Table of Contents

Preface; 1. Introduction: the background to military adaptation; 2. The historical framework of adaptation; 3. Complex adaptation: the Western front 1914–1918; 4. Flawed adaptation: German adaptation and the opening battles of World War II; 5. The battle for the British Isles: June 1940–May 1941; 6. Adaptation in the air war: RAF bomber command and Luftwaffe's air defenses (15 May 1940 to 7 May 1945); 7. The 1973 Yom Kippur War; 8. Conclusion: adaptation and the future.

Promotional Information

Addresses how military organizations confront the problem of adapting under the trying, terrifying conditions of war.

About the Author

Williamson Murray is Professor Emeritus of History at The Ohio State University. At present he is a defense consultant and commentator on historical and military subjects in Washington, D.C. He is co-editor of The Making of Peace (with Jim Lacey); The Past as Prologue (with Richard Hart Sinnreich); The Dynamics of Military Revolution, 1300–2050 (with MacGregor Knox); Military Innovation in the Interwar Period (with Allan R. Millett); and The Making of Strategy (with Alvin Bernstein and MacGregor Knox).

Reviews

' … [the author] has produced not only an excellent historical account of adaptation in twentieth-century warfare, but a forensic dissection of the common factors and approaches that can be applied to improve the chances of a military organization successfully adapting to future challenges. It is the best single-volume study of the subject yet written, and deserves a place on the bookshelf with Smith's The Utility of Force and Cohen and Gooch's Military Misfortunes: the Anatomy of Failure in War - and alongside Sun Tzu and Clausewitz.' Survival

'… an important work for those interested in the events it covers, as well as for anyone concerned with how armed forces tick.' A. A. Nofi, www.strategypage.com