Looking for a book

sterplaz

New Member
Hello,

A while back I read a review about a book concerning the culture of the officer corp and how it's very nature (or rather the men it it) caused incompetence/malfeasance/etc. It sounded as if it would be a good read, and an interesting topic.

The thing is I cannot remember the name of the book, the author's name or ISBN. I do clearly remember that it was written by a British army officer (the reviews said the topic should apply to American army) who had served back in the 1950's and early 60's. He left the British army and was educated in psychology/psychiatry, or some such. The book was written in either late 60's or early 70's, I think. The author studied the selection and education of British officers from early 20th century onward. That is about all I remember.

I read reviews of this book on amazon.com. When I went back to buy a copy of this book, I found that I had not saved it on one of their wishlists as I thought that I had. DARN!! I cannot for the life of me remember author/book names. I also cannot remember what lead me to this book. I must have read something else that referenced this particular book. I did try several different searches on amazon and google using key words that I thought would likely show it. But, no luck.

Has anyone out there ever read something like this topic? I would greatly appreciate any help. Thanks, Thomas
 

PCShogun

New Member
Some I found were:

"Military Incompetence: Why the American Military Doesn't Win"
By Richard A. Gabriel
[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Military-Incompetence-American-Doesnt-Century/dp/0374521379"]Amazon.com: Military Incompetence: Why the American Military Doesn't Win (American Century) (9780374521370): Richard A. Gabriel: Books@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51y8qtul40L.@@AMEPARAM@@51y8qtul40L[/ame]

"On the psychology of military incompetence"
by Norman F Dixon
[ame="http://www.amazon.com/psychology-military-incompetence-Norman-Dixon/dp/0465052533/ref=pd_sim_sbs_b_4"]Amazon.com: On the psychology of military incompetence (9780465052530): Norman F Dixon: Books@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/511pLm3XkuL.@@AMEPARAM@@511pLm3XkuL[/ame]

"Crisis in Command: Mismanagement in the Army"
By Richard A. Gabriel
[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Crisis-Command-Mismanagement-Richard-Gabriel/dp/0809001403/ref=pd_sim_sbs_b_9"]Amazon.com: Crisis in Command: Mismanagement in the Army (9780809001408): Richard A. Gabriel, Paul Savage: Books@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41Mvaua7QVL.@@AMEPARAM@@41Mvaua7QVL[/ame]

"A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam"
by Neil Sheehan
New York: Random House, 1988

"How the United States Lost the Naval War of 2015"
by James Kraska
Available here http://www.defencetalk.com/forums/newreply.php?do=newreply&noquote=1&p=232414
 

sterplaz

New Member
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #3
Thank you, the one I wanted was On the Pyschology of Military Incompetence by N. Dixon. I have had Richard Gabriel's book Military Incompetence for over 25 years and have always enjoyed it. Thanks also for the other titles.
 
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