Excellent history of the first modern war
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This book provides a very informative and enjoyable account of the Russo - Japanese war 1904 / 1905. The political and strategic origins of the war are briefly discussed before the majority of the text is devoted to the military history of the conflict.
It is clear from reading this that the Russians had not learnt many of the hard lessons on offer from the Crimea fifty years earlier. The author draws interesting comparisons with the Boer war and the conflict has understandably been seen as a tactical prelude to 1914-18. The subsequent events and mistakes made ten years later appear all the worse given that Manchuria 1904 was replete with observers and advisors from European armed forces.
The book is superbly detailed and, as the other reviewer suggests, contains many little details that really make a difference. Connaughton is a professional military historian and this is evident in the excellent discussion of tactics and logistics that is presented. His writing style also maintains interest and with more extensive coverage of the diplomacy before and after the war, I'd have awarded five stars.
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excellent history
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a comprehensive history of the first modern war. the book covers the broader isuues of this war, the first where a non european nation triumphed. the land campaign is detailed fully, and the sea campaign excellently covered, especially the russian navy's trip half way wound the world to fight, and be defeated, off the coast of korea: by a japanese admiral trained by the Royal Navy, commanding a flagship built originally in Barrow in Furness, England....
these little details, and the author's willingness to explain how the nature of this war (which included heavy loss of life during mass attacks against entrenched positions) was a foretaste of world war one, makes it an excellent read
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