By definition, the unforeseeable cannot be seen, but one way to bring more variables under consideration when planning a military action is to review those instances where the unforeseeable changed everything. For professionals and enthusiasts alike, Imponderable But Not Inevitable: Warfare in the 20th Century does just that, reviewing specific instances in 20th-century warfare when things did not go according to plan.Imponderable but Not Inevitable uses case studies to expose the "Inevitability Syndrome," exploring the role of luck, fate, and randomness in influencing both victory and defeat. In essays drawn from World War II, Konfrontasi, the Vietnam War, and the Gulf War, a distinguished set of military experts looks at real scenarios of inexplicable losses, illustrating why nothing—nothing—should be taken for granted in war.
Author(s): Malcolm H. Murfett
Year: 2009
Language: English
Pages: 203
Contents......Page 8
Preface......Page 10
Acknowledgments......Page 14
Abbreviations......Page 18
Casting Doubt on the Inevitability Syndrome......Page 22
The Unknown and the Unknowable: The Loss of HMAS Sydney......Page 44
The Madness of General George......Page 62
What Do They Want, and How Can We Respond? Commonwealth Intelligence and Confrontation with Indonesia, 1963......Page 94
Air Power Finds Its Ascendancy, at Last......Page 128
Three of a Kind? Fisher, Rickover, and Gorshkov and the Management of Naval Change......Page 142
Measuring Defeat: Imponderables of the American Experience in Vietnam......Page 162
What’s Luck Got to Do with It? Random Elements That Affected the Naval Campaigns of 1939--1945......Page 176
Selected Bibliography......Page 196
Index......Page 208
