Ira D. Gruber

Although this book turned out to be just an extended essay with a lot of attached appendices, it's still a good essay. What Gruber argues is that the British officer corps learned a "prudent" style of war in the wake of the failures of the War of the Austrian Succession (after which there was a new commitment to professionalism), but prudential war was at odds with the aggressive course of action that London desired, leading to much command turbulence. The ultimate irony is that the American military leadership had assimilated the same lessons of prudence and were, ultimately, better served by them.… (more)