Journal of Military History
Vol. 89, No. 3
July 2025
Articles
The 2025 George C. Marshall Lecture in Military History
“To the Bitter End: Germany, Japan, and Surrender, 1945,” by Richard Overy, 561–75
“To the Bitter End: Germany, Japan, and Surrender, 1945,” by Richard Overy, 561–75
“Fighting on the Dog’s Heads: Cynoscephalae and the Search for the Ideal Ancient Battlefield,” by
Matthew A. Sears and C. Jacob Butera, 576–99
Matthew A. Sears and C. Jacob Butera, 576–99
This article investigates the disputed location of the Battle of Cynoscephalae, fought between the Romans and the Macedonians in 197 BCE, to suggest that the battle took place on a type of middle ground between flat plains and rugged heights. This middle ground, consisting of rolling hills and parallel ridges of modest height and steepness, proved to be the ideal terrain on which the flexible manipular legion could defeat the dense Macedonian phalanx. While the ancient literary sources suggest that the battle developed out of a chance encounter between the two forces, this article argues that the Roman commander, Titus Flamininus, deliberately chose the spot because of its topographical characteristics.
“Information Gathering and Military Intelligence Under Louis the German,” by Christopher P. Flynn, 600–22
This study analyzes the process of creating military intelligence in the ninth century under King Louis the German of East Francia. Louis was constantly at war, both in civil wars against Carolingian relatives and against numerous peoples across his long eastern frontier. The king therefore needed to keep abreast of political and military situations in several theaters at once, and he devoted substantial effort to collecting as much intelligence as possible to facilitate military preparedness. In the absence of many dedicated intelligence documents, this study relies on annals, chronicles, charters, and more to elucidate what can be discerned about the functions of a long-past intelligence system.
“Picks and Shovels Before Rifles and Bayonets: The U.S. Army’s Impressment of Black Kentuckians,” by
Cameron Boutin, 623–48
Cameron Boutin, 623–48
In Kentucky during the Civil War, African Americans served as coerced laborers in the U.S. Army before they were embraced as free people or soldiers. Authorities impressed over 1,900 Black people to conduct hard labor for the military in direct opposition to the hopes and pursuits of African Americans seeking emancipation, civil rights, and racial equality. Kentucky thus demonstrates the army’s conflicting roles as liberator and racially oppressive. The U.S. Army made use of Black Kentuckians throughout the Civil War, but whether these men found themselves impressed enslaved laborers or free soldiers was shaped by the shifting calculus of military necessity.
“‘Flying Leathernecks’: The Public Debate over Close Air Support and the Future of the U.S. Marine Corps, 1945–1952,” by Rod Andrew Jr., 649–76
During the Korean War, a doctrinal interservice debate within the armed forces over “close air support [CAS]”—the use of aircraft closely coordinated with ground personnel to attack enemy forces in close contact with friendly troops—spilled over into the popular press and congressional debates. While the U.S. Marine Corps emphasized CAS during World War II and the postwar period, the army and army air forces considered it far less important. Between 1945 and the end of the Korean War, this debate played out amidst the much larger “unification” struggle, in which the marine corps faced the very real threat of being reduced to a tiny branch of regimental-sized units with no combined arms capability. The public and Congress showed only a vague awareness of the differences between the marines’ and the air force’s use of airpower until they read frontline reporters’ praise for the marines’ use of CAS during the Korean War. The marines’ alleged prowess in this use of airpower entered congressional debates and bolstered efforts by the corps’ supporters to guarantee a minimum force structure for the marine corps in the Douglas Mansfield Act of 1952, making the U.S. Marine Corps the world’s only marine corps with substantial organic air forces.
“Lost in Translation: Proxy War and the Sino-American Technology Transfer from The Korean War to the Battle of Dien Bien Phu,” by Phil Haun and Colin Jackson, 677–97
Traditional accounts of the Battle of Dien Bien Phu focused on the clash of French and Vietnamese forces at the close of the Indochina War. They emphasize the local learning by the two combatants. This article examines the neglected role of the two great power sponsors of the Indochina War, the United States and the People’s Republic of China. Both sought to transfer operational concepts developed while fighting in Korea. While the French and the Viet Minh adopted much of the hardware and doctrine, the terms of this technology transfer and the local conditions favored the Vietnamese. Chinese advisors offered the Vietnamese a more effective combination of advice and assistance than the U.S. offered to the French.
“The Human Terrain System Controversy: Anthropology and the Iraq War,” by Marjorie Galelli, 698–718
Following the rise of an insurgency in Iraq, a struggling U.S. military eventually turned to counterinsurgency. In doing so, it focused on cultural awareness as one of the tools necessary for soldiers and marines to achieve their mission more effectively. To develop such cultural awareness, the military sought the insight and expertise of anthropologists, unwittingly lighting a spark that set the whole discipline ablaze and triggered the field’s most volatile controversy since the 1970s. While many anthropologists believed that they had moved beyond their previous—and what most of them considered questionable—association with the national security establishment, issues that had been put to rest since the end of the Vietnam War suddenly resurfaced, more contentious than ever, revealing a deep academic-military gap.
Book Reviews:
Russia’s Army: A History from the Napoleonic Wars to the War in Ukraine, by Roger R. Reese, reviewed by Michael Coffey and by Timothy C. Dowling, 719–23
War and Violence in the Western Sources for the First Crusade, by Sini Kangas, reviewed by Evan S. McAllister, 723–35
The Damietta Crusade, 1217–1221: A Military History, by Laurence W. Marvin, reviewed by Alexandra S. Garnhart-Bushakra, 725–27
1314: The Year of Bannockburn, by Callum Watson, reviewed by John D. Hosler, 727–28
Spies for the Sultan: Ottoman Intelligence in the Great Rivalry with Spain, by Emrah Safa Gürkan, reviewed by M. Şükrü Hanioğlu, 729–30
Childhood and War in Eighteenth-Century Britain, by Jennine Hurl-Eamon, reviewed by Zachary W. Deibel, 731–32
Robert Rogers, Ranger: The Rise and Fall of an American Icon, by Martin Klotz, reviewed by Martin Comack, 733–34
The Age of Revolutions and the Generations Who Made It, by Nathan Perl-Rosenthal, reviewed by Glauco Schettini, 734–36
Mutiny on the Black Prince: Slavery, Piracy, and the Limits of Liberty in the Revolutionary Atlantic World, by James Sweet, reviewed by Matthew D. McDonough, 736–37
Under Alien Skies: Environment, Suffering, and the Defeat of the British Military in Revolutionary America, by Vaughn Scribner, reviewed by Blake McGready, 738–39
Purpose and Power: US Grand Strategy from the Revolutionary Era to the Present, by Donald Stoker, reviewed by Rich Myrick, 739–41
To Fix a National Character: The United States in the First Barbary War, 1800–1805, by Abigail G. Mullen, reviewed by John Chamberlin, 741–43
Struggle for Empire: The Battles of General Zuo Zongtang, by Kenneth M. Swope, reviewed by Daniel Barish, 743–44
The Fabric of Civil War Society: Uniforms, Badges, and Flags, 1859–1939, by Shae Smith Cox, reviewed by Lucas Wilder, 745–46
Robert E. Lee’s Reluctant Warrior: The Life of Cavalry Commander and Railroad Businessman, Brigadier General William Carter Wickham, by Sheridan R. Barringer, reviewed by Arnold Blumberg, 746–48
Freedom Soldiers: The Emancipation of Black Soldiers in Civil War Camps, Courts, and Prisons, by Jonathan Lande, reviewed by Andrew L. Slap, 748–49
Relics of War: The History of A Photograph, by Jennifer Raab, reviewed by Franny Nudelman, 750–51
The Limits of the Lost Cause: Essays on Civil War Memory, by Gaines M. Foster, reviewed by G. David Schieffler, 751–53
Instrument of War: Music and the Making of America’s Soldiers, by David Suisman, reviewed by Bruce P. Gleason, 753–55
King’s Navy: Fleet Admiral Ernest J. King and the Rise of American Sea Power, 1897–1947, by David Kohnen, reviewed by Lewis Patterson, 755–56
Team of Giants: The Making of the Spanish-American War, by Matthew Bernstein, reviewed by Ethan S. Rafuse, 757–58
The Allure of Empire: American Encounters with Asians in the Age of Transpacific Expansion and Exclusion, by Chris Suh, reviewed by Christopher T. Costello, 758–59
Eugene Ely: Pioneer of Naval Aviation, by John H. Zobel, reviewed by John M. Hinck, 760–61
The Last Ships from Hamburg: Business, Rivalry, and the Race to Save Russia’s Jews on the Eve of World War I, by Steven Ujifusa, reviewed by Timothy C. Dowling, 761–63
Grid: The Life and Times of First World War Fighter Ace Keith Caldwell, by Adam Claasen, reviewed by James Streckfuss, 763–64
Boosters and Barkers: Financing Canada’s Involvement in the First World War, by David Roberts, reviewed by Craig Leslie Mantle, 765–66
Knowing by Ear: Listening to Voice Recordings with African Prisoners of War in German Camps (1915–1918), by Anette Hoffmann, reviewed by Taiwo Bello, 767–68
A Thirst for Wine and War: The Intoxication of French Soldiers on the Western Front, by Adam D. Zientek, reviewed by Brian J. Griffith, 769–71
Holding Out: The German Army and Operational Command in 1917, by Tony Cowan, reviewed by Robert H. Clemm, 771–72
Constructing Disability After the Great War: Blind Veterans in the Progressive Era, by Evan P. Sullivan, reviewed by Lee K. Pennington, 773–74
Beyond the Great Silence: The Legacy of Shell Shock in Britain and Germany, 1918–1924, by Stefanie Linden, reviewed by Patti McCall-Junkin, 774–76
Facing the Victorious Turks: How the French Misread the Turkish War of Independence, by Andrew Orr, reviewed by Edward J. Erickson, 776–78
Blue Jerusalem: British Conservatism, Winston Churchill, and the Second World War, by Kit Kowol, reviewed by Dermot Rooney, 778–80
Turning the Tide: The USAAF in North Africa and Sicily, by Thomas McKelvey Cleaver, reviewed by Nicholas Sambaluk, 780–81
U.S. Army Divisions of the Pacific War, by Stephen R. Taaffe, reviewed by Zane A. Whitney Jr., 781–82
Midway: The Pacific War’s Most Famous Battle, by Mark E. Stille, reviewed by Anthony Tully, 782–83
True to My God and Country: How Jewish Americans Fought in World War II, by Françoise S. Ouzan, reviewed by Joseph S. Topek, 784–85
The Hill: The Brutal Fight for Hill 107 in the Battle of Crete, by Robert Kershaw, reviewed by Lance R. Blyth, 785–87
Betting Against America: The Axis Powers’ Views of the United States, by Harry Yeide, reviewed by Rob Citino, 787–88
Cassino ’44: The Brutal Battle for Rome, by James Holland, reviewed by Douglas Porch, 789–91
A Strange Whim of the Sea: The Wreck of the USS Macaw, by Tim Loughman, reviewed by Brian W. Refford, 791–93
Black Yanks: Defending Leroy Henry in D-Day Britain, by Kate Werran, reviewed by Barbara Crouch, 793–94
Ski, Climb, Fight: The 10th Mountain Division and the Rise of Mountain Warfare, by Lance R. Blyth, reviewed by Ethan S. Rafuse, 795–96
Contesting Indonesia: Islamist, Separatist, and Communal Violence Since 1945, by Kirsten E. Schulze, reviewed by Nicholas Sambaluk, 796–98
The Struggle for Taiwan: A History of America, China, and the Island Caught Between, by Sulmaan Wasif Khan, reviewed by Paxton Stover, 798–99
Revolutionary Warfare: How the Algerian War Made Modern Counterinsurgency, by Terrence G. Peterson, reviewed by Christopher Griffin, 800–1
Guerrillas and Combative Mothers: Women and the Armed Struggle in South Africa, by Siphokazi Magadla, reviewed by Selina Makana, 801–3
F*ck The Army! How Soldiers and Civilians Staged the GI Movement to End the Vietnam War, by Lindsay Goss, reviewed by Karl Rubis, 803–4
Towards Jihad? Muslims and Politics in Postcolonial Mozambique, by Eric Morier-Genoud, reviewed by José de Arimatéia da Cruz, 805–7
Israel’s New Wars: The Conflicts between Israel and Iran, Hezbollah and the Palestinians since the 1990s, by Ehud Eilam, reviewed by Rosanne M. Horswill, 807–8
BOOKS RECEIVED: 809–12
RECENT JOURNAL ARTICLES: 813–19
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: 820–21
Russia’s Army: A History from the Napoleonic Wars to the War in Ukraine, by Roger R. Reese, reviewed by Michael Coffey and by Timothy C. Dowling, 719–23
War and Violence in the Western Sources for the First Crusade, by Sini Kangas, reviewed by Evan S. McAllister, 723–35
The Damietta Crusade, 1217–1221: A Military History, by Laurence W. Marvin, reviewed by Alexandra S. Garnhart-Bushakra, 725–27
1314: The Year of Bannockburn, by Callum Watson, reviewed by John D. Hosler, 727–28
Spies for the Sultan: Ottoman Intelligence in the Great Rivalry with Spain, by Emrah Safa Gürkan, reviewed by M. Şükrü Hanioğlu, 729–30
Childhood and War in Eighteenth-Century Britain, by Jennine Hurl-Eamon, reviewed by Zachary W. Deibel, 731–32
Robert Rogers, Ranger: The Rise and Fall of an American Icon, by Martin Klotz, reviewed by Martin Comack, 733–34
The Age of Revolutions and the Generations Who Made It, by Nathan Perl-Rosenthal, reviewed by Glauco Schettini, 734–36
Mutiny on the Black Prince: Slavery, Piracy, and the Limits of Liberty in the Revolutionary Atlantic World, by James Sweet, reviewed by Matthew D. McDonough, 736–37
Under Alien Skies: Environment, Suffering, and the Defeat of the British Military in Revolutionary America, by Vaughn Scribner, reviewed by Blake McGready, 738–39
Purpose and Power: US Grand Strategy from the Revolutionary Era to the Present, by Donald Stoker, reviewed by Rich Myrick, 739–41
To Fix a National Character: The United States in the First Barbary War, 1800–1805, by Abigail G. Mullen, reviewed by John Chamberlin, 741–43
Struggle for Empire: The Battles of General Zuo Zongtang, by Kenneth M. Swope, reviewed by Daniel Barish, 743–44
The Fabric of Civil War Society: Uniforms, Badges, and Flags, 1859–1939, by Shae Smith Cox, reviewed by Lucas Wilder, 745–46
Robert E. Lee’s Reluctant Warrior: The Life of Cavalry Commander and Railroad Businessman, Brigadier General William Carter Wickham, by Sheridan R. Barringer, reviewed by Arnold Blumberg, 746–48
Freedom Soldiers: The Emancipation of Black Soldiers in Civil War Camps, Courts, and Prisons, by Jonathan Lande, reviewed by Andrew L. Slap, 748–49
Relics of War: The History of A Photograph, by Jennifer Raab, reviewed by Franny Nudelman, 750–51
The Limits of the Lost Cause: Essays on Civil War Memory, by Gaines M. Foster, reviewed by G. David Schieffler, 751–53
Instrument of War: Music and the Making of America’s Soldiers, by David Suisman, reviewed by Bruce P. Gleason, 753–55
King’s Navy: Fleet Admiral Ernest J. King and the Rise of American Sea Power, 1897–1947, by David Kohnen, reviewed by Lewis Patterson, 755–56
Team of Giants: The Making of the Spanish-American War, by Matthew Bernstein, reviewed by Ethan S. Rafuse, 757–58
The Allure of Empire: American Encounters with Asians in the Age of Transpacific Expansion and Exclusion, by Chris Suh, reviewed by Christopher T. Costello, 758–59
Eugene Ely: Pioneer of Naval Aviation, by John H. Zobel, reviewed by John M. Hinck, 760–61
The Last Ships from Hamburg: Business, Rivalry, and the Race to Save Russia’s Jews on the Eve of World War I, by Steven Ujifusa, reviewed by Timothy C. Dowling, 761–63
Grid: The Life and Times of First World War Fighter Ace Keith Caldwell, by Adam Claasen, reviewed by James Streckfuss, 763–64
Boosters and Barkers: Financing Canada’s Involvement in the First World War, by David Roberts, reviewed by Craig Leslie Mantle, 765–66
Knowing by Ear: Listening to Voice Recordings with African Prisoners of War in German Camps (1915–1918), by Anette Hoffmann, reviewed by Taiwo Bello, 767–68
A Thirst for Wine and War: The Intoxication of French Soldiers on the Western Front, by Adam D. Zientek, reviewed by Brian J. Griffith, 769–71
Holding Out: The German Army and Operational Command in 1917, by Tony Cowan, reviewed by Robert H. Clemm, 771–72
Constructing Disability After the Great War: Blind Veterans in the Progressive Era, by Evan P. Sullivan, reviewed by Lee K. Pennington, 773–74
Beyond the Great Silence: The Legacy of Shell Shock in Britain and Germany, 1918–1924, by Stefanie Linden, reviewed by Patti McCall-Junkin, 774–76
Facing the Victorious Turks: How the French Misread the Turkish War of Independence, by Andrew Orr, reviewed by Edward J. Erickson, 776–78
Blue Jerusalem: British Conservatism, Winston Churchill, and the Second World War, by Kit Kowol, reviewed by Dermot Rooney, 778–80
Turning the Tide: The USAAF in North Africa and Sicily, by Thomas McKelvey Cleaver, reviewed by Nicholas Sambaluk, 780–81
U.S. Army Divisions of the Pacific War, by Stephen R. Taaffe, reviewed by Zane A. Whitney Jr., 781–82
Midway: The Pacific War’s Most Famous Battle, by Mark E. Stille, reviewed by Anthony Tully, 782–83
True to My God and Country: How Jewish Americans Fought in World War II, by Françoise S. Ouzan, reviewed by Joseph S. Topek, 784–85
The Hill: The Brutal Fight for Hill 107 in the Battle of Crete, by Robert Kershaw, reviewed by Lance R. Blyth, 785–87
Betting Against America: The Axis Powers’ Views of the United States, by Harry Yeide, reviewed by Rob Citino, 787–88
Cassino ’44: The Brutal Battle for Rome, by James Holland, reviewed by Douglas Porch, 789–91
A Strange Whim of the Sea: The Wreck of the USS Macaw, by Tim Loughman, reviewed by Brian W. Refford, 791–93
Black Yanks: Defending Leroy Henry in D-Day Britain, by Kate Werran, reviewed by Barbara Crouch, 793–94
Ski, Climb, Fight: The 10th Mountain Division and the Rise of Mountain Warfare, by Lance R. Blyth, reviewed by Ethan S. Rafuse, 795–96
Contesting Indonesia: Islamist, Separatist, and Communal Violence Since 1945, by Kirsten E. Schulze, reviewed by Nicholas Sambaluk, 796–98
The Struggle for Taiwan: A History of America, China, and the Island Caught Between, by Sulmaan Wasif Khan, reviewed by Paxton Stover, 798–99
Revolutionary Warfare: How the Algerian War Made Modern Counterinsurgency, by Terrence G. Peterson, reviewed by Christopher Griffin, 800–1
Guerrillas and Combative Mothers: Women and the Armed Struggle in South Africa, by Siphokazi Magadla, reviewed by Selina Makana, 801–3
F*ck The Army! How Soldiers and Civilians Staged the GI Movement to End the Vietnam War, by Lindsay Goss, reviewed by Karl Rubis, 803–4
Towards Jihad? Muslims and Politics in Postcolonial Mozambique, by Eric Morier-Genoud, reviewed by José de Arimatéia da Cruz, 805–7
Israel’s New Wars: The Conflicts between Israel and Iran, Hezbollah and the Palestinians since the 1990s, by Ehud Eilam, reviewed by Rosanne M. Horswill, 807–8
BOOKS RECEIVED: 809–12
RECENT JOURNAL ARTICLES: 813–19
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: 820–21
