Military engineering Books
Johns Hopkins University Press American Military Technology The Life Story of a
Book SynopsisThe book is an excellent springboard for understanding the complex relationship of science, technology, and war in American history.Trade ReviewAn attractive primer that should prove useful to readers looking for a straightforward and jargon-free introduction to the complex relationship existing between the American military and its tools (and toolmakers) of war. Journal of Military History The broad coverage and integrative approach of this survey, combined with its attractive packaging and price, will make it a useful text for introductory courses in U.S. military history and the history of technology. -- Robert G. Angevine Journal of Military History 2008 Definitely offers worthwhile reading for a broader perspective on military procurement, operations, and thinking. -- Col. Brett Morris Air Power History 2010Table of ContentsIntroductionTimeline1. Before Industrialization: Through the Early Nineteenth Century2. Transition to the Industrial Age: Mid-Nineteenth Century3. The Military-Technological Revolution: Late Nineteenth Century4. The Naval-Technological Revolution and the Rise of Navalism: Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries5. The Catastrophe of Industrial War: 1914-19186. From War to War: 1919-19417. The Climax of Mechanization: 1942-19458. Military Research Institutionalized: 1945-19519. Strategic Technologies Ascendant: 1952-196510. The Impact of Vietnam: 1965-198011. A New Era in Warfare? 1980-2000GlossarySelected BibliographyIndex
£27.73
Johns Hopkins University Press Firearms The Life Story of a Technology
Book SynopsisWith graphic prints, photographs, a timeline, and a glossary, this engaging and insightful technography sheds light on one of the most important inventions in the history of the human race.Trade ReviewThis handy volume is definitely a worthwhile addition to any shooter's reference library. -- Larry S. Sterett Gun Week 2008Table of ContentsPrefaceIntroduction: Pandora's BarrelTimeline1. Ancestors: The Ancient Origins of Firearms Technology2. Childhood: The Rise and Development of Matchlock Firearms3. Between a Rock and a Hard Place: The Rise of Flintlock4. Rifling: A New Twist on an Old Idea5. Old Metal Heads: The Self-Contained Metallic Cartridge6. Technological Takeoff: The Supremacy of Rapid Fire7. Apogee and Equilibrium: Automation8. Conclusion: The Limits of LethalityGlossaryBibliographyIndex
£21.00
University of Toronto Press In Defence of Canada Volume III
Book SynopsisThe first two volumes of this outstanding history of Canada's defence and foreign policy have drawn unanimous acclaim from scholars and critics alike. Richard Preston said of the first volume that is 'opens up a new chapter in Canadian historiography' and of the second that is 'amply lives up to the promise of the earlier epoch-making book.' Kenneth McNaught stated: 'There could not be more important reading for anyone trying to apprehend the tenacious traditions underlying our present position in world affairs.' The third volume has been described in Political Science Quarterly as 'a first class book – learned in content, lucid and witty in style.'
£34.20
Grove Press / Atlantic Monthly Press Clausewitzs on War A Biography Books That Changed
Book Synopsis
£9.99
Random House USA Inc Another Great Day at Sea
Book SynopsisAs a child Geoff Dyer spent long hours making and blotchily painting model fighter planes. So as an adult, naturally he jumped at the chance to spend a week onboard the aircraft carrier the USS George H.W. Bush. Part deft travelogue, part unerring social observation, and part finely honed comedy, Another Great Day at Sea is the inimitable Dyer’s account of his time spent wandering the ship’s maze of walkways, hatches, and stairs, and talking with the crew—from the Captain to the ship’s dentists. A lanky Englishman in a deeply American world, Dyer brilliantly records daily life aboard this floating fortress, revealing it to be a prism for understanding a society where discipline and conformity become forms of self-expression. At the same time we are reminded why Dyer is celebrated as one of the most original voices in contemporary literature.
£13.56
Tuttle Publishing Lessons in the Art of War
Book SynopsisTrade Review"A scholarly yet approachable tome, Lessons in the Art of War ought to be on every serious martial artist's bookshelf. Using the principles of Sun Tzu and von Clausewitz, Sprague demonstrates that the underlying philosophies of Eastern and Western combat as reflected by the martial arts truly aren't all that different." --Lawrence Kane, author of The Little Black Book of Violence"This book is an indispensable resource for any martial artist interested in knowing what factors lead to success in combat, how one can mitigate against the element of chance, and the mindset necessary to overcome." --Jennifer Lawler, author of the Dojo Wisdom series"Martina Sprague has written a thought provoking book that examines the well-known works of Sun Tzu (The Art of War) and the lesser known but nonetheless powerful 19th century military strategist von Clausewitz that is at once scholarly and highly readable. Every student of the martial arts as well as every student of war needs to read this book." --Loren Christensen, 8th dan, coauthor of On Combat: The Psychology and Physiology of Deadly Conflict in War and in Peace
£7.93
Metropolitan Books Journalism
Book SynopsisThe images Sacco draws are so powerful that they burn deep into your retina and reconfigure how you see the world... Journalism displays Sacco at the top of his game.National Post (Toronto)Over the past decade, Joe Sacco has increasingly turned to short-form comics journalism to report from conflict zones around the world. Collected here for the first time, Sacco''s darkly funny, revealing reportage confirms his standing as one of the foremost war correspondents working today. Journalism takes readers from the smuggling tunnels of Gaza to war crimes trials in The Hague, from the lives of India''s untouchables to the ordeal of Saharan refugees washed up on the shores of Malta. And in pieces never published before in the United States, Sacco confronts the misery and absurdity of the war in Iraq, including the darkest chapter in recent American historythe torture of detainees.Vividly depicting Sacco''s own interactions with the people he meets, the stories in this remarkable collection argue for the essential truth in comics reportage, an inevitably subjective journalistic endeavor. Among Sacco''s most mature and accomplished work, Journalism demonstrates the power of our premier cartoonist to chronicle lived experience with a force that often eludes other media.
£24.00
John Wiley & Sons United States Military Saddles 18121943
£16.95
John Wiley & Sons A British Profession of Arms The Politics of
Book SynopsisWithin the context of debates about both the evolution of Victorian professions and the nature of military professionalism, F.W. Beckett considers the late Victorian officer corps as a case study for weighing distinctions between the British soldier and his civilian counterparts.
£30.56
Louisiana State University Press Winds Waves and Warriors
Book SynopsisExamines the oceanographic conditions that US military planners considered, or should have considered, when landing troops and vehicles on the beach at three historic amphibious assaults: Normandy, Tarawa, and Inchon. Oceanographer Thomas Mitchell brings welcome insight into a little-studied yet extraordinary aspect of ground warfare.
£32.25
Globe Pequot The Springfield 1903 Rifles
Book SynopsisBill Brophy’s exhaustive research and extensive knowledge about this legendary rifle—its development, history, service in both World Wars, and its continued use as a hunting rifle today—along with over 1500 high-quality photos make The Springfield 1903 Rifles the complete lifetime work by the rifle’s premier authority.
£57.75
Rowman & Littlefield Publishers Strategic Command and Control
Book Synopsis
£18.99
Rowman & Littlefield Publishers Ballistic Missile Defense
Book Synopsis Defense against nuclear attackso natural and seemingly so compelling a goalhas provoked debate for at least twenty years. Ballistic missle defense systems, formerly called antiballistic missile systems, offer the prospect of remedying both superpowers'' alarming vulnerability to nuclear weapons by technological rather than political means. But whether ballistic missile defenses can be made to work and whether it is wise to build them remain controversial. The U.S.-Soviet Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty of 1972 restricts testing and deployment of ballistic missile defenses but has not prohibited more than a decade of research and development on both sides. As exotic new proposals are put forward for space-based directed-energy systems, questions about the effectiveness and wisdom of missile defense have again become central to the national debate on defense policy. This study, jointly sponsored by the Brookings Institution and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, exami
£18.99
University of Minnesota Press On Posthuman War
Book SynopsisTrade Review "On Posthuman War offers a compelling new account of the systemic militarization of human experience. Describing the weaponization of thought that has turned the brain itself into a combat zone, Mike Hill shows that the most basic epistemological and ontological questions can now only be posed from within the war machine."—Jan Mieszkowski, author of Watching War "As Mike Hill demonstrates, war has become woven into the fabric of all our lives through the woof and warp of data and virtuality, and his discussion reaches deeply into the ontological import of this process. This is a book for our times, at once compelling and chilling, lively and optimistic."—Geoffrey C. Bowker, University of California, Irvine "Flowing between philosophy, communication methods and the politics of diversity and race, the book bridges fields and informatively navigates the politics of war."—International Journal of Communication Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsAbbreviationsPreface: Supping with the Devil DogsIntroduction: Number RulesThe Terrorist Recognition HandbookCybernetics and Netcentric WarThe Lords of Things as They AreRealism and Posthuman WarSystem-of-SystemsSummary of Remaining Chapters1. War DemographyThe Revolution in Military AffairsU.S. Census Politics and the Coming White MinorityThe Graveyard of the Human RaceRace WarThe Algorithmic Unconscious2. War AnthropologyThe Human Terrain System ProgramData as Physical TransmissionNational Character Study in World War IICounterinsurgency Theory and VietnamQuantum Systems and Asymmetrical WarWhite Afghans3. War NeuroscienceThe Functional CombatantLiving MatterCartography and Virtual RealityThe Human Brain as Image GeneratorOpto-ElectronicsVirtuality and WarWhite MatterNotesIndex
£79.05
University of Minnesota Press On Posthuman War Computation and Military
Book SynopsisTrade Review "On Posthuman War offers a compelling new account of the systemic militarization of human experience. Describing the weaponization of thought that has turned the brain itself into a combat zone, Mike Hill shows that the most basic epistemological and ontological questions can now only be posed from within the war machine."—Jan Mieszkowski, author of Watching War "As Mike Hill demonstrates, war has become woven into the fabric of all our lives through the woof and warp of data and virtuality, and his discussion reaches deeply into the ontological import of this process. This is a book for our times, at once compelling and chilling, lively and optimistic."—Geoffrey C. Bowker, University of California, Irvine "Flowing between philosophy, communication methods and the politics of diversity and race, the book bridges fields and informatively navigates the politics of war."—International Journal of Communication Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsAbbreviationsPreface: Supping with the Devil DogsIntroduction: Number RulesThe Terrorist Recognition HandbookCybernetics and Netcentric WarThe Lords of Things as They AreRealism and Posthuman WarSystem-of-SystemsSummary of Remaining Chapters1. War DemographyThe Revolution in Military AffairsU.S. Census Politics and the Coming White MinorityThe Graveyard of the Human RaceRace WarThe Algorithmic Unconscious2. War AnthropologyThe Human Terrain System ProgramData as Physical TransmissionNational Character Study in World War IICounterinsurgency Theory and VietnamQuantum Systems and Asymmetrical WarWhite Afghans3. War NeuroscienceThe Functional CombatantLiving MatterCartography and Virtual RealityThe Human Brain as Image GeneratorOpto-ElectronicsVirtuality and WarWhite MatterNotesIndex
£19.79
The University of Alabama Press thecommandoftheair
Book SynopsisThe Italian General Giulio Douhet reigns as one of the twentieth century's foremost strategic air power theorists. As such scholars as Raymond Flugel have pointed out, Douhet's theories were crucial at a pivotal pre-World War II Army Air Force institution, the Air Corps Tactical School.Trade Review“The Italian General Giulio Douhet reigns as one of the twentieth century’s foremost strategic air power theorists. Along with William ‘Billy’ Mitchell, Douhet understood that the technological advances in weaponry made during World War I were not fully utilized by Allied commanders. Douhet thus spent the decade after the war constructing a theory that would facilitate the strategic use of what he conceived to be the biggest technological breakthrough of all, the airplane. As such scholars as Raymond Flugel have pointed out, Douhet’s theories were crucial at a pivotal pre-World War II Army Air Force institution, the AirCorps Tactical School.” — Michael J. Eula, Air University Review“Giulio Douhet’s The Command of the Air is a military classic. It was the first detailed analysis of the offensive and defensive employment of the air weapon. Published in 1921, The Command of the Air asserted the decisiveness of strategic bombardment before Billy Mitchell and other air leaders had given that subject any detailed thought. The 1927 edition . . . contains Douhet’s fully developed thesis on how to use the air weapon to achieve victory. Subsequently translated into English, French, German, and Russian, it stimulated the thinking of aviators in various countries prior to World War II.” — Col. John F. Shiner, Air University Review
£28.86
The University of Alabama Press Air Power and Armies
Book SynopsisSir John Cotesworth Slessor (1897-1979) was one of Great Britain's most influential airmen. He played a significant role in building the World War II Anglo-American air power partnership as an air planner on the Royal Air Force Staff, the British Chiefs of Staff, and the Combined Chiefs of Staff. He coordinated allied strategy in 1940-41, helped create an Anglo-American bomber alliance in 1942, and drafted the compromise at the Casablanca Conference that broke a deadlock in Anglo-American strategic debate. Also, Slessor was instrumental in defeating the U-boat menace as RAF Coastal Commander, and later shared responsibility for directing Allied air operations in the Mediterranean. Few aspects of the allied air effort escaped his influence: pilot training, aircraft procurement, and dissemination of operational intelligence and information all depended to a degree on Slessor. His influence on Anglo-American operational planning paved the way for a level of cooperation and combined action
£23.36
Chemical Publishing Company Military and Civilian Pyrotechnics
Book SynopsisWritten for manufacturers, laboratory pyrotechnicians, and lay students, this book contains an enormous amount of invaluable data on the properties and production of pyrotechnic materials, on heat and light production, on aerosols, energy, and noise
£56.00
Duke University Press Dont
Book SynopsisExplains how the American military's anti-gay policy is fundamentally misdescribed by its common nickname, 'Don't Ask/Don't Tell.' This title shows that this ubiquitous phrase implies that it discharges service members not for who they are, but for what they do. It is suitable for legal scholars, policymakers, activists, and military historians.Trade Review“For more than a decade, Janet E. Halley’s groundbreaking work in queer legal theory has made hers a central voice in law and sexuality studies. For anyone interested in understanding the rhetorical battlefield of the U.S. military’s anti-gay policies, Don’t is a must.”—Kendall Thomas, Columbia University School of Law“Janet Halley's extraordinary book shows us how political analysis, linguistic reading, and legal strategy and philosophy can work together at their best. She has stunned and moved her readers time and again by challenging the apparent oppositions that inform tactical thinking in lesbian and gay legal studies. Hers is a vision complex, learned, practical, brilliant, inspiring, and radical. Don’t is something everyone must do!”—Judith Butler, Maxine Elliot Professor, University of California at Berkeley“Halley’s book is a valuable and much-needed salvo in the war on an archaic and constitutionally compromised policy.” -- Christopher Capozzola * CLGH Newsletter *"If you thought the policy changes that came out of the gays-in-the-military fracas in Clinton’s first term made things easier for gay soldiers, you’re wrong, Halley says. Meticulously tracing the paper trail of how the changes were formulated, she argues that the new policy is more oppressive. . . . Excellent exposition on its subject . . . ." * Booklist *"This, the penultimate year of the Clinton administration, may be a good time to review some of his so-called achievements, among them the attempt to lift the ban on gays in the military. And Janet Halley’s Don’t is a great place to start. . . . The outstanding contribution of Don’t is its review of how the language of policy led to such disastrous results. . . . Halley makes her intricate and thoughtful argument memorable through several key phrases: the conduct/status distinction, the queen-for-a-day defense, and the two models of propensity—the actuarial and the psychometric. Like great pamphleteers before her, these phrases help fix the argument in readers’ minds without detracting from the analysis. . . . Offering suggestions . . . takes this book beyond most polemics: it can be useful." * Boston Book Review *"What accounts for the shift from the old policy to the new one, and then to the new statute? What is the meaning of this shift? Janet Halley attempts to answer these questions not on the basis of interviews or conventional investigative techniques, but with close readings of the new policy and law, and with an exhaustive examination of the public record (hearings, press conferences, speeches, congressional debates). Halley thinks that this system is ‘much, much worse than its predecessor’. . . . One of Halley’s most interesting discussions involves the post 1993 emphasis on [the] idea of ‘propensity,’ a genuine innovation, not to be found in any predecessor and provision." -- Cass R. Sunstein * The New Republic *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction The Negotiations and the Players Clinton Is to Conduct as Congress Is to Status But Everyone Agrees on the Propensity Clauses Conclusion Notes Bibliography
£17.09
Duke University Press The School of the Americas
Book SynopsisTransnational ethnography and history of the School of the Americas, analyzing the military, peasant, and activist cultures that are linked by this institution.Trade Review“Lesley Gill has produced an in-depth exposé of the militaristic mentality, socioethnic tensions, and outrageous atrocities of the empire’s Praetorian Guard. Insightful and richly researched, a work of superior quality.”—Michael Parenti, author of The Terrorism Trap and The Assassination of Julius Caesar“Lesley Gill’s study of the premier military training operation in the Americas is a treasure trove of histories that will provoke a long overdue debate about the values and limits of U.S. engagement in the region.”—Robin Kirk, author of More Terrible Than Death: Massacres, Drugs, and America’s War in Colombia“Lesley Gill’s The School of the Americas is an ambitious book that provides the reader with a thorough analysis of the School of the Americas (SOA), and the effects of the SOA’s training on the trainees and on two Andean Communities.” -- Silvia Borzutzky * Latin American Research Review *“The notion of impunity which Lesley Gill develops with many insights has far-reaching ramifications and consequences. . . . Gill’s clarity appeals to our reason, love of truth, and common human decency. . .” -- Bill Griffin * Catholic Worker *“This book is a hugely impressive, detailed, and fascinating cultural history of jazz in Britain and should be recommended not only to cultural historians but also to historians of the Cold War, the British Left, and those interested in race relations and national identity in twentieth-century Britain.” -- James J. Nott * American Historical Review *"[B]reathtaking. . . . This book should make one proud to be in the same profession as its author and appalled at the implications of having a U.S. citizenship." -- Gavin Smith * Journal of Latin American Anthropology *"[I]n the wake of recent revelations that suspected terrorists captured by CIA and U.S. special forces in Afghanistan and Iraq have been deliberately hidden from the Red Cross, severely tortured and in some cases abused to death, this book remains immediately relevant. The questions at the heart of the controversy over the school -- is the U.S. military teaching the art of atrocity to Latin American soldiers, and do Americans bear responsibility for the horrors that many of the supposedly 'professionalized' graduates of the school have committed? -- take on new meaning as the United States engages in actions that bear a damning resemblance to the dirty wars fought in years past in Central and South America." -- Peter Kornbluh * Washington Post Book World *"Gill was able to examine the school's folkways and rhetoric, thanks to glasnost-like levels of administrative cooperation. Lessons in thinking in terms of how to 'kill and maim' opposition and to 'dehumanize' those who persist. Gill then traces the paths of various graduates of the school and links their activities directly to the torture and death of 'Latin American peasants, workers, students [and] human rights activists'--i.e., 'opposition.' " * Publishers Weekly *Table of ContentsList of Illustrations vii Acknowledgments ix Prologue: The Teflon Assassin xiii Introduction: The Military, Political Violence, and Impunity 1 1. Georgia Not on Their Minds 23 2. De-Mining Humanitarianism 43 3. Foot Soldiers of the U.S. Empire 59 4. Pathways to Power 90 5. Strategic Alliances 110 6. Human Wrongs and Rights 137 7. Disordering the Andes 163 8. Targeting the " School of Assassins" 198 Conclusion: The School of the Americas 233 Notes 245 References Cited 259 Index 271
£20.69
Lerner Publishing Group Fighter Planes
Book Synopsis
£7.59
University of Missouri Press Military Realism
Book SynopsisIn five case studies of US Army doctrine, Peter Campbell pits military realism against bureaucratic and cultural perspectives in three key areas - nuclear versus conventional warfare, preferences for offense versus defense, and COIN missions - and finds that the army has been more doctrinally flexible than those perspectives would predict.
£31.30
RAND A Method for Measuring the Value of
Book Synopsis
£14.24
RAND Out of Area or Out of Reach European Military
Book Synopsis
£14.24
RAND A Framework for Precision Conventional Strike in
Book Synopsis
£17.59
RAND Expanding Private Production of Defense Services
Book Synopsis
£17.59
RAND Reforming the Military Retirement System
Book Synopsis
£14.24
RAND NewConcept Development A Planning Approach for
Book Synopsis
£21.21
RAND IsmX Evaluation and Policy Implications
Book Synopsis
£12.74
RAND Life Cycle Cost Assessments for Military
Book Synopsis
£14.24
RAND CFE and Military Stability in Europe
Book Synopsis
£14.24
RAND Emerging Commercial Mobile Wireless Technology
Book Synopsis
£14.24
RAND Does Perstempo Hurt Reenlistment The Effect of
Book Synopsis
£14.99
RAND Denying the Widowmaker Summary of Proceedings
Book Synopsis
£30.60
RAND McGregor Renewal and the Current Air Defense
Book Synopsis
£14.24
RAND Microworld Simulations for Command and Control
Book Synopsis
£14.24
RAND Political Violence and Stability in the States of
Book Synopsis
£14.99
RAND Defense Working Capital Fund Pricing Policies
Book Synopsis
£14.24
RAND Networkcentric Operations Case Study Airtoair
Book SynopsisHow much of an increase in mission effectiveness does the Link 16 communications system provide in prosecuting air-to-air combat and how can the observed increase in actual performance be attributed to the advantage of network-centric operations?
£16.14
RAND Ending the U.S. War in Iraq
Book Synopsis
£20.99
RAND MG11714OSD Management Perspectives Pertaining to
Book SynopsisThe authors investigate whether the tenure of program managers contributes to Nunn-McCurdy breaches. They also examine the existing decentralized systems used to track cost growth to determine whether additional guidance and control are needed to make acquisition category II programs'' performance more transparent. Finally, they investigate whether key assumptions, so-called framing assumptions, could be useful risk management tools.
£25.64
RAND Ending the U.S. War in Iraq
Book Synopsis
£24.99
RAND DoD and Commercial Advanced Waveform Developments
Book Synopsis
£23.74
RAND Expeditionary Civilians Creating a Viable
Book SynopsisU.S. Department of Defense (DoD) policy requires identification of a subset of civilians to be organized, trained, and equipped to respond to expeditionary requirements. This research presents the results of an end-to-end review and analysis of DoD civilian deployment, assesses the viability of current DoD civilian deployment practice, and proposes a systematic approach to developing and maintaining DoD''s civilian deployment capability.
£17.09
RAND Program Characteristics That Contribute to Cost
Book SynopsisThis report evaluates four recent Air Force Major Defense Acquisition Programs with low cost growth and compares and contrasts their key characteristics to the six programs evaluated with extreme cost growth from a companion RAND Corporation report, which identified the main characteristics of six recent U.S. Air Force acquisition programs with extreme cost growth.
£18.04
RAND What Role Can LandBased MultiDomain
Book SynopsisLand-based, multi-domain anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) forces can play a role in deterring or defeating aggression. This report highlights growing Chinese and Russian A2/AD capabilities and potential scenarios for conflict in the Asia-Pacific region (centered on China) and the Baltic Sea (centered on Russia). Ground-based capabilities offer an affordable way for U.S. allies and partners to deter or defeat aggression.
£21.84
RAND The Chinese Air Forces First Steps Toward
Book SynopsisThis is one of four reports based on RAND Project AIR FORCE Strategy and Doctrine Program research that assesses notable developments and implications of China''s emerging aerospace expeditionary and power-projection capabilities, which will have important implications for the reach of China''s military and its ability to protect China''s emerging overseas interests.
£14.24
Leonaur Ltd The Art of War
£22.03
