Military History of Western World, Vol. 3: From the American Civil War to the End of World War II

The Decisive Battles of the Western World and Their Influence upon History #3

by J.F.C. Fuller

Major General J. F. C. Fuller, a pioneer of mechanized warfare in Great Britain, was one of this century's most renowned military strategists and historians. In this magisterial work he spans military history from the Greeks to the end of World War II, describing tactics, battle lines, the day-to-day struggles while always relating affairs on the field to the larger questions of social, political, and economic change in Western civilization. A masterpiece of scholarship and biting prose, these volumes are available for the first time in a handsome trade paperback edition. This third volume outlines the age of industrialism and the rise of American imperialism, the Civil War, expansionist policies of Japan and Russia, and World Wars I and II, offering fresh insights into the relationship between military history and social change.

Genres: History, Military History, War, Military Fiction, Nonfiction, Civil War

678 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1956

About the author

Major-General John Frederick Charles Fuller, CB, CBE, DSO was a British Army officer (1899–1933), military historian and strategist, notable as an early theorist of modern armoured warfare, including categorising principles of warfare.

Fuller was also an early disciple of English poet and magician Aleister Crowley and was very familiar with his, and other forms of, magick and mysticism.

Reviews

[Adam Windsor · Rating 3 out of 5]

This third and last volume of his military history presents few commanders for whom Fuller seems to have much regard. Robert E Lee cops a shellacking in the opening chapters, and about the only person involved with WW2 who he admits showed any strategic judgement is Stalin (though I guess doing otherwise would have undermined flow of his "Beware the Communist Menace!" sermon).

There are some interesting insights here, but you will have to wade through some very outdated attitudes and assumptions to find them.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Slightly boring, in the way any third volume on military history might be, but very informative nonetheless.

[Juan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bought this in a second-hand bookstore in Nottingham Court road. For less than 10 quid, it was literally a lot of bang for a buck.
How much bang? Well, starting with late 19th century battles, it ends just behind the second world war, a bit after which it was finished. Between chapters describing battles, some other chapters talk about the evolution in technology and subsquent doctrine changes. Which usually happen too late.
I listen to the "Lion led by donkeys" podcast, and reading this book felt a little bit of the same. There was little honor, and a lot of foolishness getting into battles with no strategic, or even tactic, value, just to end up in pretty much the same way that it started. Millions of (generally) men have died for no gain whatsoever.
It would have been a little bit better if there was some gain in quality of life, democracy or human rights. You can argue that, foolery aside, the anti-slavery North defeating the slavist South was the best outcome. However, the morality of the cause is rarely related to the morality of the operations that make it win, and in this case, the slash-and-burn anti-civil population campaign followed by the Unionist generals, which ultimately led to the defeat of the South, is probably not something to be proud about.
Strictly from the military point of view, there are a couple of lessons to be drawn: the introduction of new technologies should immediately be accompanied with changes in doctrine, military organization and almost everything else, and lessons should always be learned even if they happen to an enemy army.
Right now, the introduction of Drones, the "gray zone" challenge and cyberwar implies that "combined arms" combines many more things than it ever did. Oceans will rise and empires will fall before that lesson is learned. And let's just hope we end up on the winning side.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliant analysis, despite the fascist overtones.