Reviews for Franco-British Defence Co-operation

The average rating for Franco-British Defence Co-operation based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2017-04-20 00:00:00 william j bryant This was a decent, academic, introduction to an utterly enormous topic. Covering everything from the beginning of Muscovite supremacy and the rule of the Czar's, through the beginning of the Russian Civil War, it is impossible to expect any topic to be dealt with in any level of detail. The book is a series of essays written by various academics, most of which are quite readable, though a few are a chore, with each essay dealing with a particular era of Czarist military history. As such, a premium is placed upon issues of bureacratic organization, and of structure of forces and doctrinal systems as opposed to the war fighting itself (a peculiar American trait of analyzing military history, which seems to, all too often, to entirely ignore the actual conflict segment of military history...and seeing as how no American Presidential Administration seems reluctant to start some strategically ridiculous conflict in someone else's backyard, this has always puzzled me). There are, however, a few exceptions. The chapters dealing with the Eighteenth Century were very well written and one actually got a sense as to why, and a little as to how, HRH Prince Alexander Suvorov is known as a great general (a huge regret is that there is precious little in English on that particular Great Captain). As well, the chapter dealing with the Russo-Japanese War, and the chapter dealing with the First World War are a very good blend of academic scholarship while not forgetting that one cannot fully comprehend the viability of an organization, or it's strategic, tactical, and operational doctrine unless it is actually analyzed in the purpose for which armies are raised to begin with. The concluding essay, written by chief editor Frederick W. Kagan, is a decent American understanding of Russia's geostrategic dilemmas and a good analysis of how they responded to them. Overall, this is a good, scholarly, if very small, book devoted to a topic that has been sadly ignored in the English speaking world. Russia is, truly, one of the great cultures of the world, and to blithely ignore them, or purposefully misunderstand them, is a crime of the highest order. As an introduction to a fascinating topic, I can recommend this.

Review # 2 was written on 2010-03-09 00:00:00 Danny Darmono I really enjoyed reading this book. This was a great academic presentation and analysis of Russian military doctrine up to and including World War I. It has very interesting narratives of several of the major wars that it fought from the 17th through early 20 centuries. It also has great intro and conclusion chapters to put everything into perspective and add some analysis to the information. I knew absolutely nothing of Russian history before I read this, and this book really taught me alot. The one area I felt was somewhat lacking about this book was sufficient historical context to understand the events. The history of Russian military doctrine is interwoven both with the domestic social and political factors, and with the events of neighboring Europe. I am knowledgeable enough to understand the major European events, such as the French Revolution, Napoleon's wars, and the assassination that sparked World War I. However, my knowledge of Russian internal politics and social movements was somewhat lacking. I ended up doing some side research to better understand the contents of the book. I just felt that the authors could have included some more context. Overall, this was a great book. I can't wait to read the sequel, Military History of the Soviet Union.