Books Received

General

Anglo-Chinese Encounters since 1800: War, Trade, Science and Governance. By Wang Gungwu. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2003. ISBN 0-521-53413-5. Notes. Index. Pp. ix, 202. Paper. $22.00. The author offers six essays exploring aspects of the long-standing military, economic and cultural encounter between China and Britain, based on his Commonwealth Lectures delivered at Cambridge in 1996-97.

Archaeology, History, and Predictive Modeling. Research at Fort Polk, 1972- 2002. By David G. Anderson and Steven D. Smith. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 2003. ISBN 0-8173-1271-4. Maps. Photographs. Illustrations. Figures. Tables. References. Index. Pp. xviii, 662. Paper. $34.95. A dense and highly technical compilation of reports from a continuing series of cultural resource investigations at the fort in western Louisiana focuses mostly on prehistory, but contains a substantial chapter on the history of the military installation itself.

Burma's Armed Forces: Power Without Glory. By Andrew Selth. Norwalk, Conn.: Eastbridge, 2002. ISBN 1-891936-13. Maps. Notes. Charts. Tables. Appendixes. Select bibliography. Index. Pp. xxxvii, 371. Paper. $29.95. An institutional study of the Tatmadaw—its organization, doctrine, policy, strategy and capabilities—since its rise to power in the coup of 1962.

The Gathering Biological Warfare Storm. Edited by Jim A. Davis and Barry R. Schneider. Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala.: USAF Counterproliferation Center, 2002. Figures. Tables. Notes. Pp. v, 313. Paper. 2nd edition. Ten experts offer an assessment of the growing bio-terror threat and U.S. bio-defense measures from a post-9/11 perspective.

A Grand Strategy for America. By Robert J. Art. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 2003. ISBN 0-8014-4139-0. Tables. Notes. Index. Pp. xvii, 320. $29.95. Assessing a range of strategy options from hegemonic imperialism to isolationism, the author argues for selective engagement as the most appropriate choice for a dominant America in the decades to come.

The Limits of Transformation: Officer Attitudes toward the Revolution in Military Affairs. By Thomas G. Mahnken and James R. FitzSimonds. Newport, R.I.: Naval War College Press, 2003. Charts. Tables. Appendixes. Pp.134. Paper. The authors of Naval War College Paper No. 17 conducted some 1,900 surveys in calendar year 2000 in order to assess attitudes of officers in professional military schools towards "revolutionary" developments in military operations, thinking and doctrine. The results suggest attitudes are still heavily influenced by traditional factors of service affiliation and combat experience.

Rethinking Cold War Culture. Edited by Peter J. Kuznick and James Gilbert. Washington: Smithsonian Institute Press, 2001. ISBN 1-56098-895-9. Tables. Notes. Index. Pp. vi, 232. Paper. $39.95. Eleven historians examine American culture during the Cold War and argue that, "while there was little fundamentally new," specific phenomena such as nuclear weapons, anticommunist ideology and the military-industrial complex "dramatically influenced American politics and culture."

The Specter of Genocide: Mass Murder in Historical Perspective. Edited by Robert Gellately and Ben Kiernan. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2003. ISBN 0-521-82063-4. Notes. Index. Pp. x, 396. $60.00. A series of 19 essays chronicles episodes of genocide in the twentieth century, ranging from industrialized attempts at the "final solution" in Nazi Germany to indigenous slaughter in Rwanda.

To Be A U.S. Army Ranger. By Russ Bryant. St. Paul, Minn.: MBI Publishing, 2003. ISBN 0-7603-1314-8. Photographs. Appendixes. Index. Pp. 159. Paper. $19.95. To Be A U.S. Navy Seal. By Cliff Hollenbeck and Dick Couch. St. Paul, Minn.: MBI Publishing, 2003. ISBN 0-7603-1404-7. Photographs. Index. Pp. 159. Paper. $19.95. Lots of color photographs take potential recruits through all the details of the rigors of training required to join one of these elite units.

Transformation Under Fire: Revolutionizing How America Fights. By Douglas A. Macgregor. Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 2003. ISBN 0-275-98192-4. Figures. Glossary. Notes. Index. Pp. xviii, 300. $34.95. A USA Colonel makes the case for the new, light, mobile, joint service...