The Hall of Mirrors: War and Warfare in the Twentieth Century

Jim Storr

5/2019 · Casemate Publishers

Táto e‑kniha

The military scholar and author of The Human Face of War analyses the nature of 20th-century war and warfare in this wide-ranging study.
 
The 20th Century was possibly the most violent and turbulent century in history. The wars waged in those ten decades reshaped the globe and wreaked an incalculable toll on human life.  In The Hall of Mirrors, military analyst and historian Jim Storr explores what can we learn from war, and warfare, in the 20th century.
 
Rather than presenting a narrative history, The Hall of Mirrors takes a deep look at the nature of 20th Century war and warfare. Storr looks at the strategy, operational art, and tactics employed. He analyzes how technology developed, and how those technologies affected military events. He also considers the effect of individual human beings and organizations.
 
By 1919 the First World War was already over. Millions had died, empires had crumbled, new nations had been born. And yet the so-called Great War was merely setting the stage for another eighty years of crisis, conflict, and change; of alliances forged and broken; of apparent chaos that can appear futile, and yet has enormous consequence.

O autorovi

Jim Storr wrote high-level doctrine for four years as a Regular infantry officer in the British Army. He then embarked on a second career in analysis, consulting, writing and postgraduate teaching. He has lectured, spoken and taught at staff colleges around the world. His first book, ‘The Human Face of War’, has been on the reading guide at a number of them. It has been described as ‘a superb guide for how to approach the conduct of operation’; a book which ‘attacks a lot of things that military folks ... take for granted’. Indeed ‘rarely has there been a book as good as this for stimulating thinking.’In a temporary change of direction, ‘King Arthur’s Wars’ then looked at how Roman Britain became Anglo-Saxon England. Yet ‘ ... it contains lessons for modern commanders, and is a guide for all of us as to how to think about problems holistically and logically’, and ‘his assault on ... conventional history ... is unrelenting, thorough, and persuasive.’ He now brings the same approach to war and warfare in the 20th century.Jim Storr was appointed professor of war studies at the Norwegian military academy, Oslo in 2013.