Battling the Elements

by Winters, Harold A.; Galloway, Gerald E., Jr.; Reynolds, William J.; Rhyne, David W.

• ISBN13: 9780801866487
• ISBN10: 0801866480
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-03-09
• Publisher: Johns Hopkins Univ Pr

Summary

Throughout history, from Kublai Khan's attempted invasions of Japan to Rommel's desert warfare, military operations have succeeded or failed on the ability of commanders to incorporate environmental conditions into their tactics. In Battling the Elements, geographer Harold A. Winters and former U.S. Army officers Gerald E. Galloway Jr., William J. Reynolds, and David W. Rhyne, examine the connections between major battles in world history and their geographic components, revealing what role factors such as weather, climate, terrain, soil, and vegetation have played in combat. Each chapter offers a detailed and engaging explanation of a specific environmental factor and then looks at several battles that highlight its effects on military operations. As this cogent analysis of geography and war makes clear, those who know more about the shape, nature, and variability of battleground conditions will always have a better understanding of the nature of combat and at least one significant advantage over a less knowledgeable enemy.

Author Biography

Harold A. Winters is a professor emeritus of geography at Michigan State University. Gerald E. Galloway Jr., who retired as a brigadier general after serving thirty-nine years in the U.S. army, is secretary for the U.S. Section of the International Joint Committee. William J. Reynolds, a retired colonel and Vietnam veteran, is northwest regional manager for Science Applications International Corporation. David W. Rhyne, a retired lieutenant colonel, teaches at Stonewall Jackson Middle School in Hanover County, Virginia.

Table of Contents

Preface and Acknowledgments	vii
Introduction War and Geography	1	(4)
Storms, Fair Weather, and Chance
Kamikazes, Dunkirk, and Normandy	5	(28)
Too Much and Too Wet
The Civil War Mud March and Flanders' Fields	33	(12)
Clouds and Fog
The Bulge and Khe Sanh	45	(29)
Invading Another Climate as Seasons Change
Napoleon and Hitler in Russia	74	(23)
Forests and Jungles
The Wilderness and the Ia Drang Valley	97	(15)
Terrains and Corridors
The American Civil War's Eastern Theater and World War I Verdun	112	(29)
Troubled Waters
River Crossings at Arnhem and Remagen	141	(21)
Glaciers Shape the Land
Alpine Fighting and the Road to Moscow	162	(29)
Peninsulas and Sea Coasts
Anzio and Inchon	191	(24)
Island Battles
Tarawa and Iwo Jima	215	(17)
Hot, Wet, and Sick
New Guinea and Dien Bien Phu	232	(16)
Heat, Rock, and Sand
The Western Desert and the Sinai	248	(18)
Conclusion	266	(7)
Notes	273	(22)
General Bibliography	295	(12)
Index	307