War, Chaos, and History

War, Chaos, and History considers the implications of the emerging field of research in chaos-complexity-non-linearity for the study of war. This study examines the special dependence of military professionals on history in their shaping of doctrines, style, and attitudes in spite of the wide gap between the portrayal of war in military history and the far greater intricacy of its reality. Special foci in the analysis include: the fragility of doctrine; the chronic confounding of plans and expectations in actual operations; the congruences of chaos and creativity theoretics; effects of war on the environment; and problems of evidence and reportage. Three cases--battle cruisers, tank destroyers, and heavy fighter aircraft--are presented to illustrate paradoxes, especially the gap between vision and realization, and the tension between the urge to control and the impulse to create chaos in war.

ROGER BEAUMONT has taught history at Texas A&M since 1974. He served two tours of active duty with the army as a military police officer. A cofounder and former North American editor of Defense Analysis, Beaumont was the first historian named as a Secretary of the Navy Fellow at the U.S. Naval Academy. The most recent of his 10 books and monographs is Joint Military Operations: A Short History (Greenwood, 1993).

?Beaumont's book...is the first offering on chaos and complexity theory made accessible to the military historian. ...By way of warning, the prospective reader would be well advised to read any number of the excellent popular accounts availble on chaos and complexity theory as prerequisities to tackling Beaumont's penetrating new book.?-American Historical Review