Books Received

General

Armour and Weapons. By Charles Foulkes. Yardley, Pa.: Westholme Publishing, 2005. ISBN 1-59416-022-8. Illustrations. Index. Pp. 112. Paper. $14.95. Reprint of a brief study from 1909 which catalogued personal protection gear from early chain mail in 1066 to more elaborate plate armor in 1600.

Choosing Your Battles: American Civil-Military Relations and the Use of Force. By Peter D. Feaver and Christopher Gelpi. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2005. ISBN 0-691-12427-2. Illustrations. Tables. Notes. References. Indexes. Pp. xiii, 250. Paper. $22.95. Originally published in 2004, this statistical study by two Duke historians argues that the alleged gap between hawkish civilian elites and their more reluctant military counterparts concerning the use of force really does exist, has for some time, and strongly influences decision making.

Crucibles: Selected Readings in U.S. Marine Corps History, 2d ed. Edited by Robert S. Burrell. Bel Air, Md.: Academy Publishing Services, 2004. ISBN 1-932768-08-4. Photographs. Bibliography. Index. Pp. 316. Paper. A group of well-known scholars offer 20 essays on important events in Corps history, focusing on amphibious operations in the twentieth century.

Delbrück's Modern Military History. By Hans Delbrück. Edited and translated by Arden Bucholz. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2005. ISBN 0-8032-6653-7. Notes. Index. Pp. xv, 244. Paper. $27.95. Twenty-four essays by the celebrated nineteenth-century German military historian offer contemporary analyses of the major events in the brief life of imperial Germany from 1870 to 1929.

Great Captains of the Faith: From Moses to MacArthur. A Study in War and Religion. By Montecue J. Lowry. Denver, Colo.: Outskirts Press, 2002. ISBN 1-932672-64-8. Maps. Appendixes. Select bibliography. Notes. Pp. xxiii, 733. Paper. $55.95. The author focuses on the careers of ten commanders from the Judeo-Christian tradition, beginning with Moses and proceeding through David, Charlemagne, and Cromwell to MacArthur to argue that they all possessed "a rare, innate military genius as a gift of God."

The E-Bomb: How America's New Directed Energy Weapons Will Change the Way Future Wars Will Be Fought. By Doug Beason. Cambridge, Mass.: Da Capo Press, 2005. ISBN 0-306-81402-1. Photographs. Illustrations. Tables. Figures. Glossary. Notes. Bibliography. Index. Pp. xiii, 256. $26.00. A physicist explains what directed energy is, how it can be applied in a military setting as laser weapons and force fields, and what kinds of weapons are in the offing.

Naval Edged Weapons in the Age of Fighting Sail, 1775-1865. By Sarah C. Wolfe. London, U.K.: Chatham Publishing, 2005. ISBN 1-86176-245-3. Photographs. Illustrations. Tables. Appendix. Notes. Bibliography. Index. Pp. 120. £17.99. A survey of the various types of edged weapons (swords, axes, pikes), their manufacture and their employment in naval combat by British and American sailors.

The Naval Institute Almanac of the U.S. Navy. By Anthony Cowden. Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 2005. ISBN 1-59114-131-1. Photographs. Illustrations. Index. Pp. xii, 247. Paper. $24.95. This manual instructs naval personnel in the basics of naval organization, ships, aircraft, traditions, lore, etc.; from the Blue & Gold Professional Library series.

Producing Security: Multinational Corporations, Globalization, and the Changing Calculus of Conflict. By Stephen G. Brooks. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2005. ISBN 0-691-12151-6. Tables. Figures. Notes. Bibliography. Indexes. Pp. xiv, 316. $35.00. The key economic force affecting world security issues is no longer trade, it's the policies of multinational corporations. In the developed world, they promote peace; in the developing world, they do not.

A Sailor's History of the U.S. Navy. By Thomas J. Cutler. Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 2005. ISBN 1-59114-151-6. Photographs. Illustrations. Appendix. Pp. xxiv, 296. $27.95. A former enlisted man tells the new sailors the story of the U.S. Navy in a series of thematic chapters on professional traditions and navy lore; required...