The West Point Atlas of American Wars: Volume I, 1689-1900

If you are looking for a coffee table book about war, stop here. There is no need for you to continue. This one is as good as they come. However, this is not a book on West Point. (for that, I recommend "West Point", by Norman Thomas Remick). The title is somewhat confusing in that respect. But, don't let that stop you from looking at this great job done by the Dept. of Military Art and Engineering.

This Atlas is indispensable for the study of American militiary history. Written as a two volume text for the cadets of the Us Military Academy at West Point in the late 1950s, it has never gone out of date, and was prepared by some of the best scholars in uniform at the time, including Col John Elting.Having used the Atlas at the Academy as a cadet, I can vouch for both its accuracy, the quality of the maps, and its relevance in the study of American military operations. The maps are superb, and the text clear and concise. Simple, straightforward, and to the point, it maps out in much clarity the early days of American military operations while still a colony, the Revolution, War of 1812, the Mexican War, Civil War, and the Spanish American War. I have used these volumes for over thirty years and the reference is invaluable and a great help in understanding the sweep of the campaigns of the Civil War, as well as the intricacies of the operations of the Mexican and Revolutionary Wars. This Atlas definitely belongs in the collection of every student of this fascinating subject.

Look I'm not actually reviewing this book - but I do have some comments about the reviews:If the date is 1900-1918 in the title, how does this cover Bismarck's Germany, which would be before 1900? Similarly how serious is the league of nations coverage (which I would guess would be 1918-1939 approximately)One of the reviews mentions WWII - but again, how does this fit in the 1900-1918 range?

The most comprehensive and simple to understand set of military maps I have ever seen. I bought this book to serve as an aid while reading other works of military history, but I find myself reading it by itself. In addition to the superb and user-friendly maps, this book contains excellent narratives, which are short and concise. If you've shied away from military history because the troop manuevers were hard to understand or picture, this book will clear up any confusion. The best I've found. This volume is exclusively dedicated to WWI, and provides insights to the battles and blunders of that war. While it discusses the trench warfare, the recognizes that there was more to WWI than that. All battles with US units are detailed and explained. This book and its companion, Volume I, make up for the lack of good battle maps in too many history books.

This is a reprint, along with its companion volume I (covering primarily the American Civil War) of works that went out-of-print in the early 1980's. It is not as big in size (i.e., as an atlas), but has all the great qualities of the original. Nothing is more annoying and infuriating then trying to read military history without being provided with maps and atlases--its useless to try! The title says "American wars" but this atlas contains almost every campaign of WWI & WWII whether the US participated or not (i.e., really an atlas of WWI & WWII in general). The maps are clear, concise, uncluttered and easy to read (can you believe it?!) and accompanied on the opposite page with simple, descriptive prose to describe the action, getting into the fundamental issues of each campaign/battle (i.e., command and logistical problems, weather, moral, etc.) and mostly fair in assessing a leader's performance. A joy to study, this (and volume 1) are a must for any serious military historian.