Arrogant Armies

Arrogant Armies PDF Author: James Moorhead Perry
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 328

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Arrogant Armies

Arrogant Armies PDF Author: James Moorhead Perry
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 328

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Book Description


ADA.

ADA. PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Antiaircraft artillery
Languages : en
Pages : 60

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The Court-Martial of Captain John Armstrong

The Court-Martial of Captain John Armstrong PDF Author: Ellen Denning Smith
Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
ISBN: 1669824004
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 506

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Book Description
John Armstrong was destined to be a humble farmer on the Pennsylvania frontier until the American Revolution changed his life. Rising from private soldier to an officer in the Continental Army, he later served in the First American Regiment, foreruner of the U.S. Army, that was tasked to facilitate the settlement of the Northwest Territory. He endured the fledgling army’s growing pains, was selected for a covert operation in Spanish territory to explore the Missouri River, and fought Native Americans in two disastrous military campaigns. The army subsequently evolved into a successful fighting force despite its second-in-command’s quest to destroy the career of its commander, Maj. Gen. Anthony Wayne. Armstrong became an unwitting pawn in a treacherous game crafted by Brig. Gen. James Wilkinson, of whom Theodore Roosevelt once wrote, “He had no conscience and no scruples . . . In all our history there is no more despicable character.” Rebuilding his life in Ohio and Indiana, Armstrong became a noted government official, militia officer, land speculator, and pioneer.

Infantry

Infantry PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Infantry
Languages : en
Pages : 504

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Arrogant Armies

Arrogant Armies PDF Author: James M. Perry
Publisher: Turner Publishing Company
ISBN: 0470347058
Category : Travel
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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"Nothing goes wrong quite so dramatically as a disastrous military expedition."--from the Introduction ARROGANT ARMIES Spanning more than two hundred years of martial adventurism, aggression, and outright blundering, Arrogant Armies chronicles the profoundly misguided and utterly calamitous military expeditions of the great empire builders and overconfident expeditionary forces. From colonial America to South Africa, from Mesopotamia to Khartoum, an extraordinary number of presumably superior armies grievously underestimated native forces. Using contemporary newspaper accounts, military memoirs, diaries of soldiers who fought in the battles, and other firsthand letters and papers, noted journalist James Perry brings a sense of urgency and immediacy to these historic defeats. At times devastating, at times hilarious, his vast panorama of human folly is peopled by frightened soldiers, zealous native resistance, and, of course, a colorful gallery of arrogant, often inept officers. Many of them received their ultimate comeuppance in these battles: Generals Edward Braddock, Charles MacCarthy, William R. Shafter, Charles Vere Ferrers Townshend, Charles "Chinese" Gordon, William George Keith Elphinstone, Manuel Fernandez Silvestre, and others. What is most remarkable about Arrogant Armies is the cumulative power of these ironic encounters. Black humor, brutality, staggering incompetence, and genuine drama come together with devastating force. In Arrogant Armies Perry casts a sharply critical eye on what he describes as the "small wars, what Kipling called the 'savage wars of peace.'" It is fascinating history and a compelling commentary on politics and "the dark side of the human race . . . its deadly preoccupation with war." "As one of our nation's top political reporters, Jim Perry has covered his share of political disasters. Now he has turned his skills to this sad but brilliant chronicle of military disasters. In the process, he has produced a classic."--Sander Vanocur The History Channel "Jim Perry has long been one of America's great political reporters. This has been perfect training to write this marvelous book, Arrogant Armies. Having covered more than a few contemporary political disasters, Perry is able to brilliantly, often hilariously, capture the worst military blunders of the past several hundred years. These fiascoes span the globe from the Middle East to Southeast Asia to Haiti, and chronologically from the eighteenth to the twentieth century. There are common characteristics: commanders afflicted with drunkenness, debauchery, arrogance, and often just plain stupidity. With vitality, a sense of irony and history, Jim Perry gives you a battle-side seat at these debacles."--Albert R. Hunt Executive Washington Editor Wall Street Journal "Jim Perry has done, in Arrogant Armies, what he has always done. He has told us stories we haven't heard before. He has explored an unmined vein of history with enthusiasm, skill, and style. History buffs will delight in Arrogant Armies. I'm not so sure, however, about the generals."=Roger Mudd The History Channel

Historical Records of the Five Dynasties

Historical Records of the Five Dynasties PDF Author: Xiu Ouyang
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231502281
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 753

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Book Description
Only fragments of historical text from China's middle period have been translated into English, until now. Here at last is the first major Chinese historical work from the Song dynasty. Written by Ouyang Xiu, an intellectual giant of the eleventh century, this is a history of the preceding century (907–979), a period known as the Five Dynasties. The historical and literary significance of Ouyang's achievement cannot be underestimated. In rewriting the existing official history of the Five Dynasties, Ouyang—whose own time was characterized by extraordinary intellectual and political innovation—made several notable decisions. He rewrote the history in the "ancient" style preferred by forward-thinking literati; he even rewrote the original documents quoted within biographies. He also relied on his own moral categories, reevaluating the worth of the historical figures in light of his own convictions that individuals should take personal responsibility for the fate of society. Ouyang's history would eventually become the official version—the last state-sanctioned dynastic history of imperial China to be written by an individual in a private capacity. In addition to its provocative insights and lucid presentation, Historical Records of the Five Dynasties is an eloquent statement on the art of historical writing in the eleventh century. A preeminent scholar of Chinese history, Richard L. Davis has provided a thorough introduction and rendered nearly two-thirds of the Chinese original into English, including complete sections critical to understanding the politics and personalities of the time. Biographical clusters based on Ouyang's moral categories also appear in full, helping readers to appreciate the Confucian agenda that informs the work.

Songs Sacred and Profane - New and Selected Poems: Greenside up and Let It All Hang Out

Songs Sacred and Profane - New and Selected Poems: Greenside up and Let It All Hang Out PDF Author: Laurence W. Thomas
Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
ISBN: 1469109565
Category : Poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 194

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Book Description
Songs Sacred and Profane is a selection from Thomas' four other books and eight chapbooks plus many poems that have not appeared in book form. This volume contains, in fact, two quite different books published as one. "Greenside Up", written almost entirely looking into his garden, is made up of bucolic works which observe nature and a quiet life. They are well mannered, introspective, and show the poet's sensitivity to language and his world. "Let It All Hang Out" lets loose with poems that show Thomas' acerbic wit at times, his wry approach to human foibles, and his personal take on religion coupled with various aspects of love, mutability, and mortality.

Confessions of an English Opium-eater, and Kindred Papers

Confessions of an English Opium-eater, and Kindred Papers PDF Author: Thomas De Quincey
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Opium abuse
Languages : en
Pages : 640

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Writings

Writings PDF Author: De Quincey
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 298

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The British Colonial Experience In Waziristan And Its Applicability To Current Operations

The British Colonial Experience In Waziristan And Its Applicability To Current Operations PDF Author: Matthew Williams
Publisher: Pickle Partners Publishing
ISBN: 1782899936
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 90

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Book Description
Following the fall of the Taliban government in Afghanistan in late 2001, members of the former regime and Al-Qaeda found refuge in Waziristan. Waziristan is a tribal area in Pakistan located along the border with Afghanistan whose majority ethnic Pashtun population has menaced every occupying power since Alexander the Great. The formidable terrain coupled with the fierce independent character of the Pashtun tribes has made Waziristan a difficult area for outsiders to subdue. Taliban and Al-Qaeda elements use this tribal area as a sanctuary and staging area for attacks against international and government forces in Afghanistan. Waziristan is especially important to the U.S. due to the belief that sympathetic tribesmen may be sheltering Osama bin Ladin and his key lieutenants. Due to the fact that Waziristan is part of a sovereign country that has forbidden the permanent presence of U.S. troops, the U.S. cannot directly influence this area with overt, uniformed military forces. Despite this challenge, the U.S. is not the first country to try to influence events in Waziristan. When developing the best course of action to accomplish its goals in Waziristan, the U.S. can look to the British colonial experience to help guide its actions. The British dealt extensively with Waziristan from 1849-1947. Despite the passage of time, the most important factors (i.e., political, military, geographical, and ethnographical, etc.) that influenced the British colonial experience have not changed significantly and are still relevant today.