Why am I passionate about this?

I have a passion for this theme because I served as an armor officer in the U.S. Army for more than twenty years. I saw the effect of both thinking and non-thinking commanders first-hand in places like the inter-German border during the Cold War, Iraq in combat during the first Gulf War, and Bosnia in ‘operations other than war.’ My experience drove me to continue my military studies resulting in four degrees, including my PhD and my current occupation as a professor of military history. My search for understanding war and military decision-making reflects a desire to better instruct the future leaders among my college students and readers.


I wrote

Patton's Way: A Radical Theory of War

By James Kelly Morningstar,

Book cover of Patton's Way: A Radical Theory of War

What is my book about?

Patton’s Way is an analysis of how General George S. Patton, Jr. intellectually developed and physically applied his uniquely effective…

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of Decoding Clausewitz: A New Approach to on War

James Kelly Morningstar Why did I love this book?

This too often overlooked classic—written by my PhD advisor—not only explains why Clausewitz wrote his masterpiece but what he was trying to say. In doing so, Sumida breaks conventional understandings of both the great German military philosopher and the very subject of military history. Clausewitz and Sumida combine to eschew history limited to explaining outcomes by linearly tracing them back to their origins and instead advocate for narratives that reveal what the participants saw as their options in the moment and then contextualizes their choices and actions. It is this path that leads to knowledge gained through synthetic experience. Decoding Clausewitz is the single most influential work in my approach to military history.

By Jon Tetsuro Sumida,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Decoding Clausewitz as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

For nearly two centuries, On War, by Carl Phillip Gottfried von Clausewitz (1780-1831), has been the bible for statesmen and military professionals, strategists, theorists, and historians concerned about armed conflict. The source of the famous aphorism that "war is an extension of politics by other means," it has been widely read and debated. But, as Jon Sumida shows in this daring new look at Clausewitz's magnum opus, its full meaning has eluded most readers-until now.

Approaching Clausewitz's classic as if it were an encoded text, Sumida deciphers this cryptic masterwork and offers a more productive way of looking at the…


Book cover of The War Lords and the Gallipoli Disaster: How Globalized Trade Led Britain to Its Worst Defeat of the First World War

James Kelly Morningstar Why did I love this book?

With unmatched research and brilliant analytical thought, Nicholas Lambert upends long-accepted explanations of a military disasterthe Gallipoli Campaignthat not only rocked Britain in World War I but reverberates in international relations to this very day. His forensic examination of the British government’s symbiotic political, diplomatic, economic, and military decision-making should be required reading for all students of those disciplines. His approach dismantles accepted histories derived from the political assignment of blame and instead gives the reader an understanding of policy decisions tortured by a wide array of then-pertinent circumstances ranging from the price of a loaf of bread to the power of a Russian Tsar. We can hear the echoes of Lambert’s analysis in today’s cable news reports regarding globalization, disruption to wheat markets, and the political impact of inflation. A timeless work indeed. 

By Nicholas A. Lambert,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The War Lords and the Gallipoli Disaster as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

An eye-opening interpretation of the infamous Gallipoli campaign that sets it in the context of global trade.

In early 1915, the British government ordered the Royal Navy to force a passage of the Dardanelles Straits-the most heavily defended waterway in the world. After the Navy failed to breach Turkish defenses, British and allied ground forces stormed the Gallipoli peninsula but were unable to move off the beaches. Over the course of the year, the Allied landed hundreds of thousands of reinforcements but all to no avail. The Gallipoli campaign has gone down as one of the great disasters in the…


Book cover of Torpedo: Inventing the Military-Industrial Complex in the United States and Great Britain

James Kelly Morningstar Why did I love this book?

Katherine Epstein unravels the tale of a single weapon system—the pre-World War I self-propelled torpedo—to reveal a remarkably informative and entertaining history of the interconnectedness of world politics, economics, law, industry, and military power. National leaders in the early 20th Century had to reach into all these spaces to develop effective, cheap torpedoes that could potentially upset rival naval powers resting on traditional, expensive, and vulnerable big gun ships. American and British leaders succeeded only by reshaping obsolete procurement processes into partnerships between public fund managers and private sector research and development, leading to attendant legal clashes between intellectual property rights and national security concerns—and creating the basis for the Military-Industrial Complex. With brilliant research and analysis, Epstein illustrates how complicated and seemingly unrelated factors merge to dictate the flow of a revolution in military affairs that changed the world. In the process, she reminds historians like me to explore new and untapped sources in search of key pieces to our narrative puzzles. 

By Katherine C. Epstein,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Torpedo as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

When President Eisenhower referred to the "military-industrial complex" in his 1961 Farewell Address, he summed up in a phrase the merger of government and industry that dominated the Cold War United States. In this bold reappraisal, Katherine Epstein uncovers the origins of the military-industrial complex in the decades preceding World War I, as the United States and Great Britain struggled to perfect a crucial new weapon: the self-propelled torpedo.

Torpedoes epitomized the intersection of geopolitics, globalization, and industrialization at the turn of the twentieth century. They threatened to revolutionize naval warfare by upending the delicate balance among the world's naval…


Book cover of Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era

James Kelly Morningstar Why did I love this book?

This New York Times bestseller is deservedly well known, and like many others, I believe it stands as the best single-volume history of the Civil War. More than a military history, it is a social and cultural documentation of this vital moment in the evolution of the country. Moreover, I love the interdisciplinary tone of the book, one that combines the sensibilities of the Annales School and the precision advocated by Hans Delbrück. An entertaining 900-page military history, it almost subliminally educates the reader on the importance of industry, the impact of $50 bonds and inflation, the influence of international diplomacy, and other such topics that usually act as Kryptonite to my college student Supermen. More than a history, Battle Cry of Freedom is a seminar on how to write history on a large scale. 

By James M. McPherson,

Why should I read it?

5 authors picked Battle Cry of Freedom as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Now featuring a new Afterword by the author, this handy paperback edition of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Battle Cry of Freedom is without question the definitive one-volume history of the Civil War.
James McPherson's fast-paced narrative fully integrates the political, social, and military events that crowded the two decades from the outbreak of one war in Mexico to the ending of another at Appomattox. Packed with drama and analytical insight, the book vividly recounts the momentous episodes that preceded the Civil War including the Dred Scott decision, the Lincoln-Douglas debates, John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry. From there it moves into…


Book cover of The West Point Atlas of American Wars: Vol. 1, 1689-1900

James Kelly Morningstar Why did I love this book?

I probably have referred to this work more than any other in my personal library of several thousand books. This original hardback covers more than thirteen wars in hundreds of detailed maps. Later hardback and online editions have added all major conflicts from the Korean War to the recent war in Afghanistan. Patton once said that terrain is the skeleton upon which we flesh out our plans and operations. I believe no historian can understand battles and campaigns without first understanding the terrain. These maps make it possible to see the restraints and constraints imposed by terrain and give the possibility for the trained eye to retrospectively measure the coup de oeil in their subject’s eye. All military history begins with a map and the maps begin here. 

By Vincent J. Esposito (editor),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The West Point Atlas of American Wars as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Presents maps with corresponding narratives covering every campaign in American wars from 1689 to the Korean War


Explore my book 😀

Patton's Way: A Radical Theory of War

By James Kelly Morningstar,

Book cover of Patton's Way: A Radical Theory of War

What is my book about?

Patton’s Way is an analysis of how General George S. Patton, Jr. intellectually developed and physically applied his uniquely effective approach to modern warfare. In it I cut through popular historiographical misrepresentations of Patton to explain his fundamentally radical doctrine purposely crafted over several decades of careful thought and practice. In separate chapters I isolate four core principles in Patton’s doctrine: shock to undermine enemy morale; highly practiced combined arms mechanized columns; mission tactics and flexible command and control; and multi-layered and synthesized intelligence systems focused on enemy capabilities and weak spots.

In sum, Patton’s Way provides a distinctive explanation of how an enigmatic military mind rewrote the rules of modern war in ways previously not perceived. 

Book cover of Decoding Clausewitz: A New Approach to on War
Book cover of The War Lords and the Gallipoli Disaster: How Globalized Trade Led Britain to Its Worst Defeat of the First World War
Book cover of Torpedo: Inventing the Military-Industrial Complex in the United States and Great Britain

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By J. Shep,

Book cover of After Me

J. Shep Author Of The December Issue

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

Author

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What is my book about?

"an intense narrative of family and intangible inheritance. . .this novel unfolds like a fragrant, steeped tea." -Chanticleer Book Reviews, 5 Stars

"like a glorious sunrise, we are gifted the 'après,' the hope and goodness of 'after me.'" -Maria Giuseppa, author of R&R:  A Feast of Words

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After Me

By J. Shep,

What is this book about?

A man in France receives a package from America containing an autobiographical manuscript relating the events of a summer long ago.

When Ellande and Madeleine-Grace visit the family summer house on the Alabaster Coast of Normandy for the first time without their parents, they find themselves growing aware of the importance of their parents' choices in raising them. Under the care of their beloved Aunt Adèle, they explore their heritage and what their parents stood for while determining the value of customs and traditions of both family and France's stunning Pays de Caux. In the face of cruelty, carelessness, and…


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