Military, Them, Great, Generals, Behind, Armies, Arrogant, Disasters

Arrogant Armies: Great Military Disasters and the Generals Behind Them

"Nothing goes wrong quite so dramatically as a disastrous military expedition."â€"from the Introduction

ARROGANT ARMIES

Spanning more than two hundred years of martial adventurism, aggression, and outright blundering, Arrogant Armies chronicles the profoundly misguided and utterly calamitous military expeditions of the great empire builders and overconfident expeditionary forces. From colonial America to South Africa, from Mesopotamia to Khartoum, an extraordinary number of presumably superior armies grievously underestimated native forces.

Using contemporary newspaper accounts, military memoirs, diaries of soldiers who fought in the battles, and other firsthand letters and papers, noted journalist James Perry brings a sense of urgency and immediacy to these historic defeats. At times devastating, at times hilarious, his vast panorama of human folly is peopled by frightened soldiers, zealous native resistance, and, of course, a colorful gallery of arrogant, often inept officers. Many of them received their ultimate comeuppance in these battles: Generals Edward Braddock, Charles MacCarthy, William R. Shafter, Charles Vere Ferrers Townshend, Charles "Chinese" Gordon, William George Keith Elphinstone, Manuel Fernandez Silvestre, and others.

What is most remarkable about Arrogant Armies is the cumulative power of these ironic encounters. Black humor, brutality, staggering incompetence, and genuine drama come together with devastating force. In Arrogant Armies Perry casts a sharply critical eye on what he describes as the "small wars, what Kipling called the 'savage wars of peace.'" It is fascinating history and a compelling commentary on politics and "the dark side of the human race . . . its deadly preoccupation with war."

"As one of our nation's top political reporters, Jim Perry has covered his share of political disasters. Now he has turned his skills to this sad but brilliant chronicle of military disasters. In the process, he has produced a classic."â€"Sander Vanocur The History Channel

"Jim Perry has long been one of America's great political reporters. This has been perfect training to write this marvelous book, Arrogant Armies. Having covered more than a few contemporary political disasters, Perry is able to brilliantly, often hilariously, capture the worst military blunders of the past several hundred years. These fiascoes span the globe from the Middle East to Southeast Asia to Haiti, and chronologically from the eighteenth to the twentieth century. There are common characteristics: commanders afflicted with drunkenness, debauchery, arrogance, and often just plain stupidity. With vitality, a sense of irony and history, Jim Perry gives you a battle-side seat at these debacles."â€"Albert R. Hunt Executive Washington Editor Wall Street Journal

"Jim Perry has done, in Arrogant Armies, what he has always done. He has told us stories we haven't heard before. He has explored an unmined vein of history with enthusiasm, skill, and style. History buffs will delight in Arrogant Armies. I'm not so sure, however, about the generals."=Roger Mudd The History Channel









List Price: $ 9.99



Price: $ 4.96

Other posts like this, by keyword:

Military:

Military..? ...
American Public Support for U.S. Military Operations from Magadishu to Baghdad: Technical Appendixes ...
Immobilisation of DNA on Chips I (Topics in Current Chemistry) (v. 1) ...
Is the threat of a coup the fundamental weakness in all military systems? ...
Bodenplatte: The Luftwaffe’s Last Hope (Stackpole Military History) ...
Hitler and His Generals: Military Conferences 1942-1945 ...
What are the best careers or degrees to hold as a military spouse? ...
Sea Harrier Over the Falklands (Cassell Military Paperbacks) ...
Gung Ho!: How to Draw Fantastic Military Comics Reviews ...
The Panzer Legions: A Guide to the German Army Tank Divisions of World War II and Their Commanders (Stackpole Military History) Reviews ...
Them:

1001 Songs: The Great Songs of All Time and the Artists, Stories and Secrets Behind Them ...
Creative Parenting: How to Keep Your Kids from Writing on the Walls and You from Climbing Them ...
How did we get from killing vampires and thinking that they were evil to loving them? ...
I use the think felt westerns pads on my horses. How do I wash them and get the dirt and hair off? ...
When writing essays for law school apps and submitting through lsac, should I title them? ...
A Bad Woman Feeling Good: Blues and the Women Who Sing Them Reviews ...
Let them die in peace ...
Mississippi built them, now people are coming.(popular barrel racing events improve tourist inflows): An article from: Mississippi Business ...
The Herbalist’s Garden : A Guided Tour of 10 Exceptional Herb Gardens: The People Who Grow Them and the Plants That Inspire Them ...
if geishas arnt prostitues why does the movie memoirs of a geisha portray them to be? ...
Great:

Notable Events of the Nineteenth Century: Great Deeds of Men and Nations and the Progress of the World ...
Great Artists Explained (Annotated Guides) ...
Great Gardens for Kids (Hamlyn Gardening S.) ...
The World’s Great Men of Music: Story-Lives of Master Musicians ...
Great Outdoors Palm Springs – Salton Sea – Salvation Mountain/Slab City ...
Great British Comics: Celebrating a Century of Ripping Yarns and Wizard Wheezes ...
Ghost Ships of the Great Lakes ...
1001 Songs: The Great Songs of All Time and the Artists, Stories and Secrets Behind Them ...
What are some great books to prepare for my speaking test? ...
Under the Sea: a Treasury of Great Writing about the Ocean Depths ...
Generals:

Hitler and His Generals: Military Conferences 1942-1945 ...
Captured Soviet Generals: The Fate of Soviet Generals Captured in Combat 1941-45 (Soviet Military Institute) ...
War for the Every Day: Generals, Knowledge, and Warfare in Early Modern Europe, 1680-1740 (Contributions in Military Studies) ...
Alternate Generals Reviews ...
Alternate Generals II (v. 2) ...
Behind:

Port Hardy fisherman upset with the mess left behind on the riverbank ...
1001 Songs: The Great Songs of All Time and the Artists, Stories and Secrets Behind Them ...
What are different jobs behind the scenes in the entertainment business? ...
Behind the Back Page: The Adventures of a Sports Writer ...
Hustler Magazine April 1993 (Behind feminist lines, Snaking chicks at now’s March on D.C.!) ...
Alex Rider: Stormbreaker: Behind the Scenes (Alex Rider Movie) ...
The Science of Stephen King: From Carrie to Cell, The Terrifying Truth Behind the Horror Master’s Fiction ...
To Kill A Mockingbird – Student Packet by Novel Units, Inc. ...
Descenders to the Chariot: The People Behind the Hekhalot Literature (Supplements to the Journal for the Study of Judaism) ...
Stoic Warriors: The Ancient Philosophy behind the Military Mind Reviews ...
Armies:

Private Diary Of Travels, Personal Services, And Public Events During Mission And Employment With The European Armies In The Campaigns Of 18 ...
Armies of Death. Ian Livingstone (Fighting Fantasy) Reviews ...
Arrogant:

Disasters:

The Worst-Case Scenario Business Survival Guide: How to Survive the Recession, Handle Layoffs,Raise Emergency Cash, Thwart an Employee Coup, ...
Developments in Japan’s disasters, nuclear crisis ...
Natural Disasters (DK Eyewitness Books) ...