Good analysis but needed more maps to follow the engagements
341745
Fine story told in chronological sequence.  However, it would have been greatly enhanced if there had been maps of S. Vietnam and battle maps showing the engagements described.
4306840
Well written but not much new material.
Maybe the scope coukd have been expanded or more source material used or analysis
3685863
Any student of military history can appreciate the streamlined manner of this book. What is critically missing is a MAP. The European theater was highly complicated by numerous geographical features and a map or maps would have been very helpful in grasping the success of the Third Army.
1792146
I liked the reading of this but, seems like there should have been a map or some illustrations to accompany the text.
1736005
I agree with others that the descriptions of the progression of the battles was hard to follow, but some of that can be attributed to the very nature of them.  The analysis was very useful in understanding why this effort was a more difficult and costly undertaking compared to the sweep through France and Belgium.  This account provides a somber contrast to the optimistic picture given in "Eight Stars to Victory" by Mittelman, for example.
888221
Reasonably good introduction and outline of the siege and battle of Vienna. We get a clear understanding of the forces involved as well as the political players and their battle plans. He also clearly takes us through the story of the Ottomans setting out from Istanbul and marshalling their forces. It is also interesting to hear a little more about how early rains delayed the Ottomans by a few crucial days, which probably made all the difference to whether the relieving allied army would have found a besieging Turkish army or a city already in Ottoman hands. At the end of the day, logistics played such a large role in this matter that one wonders if the campaign was already lost/won in the respective quartermasters offices!
  It might be made a little better by showing how all these forces worked together (especially in the Ottoman army, whose formations still seem to be murkily understood, as in most battles), though Vienna is something of a special case given the uneveness of the terrain and disorganised nature of the fighting. The author could have benefited from consulting some Turkish sources a little more  - the great elephant of unused Turkish archives remains firmly in this room of Ottoman history. Otherwise, even if the narrative could be improved on, we have some informative and downright beautiful drawings by Peter Dennis which make all the difference.
2533017
I recommend this but it would be better with many more maps.  The book had only one map with almost no detail. One detailed map per landing site would be good.
1197768
I acquired this book for research for a book I'm writing on my in-laws' story (he was an officer in the 45th ID and she was an Army nurse in the 64th GH).  I found it very helpful and informative, but there were too few detailed tables of organization to meet my needs. At the divisional level, too much was condensed.  That would be ok if the levels below were exploded out, but they weren't or were missing.  For example, at the regimental level there was no inclusion of or reference to any quartermaster organization.  A lot more was missing than was included.  That said, it was still a good contribution to an understanding of the TO/E of an infantry division in WWII.
244612
There's not much more I can add to all of the glowing reviews for this book. I'm fascinated by WWII history and have read many accounts, and this is a rare and excellent look from the German soldier's point of view.

I would have given it 5 stars but for one thing: the publishers have included only one map.  This book needs many more maps to illustrate the remote locations and battles described by the author.

Unfortunately, this is often the failing of too many historical books about various wars.  This book has a single map at the beginning, illustrating a vast area from Finland down to the Black Sea in almost no detail.  It is nearly useless for understanding the movements of the troops as described.

I would strongly urge the publishers to include more maps for the next edition -- surely there will be one?
1287963
I agree overall with the other reviews.  Footnotes and maps would give more credibility.  The narrative reads like how men on the front would talk.  I found it very interesting.  Has an index.
1798207
There is a wealth of information in these pages about one of the greatest battles in military history. Glantz covers a lot of new ground and presents a new perspective on a battle that has been misrepresented by many historians.

However, it was a difficult read for me. It is almost like reading a reference book because there is so much detail about all of the units involved and when, where and how. Glantz's trilogy needs more and better maps to illustrate his text. Foldout maps in English would be ideal. But I am glad that his 1st 2 books on Stalingrad are in my collection and I am sure I will be referring to them in the future.
4822363
Anyone who has a decent understanding of the war knows about the Vicksburg Campaign. However, not as many know about a simultaneous Siege happening to the south in Louisiana at Port Hudson. General Nathaniel Banks and his Army of the Gulf (XIX Corps) besieged 6,000-odd men under Confederate Major General Franklin Gardner from May 23-July 9, 1863. After these 48 days, the Confederates surrendered, not because they were defeated, but because Vicksburg had fallen and they now had no hope of a rescue. Cunningham's book is a good introduction to this topic except for one important detail: maps. There are only two maps. One shows the larger area of operations along the Mississippi River from Cairo, IL to New Orleans. The other shows the siege lines in such a zoomed out map that I had trouble reading everything. This makes for a difficult time while following along. I pulled out my Official Records Atlas several times during my reading. The Order of Battle is slightly above average, with no strengths but with regimental commanders listed. Cunningham has adequate notes and a solid bibliography. The book was originally published in 1963, so that might explain the lack of maps. I enjoyed Cunningham's delivery. It was smooth and kept me interested throughout. However, he tended to make some grandiose claims from time to time regarding the ability of the Confederates to break the Siege. If you read it, you'll know what I'm talking about. This is a solid introduction to the Campaign, but it is by no means definitive. I would recommend the two-volume The Guns of Port Hudson by David C. Edmonds for that label. The books are not cheap and they're difficult to find, but judging by the second volume (which I own), they are worth it.

174 pp., 2 maps
3043552
Evidently Generals have someone who writes down every word (colorful words and all) they say and archives all of their message traffic. After trashing General Westmoreland (unfairly??) in the intro, the author proceeds to qoute General Abrams page after page with only a few references to Ambasdador Bunker or other visiting VIPs. The inclusion of the North Vietnamesese after action reports is refreshing because it doesn't completely flow from what Gerenal Abrams said, although it usually backs up what he said. While I do agree that little has been written on this period of the Vietnam War from the strategic prospective and the man in charge would be the best resource for info, this reads too much like a study of only General Abrams. There is a lot of good info here, but it could have been even better had it been expanded outside of MACV breifing room.
2415858
Book gives a good thorough coverage of Operation Longcloth, but seems to me to lean a little too much towards the escape of the column survivors once the dispersal order was given. The missing star on the 1 to 5 scale is due to the lack of a few more accounts about engagements during the harrassment and sabotage stage, like, for example, the exploits of Herring Force.

However, it just might be that this is the way the whole affair happened; short way in, long way out.
1796822
Gates' Spanish Ulcer is a one-volume history of the Peninsular War waged by France in Spain from 1808-1814.  It covers all operations in this complicated conflict and contains a map every three or four pages.  There is plenty here for the academic doing research, the professional military person learning the origins of guerilla, or 4th generation warfare, or the war gamer who wants to know the terrain and order of battle for a particular engagement.  For the casual reader such as myself, however, the narrative is too dense and the descriptions of operations too detailed.  I would have personally preferred an account that either focuses biographically on Wellington or the French marshals, or gives a smoother narrative of developments.  Such was not Gates' goal, so I won't subtract any stars just because I chose the wrong book on the Peninsular War for myself.  The Spanish Ulcer certainly deserves five stars for hitting the mark for those more specialized purposes.
2657337
The third volume in this well detailed history of the Eastern air war is well illustrated with photos and large CGI profiles of aircraft from both sides. Unfortunately, the latter are only of single engined fighters, apart from a couple of Bf 110s, unlike Vol 2 which covered a variety of types such as bombers, ground attack and transport aircraft.
The maps at the back could be much more detailed as it is very often not possible to relate the action being described to a location on the maps due to a sparse collection of place names. One map even has locations marked as numbers one to nine but no key to the numbers giving the actual place names!
There is the usual collection of typos and at times it is clear that English is not the authors first language, but overall this series gives a very good general coverage of this vast aerial campaign and when it eventually concludes, it will be the best generally available account of the air war as viewed from both sides.
A couple of slight snags are that the series has now had three different publishers, each with their own approach to presentation. The first volume was rather poorly presented with somewhat murky printing and no colour, the second addressed this and added better quality paper and printing plus colour and kept the same dust jacket style. The third departed completely from the dust jacket style so that, on the shelf, it appears to be unrelated to the first two. The first two also had gold blocked black boards, while this volume has silver blocked green boards. The second is that the first volume was published in 2000, the third in 2006, and the next one is only being written in 2008. According to the author, the series will probably run to eight volumes so, unless the rate of publication speeds up, we will be waiting for some time yet for the series to be completed.
3041441
A good addition to the literature on contemporary Pakistan. The chapters on preindependence, education, demography, and water differentiate it from other recent books that focus on the tumultuous nature of the Pakistani state and terrorism alone.

The conclusion leaves more questions than answers though. A deeper analysis of the two options suggested by the author to reform Pakistan would've made it a 5-star read.