The Hall of Mirrors: War and Warfare in the Twentieth Century
By Jim Storr
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
War is hugely important. War shapes continents, and can do so dramatically quickly. After just 52 months of the First World War, four empires had ceased to exist. Eight new countries were born in Europe. As a result of the six years of the Second World War, Japan and Germany renounced militarism and ceased to be major players on the world stage for decades. The border of Russia moved 800km west, to the Oder. War is hugely important. It is not futile, although it appears so to some of those involved.
But how effective, for example, was the allied Combined Bomber Offensive in the defeat of Germany in the Second World War? There is, in practice, no real consensus. Similarly there is very little discussion, and apparently no agreement, as to how the western allies defeated Germany in north west Europe in 1944-5. Was it just superior numbers? (No: there were more German than Allied divisions until January 1945.) Yet both of those campaigns took place over 70 years ago. Why are those questions unanswered?
‘The Hall of Mirrors is not a narrative history. It takes a deep look at war, and warfare, in the 20th Century. It looks at the strategy, the operational art, and the tactics. It looks at how technology developed, was developed, and affected military events. It looks at the human beings, the human organizations, and how they affected events. It makes judgments and comes to conclusions.
By 1919 the First World War was already over. Those millions had died; those empires had crumbled; those new nations had been born. Nothing similar has happened, thus far, in this century. All the more reason to look back and consider what did happen, and what we might learn from war and warfare in the 20th century.
Jim Storr
Jim Storr wrote high-level doctrine for four years as a Regular infantry officer in the British Army. He then embarked on a second career in analysis, consulting, writing and postgraduate teaching. He has lectured, spoken and taught at staff colleges around the world. His first book, ‘The Human Face of War’, has been on the reading guide at a number of them. It has been described as ‘a superb guide for how to approach the conduct of operation’; a book which ‘attacks a lot of things that military folks … take for granted’. Indeed ‘rarely has there been a book as good as this for stimulating thinking.’In a temporary change of direction, ‘King Arthur’s Wars’ then looked at how Roman Britain became Anglo-Saxon England. Yet ‘ … it contains lessons for modern commanders, and is a guide for all of us as to how to think about problems holistically and logically’, and ‘his assault on … conventional history … is unrelenting, thorough, and persuasive.’ He now brings the same approach to war and warfare in the 20th century.Jim Storr was appointed professor of war studies at the Norwegian military academy, Oslo in 2013.
Read more from Jim Storr
The Hall of Mirrors: War and Warfare in the Twentieth Century Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5King Arthur's Wars: The Anglo-Saxon Conquest of England Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Anglo Saxon Conquest of England Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to The Hall of Mirrors
Related ebooks
Alamein: Recollections Of The Heroes Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWorld War II: A Beginner's Guide Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWorld War I: A Short History Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWorld War Two - The Untold Story Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe First World War Retold Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBefore Bletchley Park: The Codebreakers of the First World War Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Battle Of Loos Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Moscow Option: An Alternative Second World War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Defence and Fall of Greece, 1940–41 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHow Churchill Saved Civilization: The Epic Story of 13 Years That Almost Destroyed the Civilized World Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLARB Digital Edition: World War I Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBolt Action: Campaign: Battle of France Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fifth Army in Italy, 1943–1945: A Coalition at War Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A History of the Great War, 1914–1918 Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Death in the Ardennes: 22nd August 1914: France’s Deadliest Day Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Battle of Britain Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Great War Illustrated 1916: Archive and Colour Photographs of WWI Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sturmgeschütze: Armoured Assault Guns Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Britain at War 1939 to 1945: What Was Life Like During the War? Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cross of Iron: The Rise and Fall of the German War Machine, 1918-1945 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Operation Goodwood Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tommy: The British Soldier on the Western Front Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Second World War Illustrated: The First Year: Archive and Colour Photographs of WW2 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA People's History of the Second World War: Resistance Versus Empire Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Great War: Ten Contested Questions Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Second World War Explained Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Second World War: Dunkirk and the Fall of France Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5World War 1: Great Wars of the World Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA History of the Great War: WW1 Seen Through The Eyes of the Warriors: All 6 Volumes Illustrated with Maps and Plans Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Modern History For You
The God Delusion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Devil's Notebook Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Israel: A Simple Guide to the Most Misunderstood Country on Earth Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5The Complete Titanic Chronicles: A Night to Remember and The Night Lives On Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World's Greatest Nuclear Disaster Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Myth of Mental Illness: Foundations of a Theory of Personal Conduct Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Little Red Book Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Israel: A Concise History of a Nation Reborn Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gaza: An Inquest into Its Martyrdom Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Fall and Rise: The Story of 9/11 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The House of Morgan: An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Profiles in Courage: Deluxe Modern Classic Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ship of Dreams: The Sinking of the Titanic and the End of the Edwardian Era Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A History of the American People Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Night to Remember: The Sinking of the Titanic Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order: Why Nations Succeed and Fail Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Voices from Chernobyl Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Night Lives On: The Untold Stories and Secrets Behind the Sinking of the "Unsinkable" Ship—Titanic Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Gulag Archipelago [Volume 2]: An Experiment in Literary Investigation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Address Book: What Street Addresses Reveal About Identity, Race, Wealth, and Power Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Flu: The Story of the Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918 and the Search for the Virus That Caused It Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5All But My Life: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Butchering Art: Joseph Lister's Quest to Transform the Grisly World of Victorian Medicine Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for The Hall of Mirrors
0 ratings0 reviews