History 3106

Modern Military History

(Dr. Stokesbury)

General Information

Final grade: 200 marks/2 = final grade.

You may review any book on the reading list appropriate to the course for the period 1815-1918, in the first term; and any similarly appropriate book for the period 1918-1992, for the second term. If in doubt as to the suitability of a book, consult with the instructor before reviewing it. You may not review the text or assigned supplementary readings.

Reviews should be no more than 1000 words long (i.e., four pages if typewritten). There should be a word count at the end of the paper (Each word counts, not just "big" words!). Reviews should contain a brief recital or summary of what the book is about; an examination of the author's background, point of view, and biases, if any; a comparison between what the author says and what other treatments of the topic say; some examination of published reviews of the book; and a conclusion on your own reactions to the book, including an assessment of its usefulness in the context of the course and your general development. Reviews must be properly documented with footnotes and bibliography, and must be in correct English; you will be marked down for errors in English.

VI. This course is a lecture and discussion course, and your regular attendance and participation in discussions is expected.

VII. Texts for this course are:

Preston, Roland, Wise, Men in Arms

Shaara, M., The Killer Angels

Middlebrook, M., The Nuremburg Raid

You are expected to read these books, and will be held responsible for material in them both in class discussions and in the examinations.

VIII. My office is BAC 448; office hours are posted on the door, and I shall try to adhere to them. Do not hesitate to come and talk over with me any difficulties you may be having, either in terms of finding books, course work, or anything else of an academic nature. It’s your course and your money; make the most of it.

IX. The department reserves the right to change or amend this prospectus, with appropriate notice, should circumstances require.

History 3106

Modern MilitaryHistory Lecture schedule

Fall Term

Winter Term

History 3106

Modern Military History Reading list

In the Acadia Library history begins at "D". There is a section on general European history; Europe since 1815 begins at D300. There is a fair amount of military history in this section, for example:

D396.B63 Bond, B. War and Society in Europe, 1870-1970

D96.F3 Falls, C., A Hundred Years of War

D421.S677 Stoessinger, J. G., Why Nations Go to War

D431. H54 Higham, R. Civil Wars in the 20th Century

D445.W8 Wolf, E. Peasant Wars of the 20th Century

Starting at D500 is a general section on World War I.

Then the interwar period begins at about D650, and World War II at about D735. In any of these sections, and the newer material, unless you are especially interested in some period pieces. World War II runs through background, strategy, lan3, naval, and air warfare, resistance, intelligence operations, and runs out about D815. Net comes a short section on the UN, TO, and the Cold War, ending at D900.

The stacks are then broken up into national histories, more or less geographically/alphabetically. Within each country, coverage is general, then chronological. Great Britain starts with DA1. In the first part of the British section, look at

DA16.C87 Cross, C., The Fall of the British Empire

D18.G52 Gordon, D.C The Dominion Partnership and Imperial Defence, 1870-1914

British 19th and 20th Century military Biography is from

D68.22.3 Adye, Sir John, Recollections of a Military Life

to

D59.3.W5G, Callwell, C.E., Field Marshal Sir Henry Wilson

DA70.Al is the Navy Records Society collection, 170 volumes of original papers; many of the newer volumes are concerned with the more modern period. British naval history starts at DA70.C68 Clowes, G. Laird, The Royal Navy; then there is RAF material, to DA89.

The collection then moves into chronological order, and early Britain runs to D530, were 19th and 20th Century Britain begins. Some biographies in ere are useful, but this section is mostly domestic political material.

Wales, Scotland, and Ireland come next.

After that are countries on the continent, but these .are tricky. The collections starts with Austria, but Czechoslovakia, Bohemia, and Hungary are treated ere as heirs of the Austrian Empire, and they all come before Belgium. For those who want to sneak back into the beginnings of our period, the French Revolution and Napoleon are in the section on France, from about DC140 to DC240.

Napoleon III and the Second Empire War from DC274 to DC18.

See here especially

DC293.H6 Howard, M., The Franco-Prussian War

DC311.H6 Horne, A., The Fall of Paris

There is some military material in the 1870-present section see especially

DC367.K4 Kelly, G. A., Lost Soldiers: The French Army in Crisis, 1947-1962

DC397.P36 Paxton, R.O., Parades and Politics at Vichy

DC403.M4 Menard, O.D., The Army and the 5th Republic

Germany is next. Among the general histories, try

DD101.G614 Gorlitz, W., History of the German General Staff

DD101.R Ritter, G., The Schlieffen Plan

DD101.S05 Showalter, D., German Military History

DD103.S5 Showalter, D., Railroads and Rifles

The Nazi period, with lots of material, is from about DD240 to DD257.

Then comes ancient Greece and Rome, then Belgium and the Netherlands, and then the collection jumps to the Soviet Union (as it as) and eastern Europe. Under Russia try

DK53.C85 Curtiss, J., The Russian Army under Nicholas I

DK56.M48 Mitchell, D.W., A History of Russian and Soviet Sea Power

DK214.C86 Curtiss, J., Russia’s Crimean War

The Crimean War generally is here from DK214.C86 to DK215.7.22. There is a lot of material on the Russian Revolution, from about DK265.A538 to DK265.7.W46. Then there is considerable material on post-1917 Soviet Russia.

Poland comes next, then Finland; material on the Russo-Finnish Waris at DK459. Scandinavia and Spain follow, with Spanish Civil war history at DP253 to DP270.

Then Switzerland, the Balkans, and Turkey and the Near East, including Egypt and Israel (i.e., under Ottoman rule and in earlier times); the Arab-Israeli Wars are at DS119.7.A6718 to DSl19.7.S618. Then comes India, with some limited material on the British armies in India.

Next is the Far East, with the Russo-Japanese War, DS517; Burma, Indochina and Vietnam; and the Vietnamese War, DS550.F28 to DS559.912.S52. Then Malaya and China and the Chinese Civil War, DS777.5134.S34 to DS777.55.B322. Japan and Korea come next, with the Korean War at DS916.5.R504 to DS921.7.V3.

Then there is Africa, by country and there is some material here on imperialism and imperial wars; for example, British intervention in Egypt, DT107.4.B7 to DT107.4.G78, and the Suez crisis, DT107.83.R6; the Algerian War, DT295.B64 to DT.298.K24F; and the South African War, DT930.A2192 to DT933.B37.

The next section is for the Western Hemisphere, mostly the United States, general, then chronological. The American Civil War begins at E469 and runs to E660, with biography on to E672. The Spanish-American War is in E71 to E727. World Wars I and II and the Cold War are mostly domestic material, but there is some biography.

Canada begins at F1000. Material is scattered here, and there is some military biography, but not much. Latin America starts at F1414.

Then there is a big gap until the military and naval technical section near the end of the collection (In our library, this is way down in Level 1). This material starts at U4 and runs through the art of war, military questions generally, unit and regimental histories, to UA782.B. This is followed by area strategic studies and technology. Naval technical material starts at V10 and runs to VK16, where merchant shipping begins.

Finally, the Library has a sort of mini-library within it, under the Canadiana section, and this duplicates the larger collection, except that all the titles and call numbers are preceded by "Canadiana" (For example, my own Short History of the Korean War is in this section instead of the general section with all the other Korean War material). Don't ask why hut remember to check out this collection as well as the larger one.