A Quick & Dirty Guide to War: Briefings on Present and Potential Wars

by James F. Dunnigan, Austin Bay

A completely revised and updated guide to the wars, insurgencies, and hot spots facing the world in the 1990s and beyond includes analyses of the situations in the former Yugoslavia, the Persian Gulf, and China.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Military Fiction, Military History, War, Politics, Reference

639 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1985

Reviews

[Clayton · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's thirty years old, and it's sorta hilarious how wrong the read of the situations were. Was interesting that it was a choose your own adventure sort of thing, after the briefing.

Overall, not great.

[Void lon iXaarii · Rating 4 out of 5]

A massive very impressive book full of amazing research (to be honest i'm amazed it's not classified top secret, some info is really deep, cutting and honest). A fascinating book!!! I was gripped through and through. I thought i'd lose interest when it moved to non-western interest world but even there the depth of the analysis was so good as to be at least entertaining.

What i reeeeallly appreciated about the book was how it was so cold and rational in the analysis where on such subjectmatter people generally switch to soft and fluffy as they can't afford to talk directly. The perspective of the book is quite american and thus pro-interventionistic war in general, so those sections with most relevance should probably be taken with a grain of salt and healthy skepticism taking into consideration the perspective of the other parties, however all in all very lucid analysis and no-bullshit commentary, often amazingly condensed. Also interesting was that the authors dared to sometimes give predictions with probabilities. Respect for such reserachers. I may not fully agree either with the positions on many subjects or issues/solutions proposed, however I have for this book i the respect i have for a good dictionary: in terms of a compact, touch-every-subject i don't think i've encountered any other book giving such a sobre analysis of the recent past (opinions as recent as 20 years, which is cutting edge really! most books only leak info over half a century old if that). Too bad it doesn't touch much/realistically on the geopolitics of the highpower western states in modern times, i can understand if the subject would've been too hot to handle as objectively as the rest... so as it is i'm thankful to the authors for cutting that out if that was the price for seeing such a high level of standard of research for what could be allowed politically.

random memory: it was interesting how often when mentioning a country/region it would end by listing alphabetically all the interests of power in the area.

[Martin Koenigsberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book, but it does have a few glaring flaws. It might be the best bathroom book I have ever read. Written first in 1985, it is a sober look at all the world's hotspots with supporting maps, charts, and analysis. They got Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, and the collapse of the soviet union wrong, but many of the other predictions/percentages ring true- even to this day, as many ethnic conflicts discussed here have flared into open war. Wonderful read as a historical document, a source for alternative histories, as a wargamer, as a military enthusiast, or as a regular person trying to make sense of the world. And serves as a really handy resource book as well.

[Joanne G. Rihm · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a book that hasn't had any updates in quite sometime. It deals with war, country by country---what our (the U.S) connnection is, what the relationship is like (good or bad), who has what (missles, armament etc...) Very interesting read for those who like history.