Loose Cannons: 101 Things They Never Told You about Military History

Frequently amusing, often silly, and on occasion interesting, Graeme Donald's "Loose Cannons: Myths, Mishaps, and Misadventures of Military History" offers a distracting romp through a series of historical myths relating to military history. A few, such as the "mass delusion" of the existence of Tokyo Rose - there was no such person, despite the hundreds of thousands of GIs who'd swear they heard her on the radio - come as truly surprising. Others, like Ernesto "Che" Guevara really being nothing more than a blood soaked sociopath, or that the "Battle of the Alamo" was hardly a battle at all, but an act of military incompetence, are always worth repeating. Sometimes, however, the author descends into leaps of logic to make arguments that the evidence just can't support, as in with his claim of a "Japanese Bomb." Ln other places, Donald's obvious interest in British colonial adventures, often of minor historical importance, may bore American readers, just as some will be annoyed by the shortcomings of his knowledge of US history and politics as shows most in his poor treatment of The Emancipation Proclamation. Donald's dry wit contributes mightily to what makes "Loose Cannons" a fun, breezy read. It isn't scholarship (and the more persnickety at times will wail about his lack of footnotes or corroboration), but this won't detract from the enjoyment one gets from romping through these distracting, myth-busting, vignettes. Never Brilliant, it is nonetheless a fun read.

LOOSE CANNONS: 101 MYTHS, MISHAPS AND MISADVENTURES OF MILITARY HISTORY exposes many long-held myths about military leaders and operations, from the idea that Hitler was a vegetarian obsessed by the occult to the invention of the 'Mau-Mau' organization and the fact that the Japanese were trying to complete their own nuclear warhead when the Americans beat them. An outstanding trivia fact book for any military library.