Book
Review:
Greenhill Dictionary of Military Quotations
Edited
by Peter G. Tsouras
'My
ambition was to write a book that would not be forgotten in two
or three years, and which anyone interested in the subject would
certainly take up more than once.'
- (Major-General Carl von Clausewitz, On War, 1832).
This
might perhaps be the reason that Peter Tsouras produced this dictionary,
in that it is a book that you may dip into for a particular subject,
but results in compulsive detailed reading to discover a vast
range of words of wisdom/common sense from military characters
throughout the ages.
Greenhill
markets this volume as the Gift Book of the Year, which I am inclined
to agree with, if you like general military history consisting
of short sound bites from great generals and historians.
The
Greenhill Dictionary of Military Quotations uses the words
of over 800 soldiers, commanders, military theorists and commentators
on war to describe all aspects of the subject, including Ability,
The Bayonet, Courage, Leadership, Panic, Spit and Polish, Volunteers
and Women in War - to name but a few.
The
quote at the start of this review came from the section on Writing
Military History, and is but one of 485 categories.
The
quotes come from all the major characters of military history,
including Napoleon, Wellington and Clausewitz, and with each quote,
Peter Tsouras has attached the reference from which it came for
the purpose of this book.
The
select bibliography allows the reader to pursue the quotation
further, and an Index of Well-Known Quotations follows this.
A
Biographical Index allows further cross-referencing to make this
a practical reference work to assist the reader in choosing quotations
for his own work or to read around a particular subject.
I
found that while searching for a specific subject I invariably
became sidetracked into reading about other topics; it is that
sort of work.
It is very much a gift book for the military historian who likes
to read around his main area of interest.
Certainly,
anyone writing military history will find a good selection of
quotes to include with their own prose.
Recommended.
'Everything
on earth is soon forgotten, except the opinion we leave imprinted
upon history.' (Napoleon, 27 November 1802, to General Leclerc).
-
Paul Chamberlain
8.5/10
