Great Raids In History: From Drake To Desert One - Hardcover

Southworth, Samuel A.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1885119429 ISBN 13: 9781885119421

Publisher: Da Capo Press, 1997

Synopsis

This thrilling collection of all-new works by a variety of military historians studies the most audacious soldiers in history—the raiders—who put their lives on the line in winner-take-all incursions deep into enemy territory. Each chapter focuses on a different raid, and the breathtaking chances, hard choices and combat that resulted. Raiders don’t always win, but they never fail to astonish!

“All 19 recorded here—Custer at the Washita, for example, or Mosby at Fairfax Courthouse, Israelis at Green Island, Americans at Son Tay—had a powerful impact on the conflicts of which they were a part. Reading about them, even about the failures, is an eloquent reminder of the courage they demanded.”—Naval Institute Proceedings

About this title

About the Author:

From the Author How the book was put together; praise for fellow authors This book was the completion of a life-long fascination with raids and raiders. I dreamt up the concept, wrote the introduction and two chapters, and got some of the best writers working in the field of Military History to lend a hand. People like Mike Dilley, Wade Dudley, Tim Kutta, Rob Krott, Steven Hartov, Charles Whiting, Stephen Tanner, Janis Cakars, James Aldrich, George Cholewczynski, Ray Wood, Richard Kiper and Fritz Heinzen. What a crew! This is an all-star team, and I greatly enjoyed working with them. The vitality and talent in the field of Military History has to be seen to be believed, and these guys are all consumate pros, as well as gracious gentlemen and exacting scholars. I like careful research and hell's-a'poppin' action in my reading, and that accounts for the way this book reads. The audacity and courage shown by the great raiders is astounding, and Mr. Heinzen's thoughtful conclusion, "The Future of Raids," is a breathtaking analysis of the potential for these daring actions. My hat is off to a great group of writers who helped me follow my dream, and to Sarpedon Publishers, who had the vision to green light the project.

Review:

"...an absolute joy to read....should be in every public library in the country, and should have an honored place in every private military book collection --Kenn Miller-Behind the Lines magazine review:

Daring actions by small units have always excited the imagination, not least because they affirm that individual initiative and courage count for something in the impersonal forces of war. Here is a fine collection of accounts of some of those raids, from Elizabethan times to the present, beautifully written and (generally) well researched. Stephen Tanner's essays on Custer and Skorzeny particularly stand out as lively, reliable history writing. Less praiseworthy are the efforts of the conspiracy theorist who always seems to find American perfidy in every Allied reverse. With photos, bibliography, and an excellent index --David Kirk

Surprise & Audacity: Hallmarks of the RAID! "Great Raids in History: From Drake to Desert One" by Samuel Southworth is an excellent look at significant raids through history. The raid, also known as depredation, is a military tactic employed tactically, operationally and strtgiclly which has a specific purpose or mission and is not normally intended to capture and hold terrain, but instead finish with the raiding force quickly retreating (controlled withdrawal) to a previous defended position prior to the enemy forces being able to respond in a coordinated manner or formulate a counter-attack. Within the tactical mission, a raiding group may consist of personnel specially trained in this tactic such as elite special forces and commandos or guerrilla fighters, regular soldiers, or any organized group of combatants. The purposes of a raid may include to demoralize, confuse, or exhaust an enemy; to kill/capture high value targets, recover hostages/prisoners of war, or precious cargo, conduct sabotage or be part of a diversion. The book can only list and discuss so many great raids, but I was surprised that the Rhodesian Selous Scouts Nyadzonya raid was not covered. This raid took place in August 1976, it involved ten trucks and four armored cars disguised as FRELIMO vehicles with 84 Selous Scouts. They first cut the telephone lines to the town and drove on to the guerrilla base. They opened fire on the guerrillas killing between 1,028 and 1,184. The scouts did not sustain a single fatality. Captured ZANLA documents revealed that many of those killed in the raid were either trained guerrillas or were undergoing guerrilla instruction to infiltrate back into to Rhodesia to conduct operation. This is a great example of a preeminent strike. Overall this is a very good book and worth the read. --By Troy A. Lettieri -

About this edition

• Publisher: Da Capo Press
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 1885119429
• ISBN 13: 9781885119421
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 338