Uncovering Ways of War: U.S. Intelligence and Foreign Military Innovation, 1918-1941 (Cornell Studies in Security Affairs) Reviews

Uncovering Ways of War: U.S. Intelligence and Foreign Military Innovation, 1918-1941 (Cornell Studies in Security Affairs)





Intelligence operations face the challenging task of predicting the shape of future wars. This task is hindered by their limited ability to warn of peacetime foreign military innovation. Using formerly classified sources--in particular, the reports of military attachés and other diplomat-officers--Thomas G. Mahnken sheds light on the shadowy world of U.S. intelligence-gathering, tracing how America learned of military developments in Japan, Germany, and Great Britain in the period between the two world wars.

The interwar period witnessed both a considerable shift in the balance of power in Europe and Asia and the emergence of new ways of war, such as carrier aviation, amphibious operations, and combined-arms armored warfare. American attempts to follow these developments, Mahnken says, illustrate the problems that intelligence organizations face in their efforts to bridge the gulf between prewar expectations and wartime reality. He finds three reasons for intelligence's relative lack of success: intelligence agencies are more inclined to monitor established weapons systems than to search for new ones; their attention is more likely to focus on technology and doctrine already demonstrated in combat; and they have more success identifying innovation in areas their own country is testing.

Uncovering Ways of War substantially revises the perception of how American intelligence performed prior to World War II. Mahnken challenges the assumption that intelligence regarding foreign militaries had little influence on the development of U.S. weapons and doctrine. Finally, he explains the obstacles these agencies must still negotiate as they seek to understand foreign efforts to exploit the information revolution.









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The World Encyclopedia of Pistols, Revolvers & Submachine Guns: An Illustrated Historical Reference To Over 500 Military, Law Enforcement And Antique Firearms From Around The World





A comprehensive illustrated encyclopedia of 500 arms from the different countries of the world, organized according to country of manufacture and featuring key specifications for each gun of caliber, magazine capacity, barrel length and unloaded weight.









List Price: $ 35.00



Price: $ 14.00