The Book of Military Quotations

There comes a point where a mother can't guide her son through his adult life as a soldier. At that point, I bought The Book of Military Quotations and highlighted the ones that meant the most to me. The quotations are grouped according to topic, and many times there is a historical reference to help the reader. An excellent read for any and all.

Peter Tsouras is a well-known military historian, who also has the ability to write alternative history. The breadth of his knowledge is impressive -- he can write authoritatively on topics ranging from ancient to modern. As such, he appreciates the wisdom, and folly, of the great and not so great individuals who have spoken and written pithy lines over the centuries. This book reflects his love of military history. It ranges widely, with more than 3,500 quotations from 800-plus individuals on more than 400 topics. It also has two helpful features -- a useful index, and Tsouras tells the reader the source of the quote. I can not stress enough how helpful the latter aid is. When I write military history, I need to know where someone wrote or spoke something. So many quote books do not include this information, Tsouras and his publisher are to be commended for providing such. Tsouras also must be commended for the topics he selects. There are those topics one would expect -- Battle, Command, Courage, Fear, Mutiny, Strategy, Victory, etc. However, with over 400 topics, the reader finds some nice, clever surprises, e.g., The Bayonet, Camp Followers, Chaplains, Contractors, Destiny, Divine Favor, Looting, Military Music, Old Soldiers, Quagmire, Sang Froid, Sic Transit Gloria Mundi, War on Terrorism, Whitehall, and Wives. I also applaud Tsouras for breaking down topics into more useful subtopics, e.g., Battle is broken down into four groups, i.e., The Cost of Battle, The Dynamics of Battle, The Human Factor, and The Purpose of Battle. Another example is Discipline, which is broken into The Effects of Discipline, Instilling Discipline, The Lack of Discipline, and The Nature of Discipline. Army, The Enemy, History, Initiative, Training (seven subtopics), Victory (eight subtopics), and War (eleven subtopics!) are some of the other categories that have convenient divisions. If you love military history, and/or great quotations, this book is a fun read. If you write or speak on military matters, or history in general, this book is a necessary resource to always have handy.