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Block By Block: The Challenges Of Urban Operations [Illustrated Edition]
Includes more than 20 maps, diagrams and tables.
History instructs that for a variety of reasons, cities have always been targets for attack by adversaries. From the earliest of times, attackers came bearing weapons ranging from knives, arrows, and spears, while in modern times, they have brought weaponry the Industrial Revolution made available: cannon, rocket artillery, and ultimately bombs and rockets delivered from aerial platforms and even thermonuclear warheads, not to mention the potential for chemical and biological payloads. In turn, cities have responded to most of these threats. Early on, for example, they thickened city walls and erected other barriers to entry. But attackers seeking to subdue the cities simply countered with new and better weapons. So the game of measures and countermeasures—the adult, and much more deadly, version of the familiar children’s game of rock, scissors, paper—has continued apace for centuries.
The expert authors of this excellent study focus on the following Urban Operations
1) Through the ages – Pre Second World War Urban Combat
2) Bloody Stalingrad
3) The demolition of Aachen
4) Battle of Manila
5) The Siege of Hue
6) Battle for Grozny
7) Fight for Beirut
8) Siege of Sarajevo
9) The capture of Kabul
10) Lightning strike at Panama City
11) Urban Terrorism in Argentina
12) The US Military in the Hurricane Katarina rescue effort
13) The Future of Urban Combat
History instructs that for a variety of reasons, cities have always been targets for attack by adversaries. From the earliest of times, attackers came bearing weapons ranging from knives, arrows, and spears, while in modern times, they have brought weaponry the Industrial Revolution made available: cannon, rocket artillery, and ultimately bombs and rockets delivered from aerial platforms and even thermonuclear warheads, not to mention the potential for chemical and biological payloads. In turn, cities have responded to most of these threats. Early on, for example, they thickened city walls and erected other barriers to entry. But attackers seeking to subdue the cities simply countered with new and better weapons. So the game of measures and countermeasures—the adult, and much more deadly, version of the familiar children’s game of rock, scissors, paper—has continued apace for centuries.
The expert authors of this excellent study focus on the following Urban Operations
1) Through the ages – Pre Second World War Urban Combat
2) Bloody Stalingrad
3) The demolition of Aachen
4) Battle of Manila
5) The Siege of Hue
6) Battle for Grozny
7) Fight for Beirut
8) Siege of Sarajevo
9) The capture of Kabul
10) Lightning strike at Panama City
11) Urban Terrorism in Argentina
12) The US Military in the Hurricane Katarina rescue effort
13) The Future of Urban Combat
529 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 1, 2003
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 21, 2021
A solid collection of case studies of urban operations. Covers a wide range of urban operations: traditional battles like Stalingrad and Aachen, asymmetric battles like Grozny and the Montoneros, coups like Panama City and Kabul, and non-military operations like disaster relief for Hurricane Andrew.
This book covers many of the complexities and considerations that go into fighting within and around a city. If you are looking for details at the company level and below for urban operations, this is NOT the book for you. However, if you want the bigger picture, this book is a great collection of case studies.
This book covers many of the complexities and considerations that go into fighting within and around a city. If you are looking for details at the company level and below for urban operations, this is NOT the book for you. However, if you want the bigger picture, this book is a great collection of case studies.
September 23, 2023
Excellent study and argument. This work is both packed with information and interesting to read.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews