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Never Wars: The US War Plans to Invade the World
** This electronic edition includes 27 black-and-white photographs and illustrations **
Every major government s military makes plans for waging wars, hoping that they never have to be employed. In the early part of the last century the US government prepared a number of war contingency plans for invading a number of nations both hostile and friendly. These color-coded plans were designed for various political and military events, some of which actually unfolded in the Second World War. Never Wars explores and provides details on a number of these key military invasion plans, their triggers, units involved, etc. Some of these plans, if executed, would have altered the globe or changed the events of the twentieth century and beyond. Included with this was the 1914 war plan against a triumphant Germany, a 1935 plan to attack Great Britain, the 1920s US plans to land forces in Mexico to topple their government, a plan for invading China and even a 1905 strike into the heart of Canada. From a plan to invade the Azores to an incursion into Cuba, Never Wars presents never before published plans for the US to strike out at the world.
** This electronic edition includes 27 black-and-white photographs and illustrations **
Every major government s military makes plans for waging wars, hoping that they never have to be employed. In the early part of the last century the US government prepared a number of war contingency plans for invading a number of nations both hostile and friendly. These color-coded plans were designed for various political and military events, some of which actually unfolded in the Second World War. Never Wars explores and provides details on a number of these key military invasion plans, their triggers, units involved, etc. Some of these plans, if executed, would have altered the globe or changed the events of the twentieth century and beyond. Included with this was the 1914 war plan against a triumphant Germany, a 1935 plan to attack Great Britain, the 1920s US plans to land forces in Mexico to topple their government, a plan for invading China and even a 1905 strike into the heart of Canada. From a plan to invade the Azores to an incursion into Cuba, Never Wars presents never before published plans for the US to strike out at the world.
** This electronic edition includes 27 black-and-white photographs and illustrations **
305 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 19, 2014
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26 people want to read
About the author
Blaine Lee Pardoe
95 books117 followersBlaine Pardoe is a New York Times Bestselling and award winning author of numerous books in the science fiction, military non-fiction, true crime, paranormal, and business management genre's. He has appeared on a number of national television and radio shows to speak about his books. Pardoe has been a featured speaker at the US National Archives, the United States Navy Museum, and the New York Military Affairs Symposium. He was awarded the State History Award in 2011 by the Historical Society of Michigan and is a silver medal winner from the Military Writers Society of America in 2010. In 2013 he was awarded the Harritt Quimby Award as part of the induction ceremony at the Michigan Aviation Hall of Fame. Mr. Pardoe is also a member of the League of WWI Aviation Historians.
His books have even been mentioned on the floor of the U.S. Congress. His works have been printed in six languages and he is recognized world-wide for his historical and fiction works. He can be followed via Twitter (bpardoe870)
His books have even been mentioned on the floor of the U.S. Congress. His works have been printed in six languages and he is recognized world-wide for his historical and fiction works. He can be followed via Twitter (bpardoe870)
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 7, 2016
During the 20th Century the US Military made contingency plans for war with a variety of countries all over the world, including Canada, Mexico, Great Britain, Australia, Japan, Germany, China and others. Makes for a fascinating look at "alternative-contingency history". Makes you wonder at the plans that are being made today...
July 27, 2017
After the Spanish-American war, senior people in the US military establishment realized they'd do better with some planning. The organizational result was the creation of general staff in the army and navy, as well as the Joint Board to coordinate them. The other result, and the one this book is particularly about, is the color-coded set of war plans. Most of them seem rather fantastical to us today -- War Plan Crimson was the invasion of Canada, War Plan Black involved repelling a sudden German invasion, War Plan Green involved basically refighting the Mexican War.
Others seem rather plausible -- War Plan Tan described imposing a military government of Cuba; War Plan Grey involved an occupation of the Azores in 1940. It isn't discussed in this book, but War Plan Orange, for war with Japan, was the basic outline that the US did in fact follow during WW2.
As the authors takes pains to note, the plans vary considerably in detail and level of thought. The Canada plan feels rather slapdash; War Plan Orange (not pictured in this book) was gamed extensively by the War College and had a major influence on troop dispositions and naval designs.
The book is interesting but flawed. It's organized mostly as one-chapter-per-plan, first explaining the context, then the plan, then the author's analysis. The author makes heavy use of quotations from the primary sources; I would almost rather just have the raw text. As the author points out, many plans were destroyed when they became politically awkward during WW2; in some cases, only fragmentary copies survived, or memoranda *about* the plans. So publishing the source texts would have been valuable. (Perhaps as an appendix?)
Annoyingly, there are few maps, they aren't very clear, and in the e-book they are all stuffed together at the end. This made the plans hard to understand.
I learned a lot about what and how the early-20th-century military thought. In the oughts and teens, the military still assumed that there would be a flood of volunteers after the start of the war, to be rapidly organized and sent forward, along the model of the Civil War. Civil affairs and occupation government were an afterthought.
The plans have a sometimes-comic style. The US and foreign countries are only referred by by color name. But city names are un-masked, so the plans talk about invading the western province of CRIMSON to seize the cities of Victoria and Vancouver. At that point, what exactly is the code name concealing?
Others seem rather plausible -- War Plan Tan described imposing a military government of Cuba; War Plan Grey involved an occupation of the Azores in 1940. It isn't discussed in this book, but War Plan Orange, for war with Japan, was the basic outline that the US did in fact follow during WW2.
As the authors takes pains to note, the plans vary considerably in detail and level of thought. The Canada plan feels rather slapdash; War Plan Orange (not pictured in this book) was gamed extensively by the War College and had a major influence on troop dispositions and naval designs.
The book is interesting but flawed. It's organized mostly as one-chapter-per-plan, first explaining the context, then the plan, then the author's analysis. The author makes heavy use of quotations from the primary sources; I would almost rather just have the raw text. As the author points out, many plans were destroyed when they became politically awkward during WW2; in some cases, only fragmentary copies survived, or memoranda *about* the plans. So publishing the source texts would have been valuable. (Perhaps as an appendix?)
Annoyingly, there are few maps, they aren't very clear, and in the e-book they are all stuffed together at the end. This made the plans hard to understand.
I learned a lot about what and how the early-20th-century military thought. In the oughts and teens, the military still assumed that there would be a flood of volunteers after the start of the war, to be rapidly organized and sent forward, along the model of the Civil War. Civil affairs and occupation government were an afterthought.
The plans have a sometimes-comic style. The US and foreign countries are only referred by by color name. But city names are un-masked, so the plans talk about invading the western province of CRIMSON to seize the cities of Victoria and Vancouver. At that point, what exactly is the code name concealing?
December 16, 2018
Clean, easy reading and rather enjoyable. I do wish that that he was able to go in detail about all of the different war plans, but some of them were never completed and others only parts of them still exists. There are eight chapters, besides the introduction and epilogue. One chapter covers the how and why the US Joint Army and Navy Board came into exists in 1903 and the reasons why this Joint Board started to come up with the various color coded plans. The next seven chapters cover one of the various color coded plans going over the reasons for the plan to be drawn up, the various options in the plan, how the plan was to be conducted, and weaknesses in the plan. The seven plans covered are the following in order in the book:
The 1905 Plan for war against Britain and Canada (War Plan Red & Crimson)
The 1928-29 Plan for war against Mexico (War Plan Green)
The 1932 Plan of intervention in Cuba (War Plan Tan)
The 1940-43 Plan for invasion of the Azores (War Plan Gray)
The 1929 Plan for invasion or rescue of western citizens in China (War Plan Yellow)
The 1914 Plan for war against German (War Plan Black)
The 1935 Plan for war against Britain and Canada (War Plan Red & Crimson)
The 1905 Plan for war against Britain and Canada (War Plan Red & Crimson)
The 1928-29 Plan for war against Mexico (War Plan Green)
The 1932 Plan of intervention in Cuba (War Plan Tan)
The 1940-43 Plan for invasion of the Azores (War Plan Gray)
The 1929 Plan for invasion or rescue of western citizens in China (War Plan Yellow)
The 1914 Plan for war against German (War Plan Black)
The 1935 Plan for war against Britain and Canada (War Plan Red & Crimson)
January 14, 2018
This book is an interesting read due to its subject matter. It is interesting to see the U.S. develop war plans that may never be utilized.
The issue that I have with this book is the numerous grammatical and spelling errors found on nearly every page. It seems like this book was rushed to the printing press with minimal to no editing of the material being done. It is frustrating to read material and come across these errors that made it to publication.
The issue that I have with this book is the numerous grammatical and spelling errors found on nearly every page. It seems like this book was rushed to the printing press with minimal to no editing of the material being done. It is frustrating to read material and come across these errors that made it to publication.
March 6, 2015
Originally posted at: http://alternatehistoryweeklyupdate.b...
For better or worse, battles and wars play a big part in alternate history. Unsurprisingly, generals play the what if game all the time, although they usually look to prepare for future conflicts instead of the alternate ones we create. Blaine L. Pardoe, a self-confessed alternate history fan, nevertheless saw some potential of these old war plans when he wrote his counterfactual novel: Never Wars: The US Plans to Invade the World.
Never Wars covers the United States color-coded war plans that were created by Joint Army and Navy Board (the predecessor of the Joint Chiefs of Staff) in the early 20th century. These plans covered various scenarios for wars against other nations such as Canada, Britain, Mexico and even China. Although the theme of the book is to show the evolution of American strategic thinking, Pardoe showcases the alternate history potential of these plans since if just one of them had been implemented it would have changed the entirety of human history.
I found that some of the most interesting plans were the ones that we knew the least about, like the plan for a war with the British Empire in the mid-1930s. What was surprising about this plan was the evidence that our top generals saw the United Kingdom as a greater threat to America then Nazi Germany. Not only was this a sign of incredibly bad judgement, but it is also terrifying to think how pro-Nazi America was leading up to WWII. Along with overall coverage of the plans, Pardoe also comments on how successful some of these plans could be if implemented and pointed out moments where American intelligence was lacking.
Never Wars is a non-fiction counterfacutal history, so don't pick it up expecting a thrilling anthology of alternate history wars. In fact, the book can be dry at times, especially when Pardoe quotes long sections from the plans themselves. As an attorney who spends much of his day going over legalease, even I found the way soldiers write agonizing to read. Nevertheless, the dryness may just be a characteristic of counterfactual histories in general, as I felt the same way when I read Frank Harvey's Explaining the Iraq War.
Overall I found Never Wars to be an engaging book with an interesting subject written by an author with a real love for alternate history. Along with the aforementioned dryness, there were some formatting and spelling errors, but otherwise I can honestly recommend this book to readers who enjoy military history, war gamers looking for fun new scenarios and alternate historians crafting a different war for their version of America.
For better or worse, battles and wars play a big part in alternate history. Unsurprisingly, generals play the what if game all the time, although they usually look to prepare for future conflicts instead of the alternate ones we create. Blaine L. Pardoe, a self-confessed alternate history fan, nevertheless saw some potential of these old war plans when he wrote his counterfactual novel: Never Wars: The US Plans to Invade the World.
Never Wars covers the United States color-coded war plans that were created by Joint Army and Navy Board (the predecessor of the Joint Chiefs of Staff) in the early 20th century. These plans covered various scenarios for wars against other nations such as Canada, Britain, Mexico and even China. Although the theme of the book is to show the evolution of American strategic thinking, Pardoe showcases the alternate history potential of these plans since if just one of them had been implemented it would have changed the entirety of human history.
I found that some of the most interesting plans were the ones that we knew the least about, like the plan for a war with the British Empire in the mid-1930s. What was surprising about this plan was the evidence that our top generals saw the United Kingdom as a greater threat to America then Nazi Germany. Not only was this a sign of incredibly bad judgement, but it is also terrifying to think how pro-Nazi America was leading up to WWII. Along with overall coverage of the plans, Pardoe also comments on how successful some of these plans could be if implemented and pointed out moments where American intelligence was lacking.
Never Wars is a non-fiction counterfacutal history, so don't pick it up expecting a thrilling anthology of alternate history wars. In fact, the book can be dry at times, especially when Pardoe quotes long sections from the plans themselves. As an attorney who spends much of his day going over legalease, even I found the way soldiers write agonizing to read. Nevertheless, the dryness may just be a characteristic of counterfactual histories in general, as I felt the same way when I read Frank Harvey's Explaining the Iraq War.
Overall I found Never Wars to be an engaging book with an interesting subject written by an author with a real love for alternate history. Along with the aforementioned dryness, there were some formatting and spelling errors, but otherwise I can honestly recommend this book to readers who enjoy military history, war gamers looking for fun new scenarios and alternate historians crafting a different war for their version of America.
January 10, 2015
Clearly I have a slanted perspective - but I enjoyed this book. It was shocking to learn that the US planned on using chemical weapons against Canada in 1935.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews