Product Description
The first regular army regiments of African Americans were authorized by Congress in July 1866, and African American soldiers have played an important role in the conflicts of their country ever since. These brave men fought not only tirelessly against the enemy, but also against prejudice and discrimination within the armed forces, striving to be given the chance to show their worth and fight for their country. Their efforts culminated in the integration of the armed forces, starting in 1946.

This book covers the history of African-American soldiers, from the American Civil War and their initial involvement on the western frontier during the Plains Wars, where they were nicknamed "Buffalo Soldiers" by their Native American enemies. It then examines their role during the age of "American Imperialism," campaigning across Cuba and Mexico before distinguishing themselves in the trenches of World War I. Finally, it examines their participation in World War II, where almost half a million African Americans fought and died for their country and the subsequent desegregation of the armed forces. Accompanied by color illustrations and rare photographs, the text chronicles the actions of these units, their uniform and appearance and how they were to eventually overcome discrimination and prejudice. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

More textbook then novel
If, like me, you thought this was something more than a textbook you will, like I was, be very disappointed.

I don't know what it is but, I've been trying to find a good book to read about America's Black soldiers and have yet to find one that's any good.This one reminds me of a schoolbook - lot's of dates and statistics but nothing meaty to read about.I'm thinking about trying the book by William Leckie, perhaps it will be a more interesting read.

At any rate, if you're looking for a good reference book, this will probably be a good place to start however, if you're interested in reading about life history, take a pass.

Useful But Limited Source
As a junior high school social studies teacher, I found "Buffalo Soldiers" interesting but frustrating.Reading the review above (about the book consisting of 3 shorter titles republished as one) explains something of the uneven nature of the text -- but it does not amend the faults.The coverage of African American military units is uneven (most badly regarding black sailors).The illustrations (both B&W photographs and colorful paintings of uniforms & equipment) are excellent.However, there are no maps (in a text that refers to many specific sites & routes on several different continents).I personally enjoyed the book, but I hesitate to recommend it for school purchase because of its limitations.The topic is too important to treat carelessly.

African Americans at War!
England's Osprey Publishing has a habit of taking books on a similar subject from their various series, combining them and then marketing that as a new product. For example, Henry Sakaida's IMPERIAL JAPANESE NAVY ACES was grafted on to his JAPANESE ARMY AIR FORCE ACES to produce ACES OF THE RISING SUN. Not all of these 'graftings' worked as well as the Sakaida volume. BUFFALO SOLDIERS combines three different Osprey "Elite" series' titles yet the combination produces a perfectly fine overview of African Americans in service to their country.

BUFFALO SOLDIERS combines "Elite" #107 BUFFALO SOLDIERS, 1866-91; #134 BUFFALO SOLDIERS, 1892-1918; with #158 AFRICAN AMERICAN TROOPS IN WORLD WAR II. The first two were written by Ron Field; the last by Alexander Bielakowski. Thus there is a consistency in BUFFAO SOLDIERS missing in other Osprey 'grafted' titles. Likewise all three were produced to the same standard "Elite" format of text, illustrations and artwork.

Whether you're interested in the African American experience fighting in the Civil War, campaigning against Indians in the Wild West, pursuing Pancho Villa, charging up San Juan Hill, battling in the Aisne-Marne offensive or piloting a P-51 on bomber escort, BUFFALO SOLDIERS will provide a good, basic, well-illustrated overview of those events. History buffs and students writing reports alike should enjoy this look at African Americans in action. Highly recommended.

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Product Description
Iraq can be considered the 'perfect storm' which brought out the stark differences between the US and Europe. The disagreement over the role of the United Nations continues and the bitterness in the United States against its betrayal by allies like France is not diminishing. Meanwhile, the standing of the United States among the European public has plummeted. Within Europe, political tensions between what US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld euphemistically called the 'Old' Europe and the 'New' Europe continue to divide. To fully comprehend these rifts, this volume takes a specific look at the core security priorities of each European state and whether these interests are best served through closer security collaboration with the US or with emerging European structures such as the European Rapid Reaction Force. It analyzes the contribution each state would make to transatlantic security, the role they envisage for existing security structures such as NATO, and the role the US would play in transatlantic security. ... Read more

Product Description
Numerous polls show that Americans want to reduce our military presence abroad, allowing our allies and other nations to assume greater responsibility both for their own defense and for enforcing security in their respective regions. In The Power Problem, Christopher A. Preble explores the aims, costs, and limitations of the use of this nation's military power; throughout, he makes the case that the majority of Americans are right, and the foreign policy experts who disdain the public's perspective are wrong. Preble is a keen and skeptical observer of recent U.S. foreign policy experiences, which have been marked by the promiscuous use of armed intervention. He documents how the possession of vast military strength runs contrary to the original intent of the Founders, and has, as they feared, shifted the balance of power away from individual citizens and toward the central government, and from the legislative and judicial branches of government to the exe! cutive.

In Preble's estimate, if policymakers in Washington have at their disposal immense military might, they will constantly be tempted to overreach, and to redefine ever more broadly the "national interest." Preble holds that the core national interest-preserving American security-is easily defined and largely immutable. Possessing vast military power in order to further other objectives is, he asserts, illicit and to be resisted. Preble views military power as purely instrumental: if it advances U.S. security, then it is fulfilling its essential role. If it does not-if it undermines our security, imposes unnecessary costs, and forces all Americans to incur additional risks-then our military power is a problem, one that only we can solve. As it stands today, Washington's eagerness to maintain and use an enormous and expensive military is corrosive to contemporary American democracy. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Good Start -
Christopher Preble, a former naval officer, believes that the end of the Cold War left American leaders "unconstrained by the fear" of a rival superpower and ultimately led to the costly misadventure in Iraq. "We should reduce our military power in order to be more secure" is Preble's argument in "The Power Problem." He also contends that the most important lesson of the Cold War was that strength is not merely a function of military power. Military intervention often makes a bad situation worse - eg. troops left after the 1991 Gulf War I helped lead to 9/11, and we are now accepting recruits who only a few years ago would have been turned away. Meanwhile, the defense budget has grown more than 12%/year since 2001 as we play a role both as the world's sole policeman and its armed social worker. We now spend more on the military, inflation-adjusted, than at any point during the Cold War. Over 267,000 in the military are deployed in over 100 countries, plus thousands more at sea. It's 2008 budget devoted over $76 billion to R&D, more than the entire defense budgets of France, Germany, Japan, Russia, and the U.K. We also have approximately 24 million living veterans.

The total that the U.S. spends on national defense goes beyond the Department of Defense. The request for FY 2009 was $515.4 billion, but missed the costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, operations related to the War on Terror, $17.1 billion in the Department of Energy for care of our nuclear weapons, Homeland Security ($40.1 billion FY 2009), the VA ($91.3 billion), military retirement ($12.1 billion) carried in theTreasury Department, and unfunded liabilities to repair and replace equipment in Iraq and Afghanistan. Preble estimates the true total as about $800 billion - about 5.5% of GDP. (One should also keep in mind that overseas military expenditures create no 'multiplier effect,' and weapons do not boost future productivity anywhere in the economy.)

Substantially reducing military spending requires reducing the ambitions it serves, not simply improved efficiency. We have already learned lately that we lack the power to tame unruly states with military occupations. North Korea, Iran, and Syria lack the capability to attack the U.S. Russia and China lag far behind us in military capability. Preble proposes cuts of $1.2 trillion over ten years, beginning with reducing the Navy to 8 carrier battle groups, eliminating 6 fighter wings from the Air Force, reducing our nuclear arsenal to as few as 500 deployed warheads, reducing the number of nuclear ballistic missile submarines from 14 to 6, reduce the active-duty Army to 360,000, the Marines from 202,000 to 145,000, terminate the V-22 Osprey, cut the Pentagon civilian workforce by nearly one-third, reduce intelligence spending by 15%, etc. This would allow building a stronger economy.

Our biggest entanglement
This is a very good book, with one glaring omission: our entanglement with Israel.The idea that we are involved in other countries' affairs to our great detriment should be plain to every American since the debacle in Iraq and the mess-that-will-never-end in Afghanistan, but the author doesn't say a word about the problems our support for Israel has created for us.

Preble explains in very informative detail what it is costing us to keep bases and ships at the ready to defend a great many countries.For example, we are pledged to defend Taiwan and Japan in the event of an attack by China, and we still have troops in Korea and Germany.All these countries are able to spend a fraction of what we spend on defense because the American taxpayer is paying for THEIR defense.

The author supports his arguments with sufficient detail to be very convincing.For example, America spent $2,065 (2007) per person for defense while Japan spent $340 and Germany $430.Ask yourself what we are getting for our money.As he points out in quantitative detail, not the schools, not the roads, and not the bridges we need.Certainly, not the health care.

My problem with this book is that he avoids anydiscussion of our mainentanglement: Israel.Our abiding support for Israel is costing us dearly in many areas of foreign relations (another war, this time with Iran?) and domestic policy.Preble certainly doesn't discuss Israel's involvement in our domestic affairs, but see the books of Grant F. Smith for detailed treatment of this subject.

The whole of the Muslim world and a good part of the civilized world hate us for ignoring the realities of Gaza.Forget the nonsense about "the special relationship" and "our shared values and and common interests" with Israel.Killing 320 children in Gaza is not an American value.Jimmy Carter and Richard Goldstone speak for American values.

We obviously have no influence over the Israelis with either the suspension of settlement construction or the two-state solution.George Mitchell is just accumulating frequent-flyer miles, as Stephen Walt points out.

What are we getting out our entanglement with Israel?The author quotes and discusses at length Washington, Madison, Adams and Jefferson, all to the same effect: what is America's interest in another foreign country?What is the benefit to the US of getting involved in another country?

Israel is the largest recipient of our foreign aid.A lot of people are waiting to hear the answer to the question: What are we getting out of our entanglement with Israel?What's in it for the US?

Sound Thinking
A clearly written and clearly explained discussion of the problem of being the world's policeman.The USA has in fact become such and is spending its resources curiously without any compensation from the rest of the world.A sad state of affairs that needs correcting.

Fabulous book
As a long-time peace activist, I was amazed that a person who is both a Navy veteran and a member of the somewhat conservative Cato Institute could write such a thoroughly stirring indictment of excesses of military spending.Moreover, it is not only a cogent and timely update of the classic work of the likes of Seymour Melman, it is also, more importantly, a very thoughtful larger argument against our "out there" posture all over the world.While those who are big on R2P (responsibility to protect) may have a basis to argue with his conclusions in this area (I might also), this is just too great a book to pass up.I wish it could be read by everyone in congress.
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Product Description

An essential new account of some of the most valuable research and development in international military history.

Roy F. Houchin II shows how the roots of US Air Force hypersonic research and development are grounded in Army Air Force General Henry H. 'Hap' Arnold's identification of the need for advanced airpower weapon systems to meet the anticipated postwar enemy threat. The technology for a smooth transition to military spaceflight seemed within reach when Bell Aircraft Corporation executive Walter Dornberger (the former commander of Nazi Germany's V-2 rocket research) made an unsolicited proposal to William E. Lamar (the chief of Wright Aeronautical Development Center's New Development Office of the Bomber Aircraft Division at Wright-Patterson AFB, OH) for a hypersonic boost-glide weapon system.

Visionaries like Arnold, Dornberger, and Lamar believed a hypersonic boost-glider would represent the ultimate expression of the US Air Force's doctrine by performing strategic bombardment and reconnaissance more successfully any other type of vehicle. As this aspiration reached maturity in Dyna-Soar, the service's leadership never gave up their beliefs. This book shows how the struggle to persuade the secretary of defence and his advisors, who did not share the Air Force's vision for a military spaceplane, illustrates the ebb and flow of an advanced technology program and its powerful legacy within American society.

Product Description
India continues to consider the nuclear option necessary on account of prestige, domestic technical and political impetus and security concerns. Sidhu examines the 'carrot' approach of incentives, rather than the 'stick' approach of sanctions, as a possible means to change India's attitude to the nuclear option.The focus is two-fold: first, what outcome do those imposing, and those receiving, these incentives expect, especially on dual-technology and security issues? Second, what are the essential elements needed to enhance incentive-based cooperation?

The author focuses on India and the US for two reasons: any incentive strategies must take into account the crucial relationship between the US and India on the nuclear issue; and, given India's dominant position in the region, successful engagement through incentives could cause Pakistan to follow suit.Sidhu asserts that increased strategic cooperation is the ideal incentive, but it is unlikely in the near future.If Indian attitudes remain unchanged, Pakistan is unlikely to alter its proliferation behavior. ... Read more

Product Description
As the international security situation has changed after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the book examines the implication of the new security environment to the security of South Korea and how the strategic and military relations with the United States will develop. In the new era, the lack of common interests has made the mutual defence sceptical. This book suggests that South Korea should eventually develop a long-term strategy with a goal of self-reliance. ... Read more

Product Description
This volume examines the Anglo-American relationship in the early postwar period through a case study of the American military programme launched in 1949. It analyzes the degree and changing nature of interdependence between the two states under this programme from 1949 to 1956. It focuses in particular on the tensions in US policy between Congress and the Administration, the differing conceptions of the Anglo-American relationship held by the two institutions and the problems this posed for Britain. ... Read more

Product Description
The US naval aviator of World War II played a pivotal part in the winning of the war. From the warm waters of the Pacific to the icy conditions of the Bering Sea(including the battle of Midway), the Naval aviator was on hand to fight the enemy in any and all conditions. Between 1940 and 1942 the training of the naval aviator lasted eleven months, divided into five separate and distinct phases. From phase one, known as the Elimination or "E" base for short, through to final assignment to a carrier based squadron, the training was demanding and unrelenting.This title examines the life and experiences of the US Naval Aviator in all three types of carrier squadron - fighters (VF), dive-bombers (VB) and the torpedo squadrons (VT). From recruitment to battle, the detail of what it was like to fly and fight for the US Navy is brought vividly to life. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Naval Aviation Rules!
"U.S.Naval Aviator: 1941-45" (Osprey's Warrior Series) is a well-written, highly informative
and interesting book. The author has done a fine job of following the career of typical
United States Naval Aviators from the earliest days of their careers through deployment on board
fast attack carriers during the dark days of World War II.
The aviators, their planes, their tactics are all clearly set forth here.
The text reads well. It is accompanied by well-chosen photos with informative captions.
Excellent buy. Put it on your shelf. ... Read more

Product Description
Operational Logistics: The Art and Science of SustainingMilitary Operations explores military logistics in terms of thetheoretical foundations of operational logistics (OpLog) and itsapplications. The theoretical foundations are examined with regard totwo dimensions. First, the artistic or qualitative aspects ofcontemporary logistics are looked at in the context of the operationallevel of war. These OpLog aspects include principles, imperatives andtenets, which are stated and analyzed. The second dimension relates tothe scientific aspects of logistics. It is manifested by a formalnetwork model that represents the structural and operational featuresof an OpLog system. Hence the book examines both artistic andscientific dimensions of military logistics and integrates therespective qualitative and quantitative aspects into a unified anddefinitive presentation of operational logistics.

The book is intended for logisticians, commanders and militaryscholars. Operations-research analysts, who are interested inlarge-scale logistics systems, may also find interest in the book, inparticular in the models that are presented in the last four chapters.

Chapter 1 presents a general introduction to militarylogistics. Chapter 2 discusses the general structure andcharacteristics of logistics and describes its three levels -strategic, operational and tactical. Chapter 3 focuses on OperationalLogistics (OpLog). Chapter 4 deals with the logistics planningprocess. Chapter 5 addresses the issue of logisticsinformation. Chapter 6 deals with forecasting logisticsdemands. Chapter 7 introduces the first version of the logisticsnetwork model. Chapter 8 addresses an important property of an OpLogsystem - Flexibility. Chapter 9 discusses two major (and dual) issuesin OpLog practice: force accumulation and medical treatment andevacuation. Chapter 10 presents an inter-temporal network optimizationmodel that is designed to determine deployment and employment of thesupport chain in an OpLog system. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Excellent
Expensive book, but well worth in my case. I needed a framework and structure for armed conflict logistics, and this one had a great layout and explanation for the concepts and principles. This book is more academic, as opposed to detailing a process (e.g., step by step how-to) or a historical description (e.g., what happened). ... Read more

Product Description

This book provides a rigorous critical analysis of how the US military operates in Iraq, exploring the spatial practices of violence.

Contemporary critical analyses of the United States’ involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan emphasise the hegemonic nature of the US military experience, while conventional military analyses focus on fixed categories such as ‘counter-insurgency’ or ‘network-centric warfare’. Drawing on fieldwork examining the use of a new command and control technology by 1^st Cavalry Division (US Army) in 2004-2005, this book elaborates a more nuanced understanding of US military violence by exploring the changing (and sometimes incoherent) spatial practices through which violence was exercised.

The author combines fieldwork with a spatial vocabulary of violence from the work of Michel Foucault, Henri Lefebvre and Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari and methodological inspiration from the micro-observations of material semiotics in Science and Technology Studies to conclude that the US Army’s experience in Iraq has been neither as circumscribed nor as easily defined as critical theorists and conventional military analysts alike would suggest.

This innovative book will be of much interest to students of critical security studies, strategic studies, military studies, social and spatial theory and IR in general.

Caroline M. Croser is a Lecturer in Politics at the University of New South Wales at the Australian Defence Force Academy, where she teaches defence studies.

Product Description
Many people don't realize that the Bush administration changed U.S. military policy, particularly towards Iraq, after the congressional elections of 2006. The start of the 110th Congress in 2007, and the shift in Congressional power, also coincided with the decline of the Rumsfeld-Cheney cabal that had been extremely influential in directing the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, and U.S. military policy in general, prior to that.******The emerging direction of the new U.S. military and defense policy is more pragmatic, less ideological and quietly (though not explicitly) recognizes the failure of policies in the earlier years of the current administration.******The man epitomizing this change more than any other is Robert M. Gates, the man who replaced Donald Rumsfeld as the U.S. Secretary of Defense. With vast experience in public service as well as in academia (he has lectured at Universities like Yale and Georgetown, and was the interim Dean of the Business School at Texas A&M just before being selected to replace Mr. Rumsfeld), he has quietly reversed a number of older policies and brought a much needed pragmatic approach to U.S. policies abroad.******He is also a lively speaker with a great sense of humor. Here are his speeches, as released by the U.S. Department of Defense, from his inauguration to February 2008-the key period when a lot of these changes in U.S. policies were taking place. These provide a valuable insight into where U.S. defense and military policies are headed during the remaining days of the Bush administration. ... Read more

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The US decision not to work through NATO after 9/11 left many European members of the alliance feeling deflated. This decision reflected not only the unilateralism of the Bush Administration, but also the belief that US operational freedom and flexibility had been hampered during NATO’s two Balkans interventions.

This book examines US attitudes to, and perspectives on, the transatlantic alliance, with a particular focus on US-NATO relations since 9/11. It demonstrates that, following the decision to bypass NATO after 9/11, the Bush Administration’s perceptions of the alliance shifted due to a belated recognition that NATO did indeed have much to offer the US. Hallams explores NATO’s contributions to post-combat reconstruction and stabilisation operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, and argues that the events of 9/11 galvanised NATO into undertaking an accelerated program of transformation that has done much to reinvigorate the alliance.

This book offers an optimistic assessment of the transatlantic alliance, counter-balanced by realistic reflections on the problems it faces. Drawing on interviews with US and NATO officials, it argues that NATO is far from irrelevant and that prospects for the alliance remain fundamentally positive; it will be of interest to students and scholars of US Foreign Policy, American politics, international relations, security studies and transatlantic studies.

Customer Reviews (1)

The Next Best Thing to Flying an SR-71
No kidding - this is the actual SR-71 pilot's manual.Hundreds of pages telling you everything you need to know to fly a SR-71, but nothing about the recon equipment.There may have been a few pages deleted, but it isn't obvious from reading it.It's great to page through this book while reading accounts of flying the SR-71 (such as "Sled Driver" or "The Untouchables") - it gives you a much better appreciation of what's going on.

If you can find a copy, buy it.Well worth the price for a Habu fan.A bit steep for anyone else... ... Read more

Product Description
The US Air Power series is the definitive illustrated guide to recent American dominance in the skies. Covering the planes and crews of the USAF as well as Naval, Marine, and Army air wings, these books cover a period from World War II through to the present day in which American pilots have prevailed in all combat situations and have laid the foundation for the swift and decisive victories achieved during that time. The series covers all of the major conflicts in which the U.S. has been involved recently, including both Gulf wars, the Balkans, and Afghanistan. Modern Bombers features the B-2A, B-1B, and B-52 as well as the air-to-surface weaponry that they deploy, such as the JDAM and JAASM. The 72 pages include well over 100 photographs, 16 pages of which are in full color. Every photo features a detailed caption outlining combat history and technical specifications. ... Read more

Product Description
The Thunderbolt, the Mustang, the Avenger, the Hellcat - such names became codewords for Allied air success as World War II was taken back to the Germans after the Battle of Britain. This is a pictorial study of the air combat of the American fighters with the Luftwaffe. ... Read more

Product Description
Experts in the Soviet, American and Asian military forces have contributed individual papers dealing with the political and economic effects that the Soviet and American military presence has initiated in Southeast Asia. Topics include military strategy, presence and security. ... Read more