Mud: A Military History

By C.E. Wood

Book Overview

Napoleon delayed his attack at Waterloo to allow the mud to dry. Had he attacked earlier, he might have defeated Wellington before Bl cher arrived. In November 1942, Russian mud stopped the Germans, who could not advance again until the temperature dropped low enough to freeze the mud. During the Vietnam War, "Project Popeye" was an American attempt to lengthen the monsoon and cause delays on the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Soldiers have always known just how significant mud can be in war. But historians have not fully recognized its importance, and few have discussed the phenomenon in more than a passing manner. Only three books--Military Geography (by John Collins), Battling the Elements (by Harold Winters et al.), and Battlegrounds) (edited by Michael Stephenson)-- have addressed it at any length and then only as part of the entire environment's effect on the battlefield. None of these books analyzed mud's influence on the individual combatant. Mud: A Military History first defines the substance's very different types. Then it examines their specific effects on mobility and on soldiers and their equipment over the centuries and throughout the world. From the Russian rasputiza to the Southeast Asian monsoon, C. E. Wood demonstrates mud's profound impact on the course of military history. Citing numerous veterans' memoirs, archival sources, personal interviews, and historical sources, soldier-scholar Wood pays particular attention to mud's effect on combatants' morale, health, and fatigue. His book is for all infantrymen--past, present, or the clean, dry, comfortable armchair variety.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1574889842
• ISBN13: 9781574889840
• Release Date: August 2006
• Publisher: Potomac Books
• Length: 206 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.3" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

The Quintessential Book on Mud and its Impact on Military Operations

This book is on the quite boring but very important subject of mud and its impact on the battlefield. In the half of the book, physical characteristics of mud are discussed. The book breaks out mud into 2 classifications, Type I and Type II. The definitions are quite simple. Type I is "bottomless" and Type II is "All others". These type are further broken down into 2 other classifications (Type Ia, Ib, IIa, IIb). These types are discussed in different environments (i.e., seasonal, etc.). In the remaining half of the book, the impacts of mud on the conduct operations are elaborated on in seperate chapters. For example, there are chapters on mud's impact on morale, health, fatigue and equipment. There is also a chapter on combat engineers and their own capabilities on the "war" on mud. The book presents its subject from a variety of national perspectives but primarily American, British and German and in a number of theaters but predominately Europe and the Far East (with emphasis on Vietnam and Southeast Asia). The time frame covered is nearly entirely this century. The book does a very good job at describing mud and its impact on military operations. If the reader has only about 2 hours to get himself up to speed on the subject (book is about 135 shor pages) this book more than does its job. On the negative side the book is quite dry and boring but then again how can any book on such a topic be anything else?

Detailed refrence

If you are looking for an unwritten aspect of conflict, this is it. From categories of mud to their effects on everyday field life this book has first hand descriptions. It is an interesting read, I couldn't put the book down, but likely for the research crowd.

Easy Read

It only took 2 days to read this one. Nevertheless, however, I think this book will help to save many lives in the future wars, because it is the ultimate reminder of the chaos of past wars.