Uncovering Ways of War
Subtitle: U.S. Intelligence and Foreign Military Innovation, 1918-1941 (Cornell Studies in Security Affairs)
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Published: May 2002
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 224
ISBN-13: 9780801439865
Subjects: American history: First World War; American history: Second World War; Military intelligence; Military art and science; Military; History - Military / War; United States - 20th Century; USA; Military - Intelligence/Espionage; Military - Strategy; 20th century; History; Technological innovations; United States
Description: "Using formerly classified sources - in particular, the reports of military attaches and other diplomat-officers - Thomas G. Mahnken sheds light on the shadowy world of U.S. intelligence gathering, tracing how America learned of military developments in Japan, Germany, and Great Britain in the period between the two world wars.".

"The interwar period witnessed both a considerable shift in the balance of power in Europe and Asia and the emergence of new ways of war, such as carrier aviation, amphibious operations, and combined-arms armored warfare. American attempts to follow these developments, Mahnken says, illustrate the problems that intelligence organizations face in their efforts to bridge the gulf between prewar expectations and wartime reality.

He finds three reasons for intelligence's relative lack of success: intelligence agencies are more inclined to monitor established weapons systems than to search for new ones; their attention is more likely to focus on technology and doctrine already demonstrated in combat; and they have more success identifying innovation in areas their own country is testing."--BOOK JACKET.