Ground Combat
Puncturing the Myths of Modern War
Published on 3. March 2025
Book
Hardback
352 pages
978-1-64712-541-7 (ISBN)
Description
A challenge to common assumptions about the future of land warfare
Ground Combat reveals the gritty details of land warfare at the tactical level and challenges today's overly subjective and often inaccurate approaches to characterizing war. Ben Connable's motivation for writing the book is to offer an evidence-based approach to examining the future of war.
Connable created and analyzed an original dataset of more than four hundred global ground combat cases, showing that there was an evolutionary rather than revolutionary shift in the characteristics of ground combat from World War II through the early 2020s. Despite advances in military technology, tanks, artillery, and infantry remain central to how war is waged on land. This book asks readers to stop and think about the implications of these findings for force planning and future predictions about military-technical revolutions.
This book sets an essential evidentiary baseline for military officers, policymakers, and scholars who think about the future of modern war.
Ground Combat reveals the gritty details of land warfare at the tactical level and challenges today's overly subjective and often inaccurate approaches to characterizing war. Ben Connable's motivation for writing the book is to offer an evidence-based approach to examining the future of war.
Connable created and analyzed an original dataset of more than four hundred global ground combat cases, showing that there was an evolutionary rather than revolutionary shift in the characteristics of ground combat from World War II through the early 2020s. Despite advances in military technology, tanks, artillery, and infantry remain central to how war is waged on land. This book asks readers to stop and think about the implications of these findings for force planning and future predictions about military-technical revolutions.
This book sets an essential evidentiary baseline for military officers, policymakers, and scholars who think about the future of modern war.
Reviews / Votes
Exceptionally well written, organized and presented, Ground Combat: Puncturing the Myths of Modern War is an original, seminal, and groundbreaking study of extensive and meticulous scholarship. * Midwest Book Review * Ground Combat will fill a void in any collection of essential books on warfare....[Connable's] study and understanding of ground combat aligns with the study and understanding of so many retired senior Marines. * Marine Corps Compass Points * Connable adeptly blends qualitative historical case analysis, coded data from 423 modern ground combat incidents, and critiques of doctrine, modeling, and strategic discourse....[He] gives us the intellectual vocabulary to process this moment. * Modern War Institute * Ground Combat sets an evidentiary baseline and a new, detail-oriented standard for conflict research and policymaking. * New Books Network *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Washington, DC
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
US School Grade: College Graduate Student and over
Illustrations
Not illustrated
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 29 mm
Weight
594 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-64712-541-7 (9781647125417)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Ben Connable, PhD, is an award-winning research leader, a retired US Marine Corps intelligence and foreign area officer, a former senior political scientist at the RAND Corporation, and an adjunct professor in Georgetown University's Security Studies program.
Content
List of Illustrations
Preface
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: American Forecasts of War and Ground Combat
Chapter 3: World War II Ground Combat Case Examples
Chapter 4: World War II Ground Combat Characteristics
Chapter 5: Interval Cases-1945-2002
Chapter 6: Interval Period Ground Combat Characteristics
Chapter 7: Modern Ground Combat from 2003 through 2012
Chapter 8: Modern Ground Combat from 2013 through 2022
Chapter 9: Observed Characteristics of Modern Ground Combat
Chapter 10: Conclusions on Ground Combat and on War
Appendix: Methodology and Source Insights
Selected Bibliography
Index
About the Author
Preface
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: American Forecasts of War and Ground Combat
Chapter 3: World War II Ground Combat Case Examples
Chapter 4: World War II Ground Combat Characteristics
Chapter 5: Interval Cases-1945-2002
Chapter 6: Interval Period Ground Combat Characteristics
Chapter 7: Modern Ground Combat from 2003 through 2012
Chapter 8: Modern Ground Combat from 2013 through 2022
Chapter 9: Observed Characteristics of Modern Ground Combat
Chapter 10: Conclusions on Ground Combat and on War
Appendix: Methodology and Source Insights
Selected Bibliography
Index
About the Author