Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, Commandant's Reading List 2025
What can we learn from war, and warfare, in the twentieth century? What observations and deductions can we make, and what lessons can we draw? ‘War and Warfare in the Twentieth Century’ examines both a clearly delineated period in the past, and the century which offers us the most (and the most relevant) material to examine. Deliberately looking through the prism of strategy, operations and tactics, this book offers a surprisingly novel perspective on some apparently familiar ground. Jim Storr will make you think long and hard about what you thought you knew about war and warfare.
Jim Storr is a specialist – an expert - in military fact. He has a reputation for prescience and empiricism. In his world no truth should be left buried and as a result his insights can be hard-hitting and valuable. Here we have a book that contains a smorgasbord - a rolling barrage - of information and selected observations. Many of the themes Jim identified in Battlegroup and Something Rotten sit below the surface, but this time it is largely the reader who is invited to extract lessons of value. So, if you are after simple answers set out on a plate this book is not for you. Bottom line? War and Warfare in the 20th Century not only requires you to think, but it invites deeper study and debate.
General Sir James Everard KCB CBE, Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe 2017-2020
A timely and thought provoking book that should be read by all engaged in the current defence review, force generation or design. Jim Storr’s searching analysis of the organisation, equipment and use of armed forces in the past, shows simply in largely quantitative terms, what should be prioritised for development in method, organisation and technology. It is an excellent antidote to self serving institutional group think.
General Sir Rupert Smith KCB DSO OBE QGM, Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe 1998-2001
Penetrating analysis, full of insights and forcefully argued...unsparing in its criticisms, unequivocal in its conclusions. Lieutenant General Sir John Kiszely KCB MC DL, Director, Defence Academy of the United Kingdom 2005-2008
Another provocative and stimulating work from the iconoclastic stable of Jim Storr. A fresh and challenging approach to war and warfare. It merits imitation as practitioners of war strive to extract robust and useful lessons from our past. I for one will reread my collection of history with fresh lenses. His book is an invaluable jolt to those starting at staff colleges or working in the doctrine, concepts and equipment worlds.
Lieutenant General Robert Baxter CBE, Commandant Royal Military College of Science and Director General Development and Doctrine 2002-2006
War and Warfare in the 20th Century offers a comprehensive and captivating exploration of the major conflicts and military developments that shaped the last century. From the passage into the 20th Century, to the trenches of World War I, the complex geopolitics of the Cold War, and transition into irregular warfare, combined with the technological innovations that transformed how wars are fought, the book provides a highly informative and thought-provoking narrative. It is an authoritative work presenting an alluring overview of a tumultuous and globally impacted century. Its blend of rigorous scholarship, compelling narrative, and extensive analysis makes it a valuable addition to the field of military history. Whether a seasoned historian or a curious reader, Jim Storr provides a deep understanding of the wars that shaped our modern world.
Major General Rob Weighill OBE, Deputy Chief of Staff Plans, Joint Forces Command Naples, 2012-2015.
War and Warfare in the 20th Century is an essential read for all professional military members. It exposes and challenges conventional thinking about the forms of war and warfare in the last Century. It reminds and proves the validity and essential need for Army’s to practise combined arms battle regularly from a position of knowledge, understanding and learning; it reminds Navy's of their why and the core of their being and it challenges Airforces to think about where their effort must be in future warfare. For the ADF, this is a useful source of where we ought to be focusing our efforts in terms of education, training and development of those core military skills of command, planning and preparing our members for the fight in the future. It’s also a salutary reminder that collectively we need to do better. Training for the theatre fight is reliant on good operational art and sound tactics that combine the joint effects of all our domain players.
Captain Jim Hutton OBE, Royal Australian Navy and former Colonel, Royal Marines.
254 pages
Publication date: 17th January 2025
hardback: 9781912440566
paperback: 9781912440573
EPUB: 9781912440702
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War and Warfare in the Twentieth Century
Introduction
1. 1900-1914
2. The First World War: Strategy
3. The First World War: Campaigns and Operations
4. The First World War: Tactics
5. 1918-1939
6. The Second World War: Strategy
7. The Second World War: Campaigns and Operations
8. The Second World War: Tactics
9. 1945-1975
10. 1975-1999
11. Conventional Land Warfare
12. Irregular Warfare
13. Aerial Warfare
14. Warfare at Sea
15. War and Warfare in the Twentieth Century