 of batch. Being 12 ...more
This was before the age of everything being on .pdf (at least for online college classes) and being a good student and wanting to really dive into my class with the best intentions, I purchased all the supplemental readings that went along with the course.
Hands down, this was #1 of batch. Being 12 ...more

"It's difficult to understand how anyone can sit back and not worry about the huge numbers of deaths covered in these battles. When I was a kid, I was all in to military history and I didn't care. Now I feel differently.
That being said, their approach makes sense, not just for militaries, but for any organization. They make some very valid points, from an analytical perspective (excusing that they are talking about battles). For me the value is in their approach, not in the subject matter." ...more
That being said, their approach makes sense, not just for militaries, but for any organization. They make some very valid points, from an analytical perspective (excusing that they are talking about battles). For me the value is in their approach, not in the subject matter." ...more

Recommended for the military history buff who not only wants to know what happened by why. This was a detailed examination of various pivotal battles in the 20th Century. I would recommend this book for those who already have a good military history knowledge as the authors can get a little technical at times. This is definitely a good I can see military leaders putting on a required reading list.

The book is intended to be an academic study of the structural failures of military organizations through history.
Frankly, I thought the academic portions were overblown and self serving.
As far as the case studies, such as the initial US defeat in Korea, these are excellent and descriptive.
An excellent read for a military professional.
Frankly, I thought the academic portions were overblown and self serving.
As far as the case studies, such as the initial US defeat in Korea, these are excellent and descriptive.
An excellent read for a military professional.

If you are interested in military history--and I am--this is an excellent study of failure in war, and it's causes. The authors stress the importance of organizational and systemic failures, rather than just the failure of leadership.
...more

This a very dry book, written mostly for people who are into political and military structure and organization. The role of intelligence is explained in considerable detail and what it's supposed to do and not do.
There is quite a bit of sloppy editing and misspelling. ...more
There is quite a bit of sloppy editing and misspelling. ...more

So far so good. Making me remember lots of other books about war. I'll have to write a review when I'm done to fix it all in my mind.
...more
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I am an academic who has been fortunate in many ways - beginning with my family, but to include teaching at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies, the country's leading school of international relations; serving in government, most recently as Counselor of the Department of State from 2007 to 2009; and having the freedom to move from political science, my original dis
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“Since 1870 a commander has seldom if ever been able to survey a whole battlefield from a single spot; and in any case he has had little opportunity—although sometimes a considerable inclination—to try. For the modern commander is much more akin to the managing director of a large conglomerate enterprise than ever he is to the warrior chief of old. He has become the head of a complex military organization, whose many branches he must oversee and on whose cooperation, assistance, and support he depends for his success. As the size and complexity of military forces have increased, the business of war has developed an organizational dimension that can make a mighty contribution to triumph—or to tragedy. Hitherto, the role of this organizational dimension of war in explaining military performance has been strangely neglected. We shall return to it later—indeed, it will form one of the major themes of this book. For now we simply need to note its looming presence.”
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