Military Geography: For Professionals and the Public

by John M. Collins and John M. Collins

Book Overview

This book covers many topics that are crucial to military planning but often receive only passing mention in histories or briefings. Collins, a former Army officer, stresses land geography, but he does not stint oceans, the atmosphere, or interplanetary space. His discussions of urban areas are too brief, given the increasing amount of large-scale violence in cities since the end of World War II.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1574881809
• ISBN13: 9781574881806
• Release Date: August 1998
• Publisher: Potomac Books
• Length: 462 Pages
• Weight: 2.42 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 8.4" x 11.0"

Customer Reviews

Goes Way Beyond Hold the High Ground

Any amateur reader of military science and history knows a few maxims of military geography -- hold the high ground and let the enemy come to you for instance. But that is not the way that a professional military officer/geographer knows about the military aspects of geography. This book is an extremely interesting mix of general discussion about military geography combined with detailed discussions of the situation at specific places where the US military has had to go. Of particular interest to me was the chapter on the beaches in Normandy. Among all the descriptions of the physical geography is a description of the obstacles (which modify geography) such as beach fortifications. In talking about these his comment is: 'The aggregate could best be described as awesome.' This leads on to the construction of airfields in Normandy in the days after D-Day, seven airfields were operational by D+20. I suspect that the military has books and courses on geography for their own use, but for the amateur interested in the details about military geography I can't recommend this book to highly.

Packed Full of Information

The title is as basic as you can get yet has a deep insight into the geography of military operations and deployment. Its the nuts and bolts of how the military deploys its resources and moves them. If you are tired of military maps that show arrows of armies moving across a barren map, this book gives depth to how the military moves. Most interesting was space operations and the term "Gravity Wells" and Strategic Space Locations. This book should interest anyone seeking information about military planning and operations and infrastructure.

Awesome in Its Simplicity

This is a tremendous book for anybody wanting in-depth information on geography and warfare but who does not have the technical background of a geographer or military analyst. It is full of excellent, high-quality photographs, and three-dimensional drawings that supplement the text in an excellent fashion. Maps are drawn, not reproduced from older texts, and the clarity and detail is beyond reproach. Chapters are organized by subject matter and the book even contains simplified explanations of satellite reconaisance and outer space applications. This is an excellent book.

***Terrain and the 9 Grounds***

Sun Tzu the greatest military strategist to ever live dedicated two complete scrolls to the use of geography in warfare. The two scrolls were (translated) "Terrain" and the second was "Nine Grounds". Today the out come of all major conflicts are determined with a list of various factors one of those being geography. Knowing the "lay of the land" is a major asset to a tactician, knowing the "land" enables a planner to estimate probably courses of actions the enemy may take and how he may counter this move while using all available assets to his advantage, like the local geography. This includes every element from the weather, season, night, day, terrain, and that is to name but a few. The book covers topics from sea states to atmosphere as well as outer space and moon conditions. The book uses historical events to promote the topic by illustrating the events outcome due to some overlooked or advantages geographical condition. This book is not just for some planning officer at corps level but is an awesome primer for squad leaders and specialty troops like scouts, snipers and Special Forces operators. The book is also quite a good read for the armchair historian. The content of the book is put together excellent, the text, illustrations, and pictures are crisp and clear. The book is also oversized which makes it easier to read and handle. As a final not if you own this book, or like this topic I also recommend; "Battling The Elements" by Harold A. Winters.

Excellent introduction to a specialized topic.

If you are a serious reader of military history, a serving military professional, or a specialist in international security and defense issues, this book is worth your time. As an introductory text, it covers many topics that are crucial to military planning but often receive only brief mention in histories or briefings. Collins, a former Army officer, stresses land geography, but does not stint oceans, the atmosphere or interplanetary space. His discussions of urban areas are too brief, given the increasing amount of large-scale violence in cities since the end of World War II. More maps would also be an improvement. Nonetheless, highly recommended.