American Military History: From Colonials to Counterinsurgents

De: Wesley K. Clark, The Great Courses

Narrado por: Wesley K. Clark

Wars have played a crucial role in defining the United States and its place in the world. No one is better equipped to analyze this subject in depth than retired US Army Gen. Wesley K. Clark - decorated combat veteran, author, Rhodes Scholar, and former NATO Supreme Commander. In this course, Gen. Clark explores the full scope of America's armed conflicts, from the French and Indian War in the mid-18th century to the Global War on Terrorism in the 21st. These 24 absorbing half-hour lectures chart the remarkable growth of the United States from a colonial backwater into the most powerful nation on Earth, thanks in large part to its talent for rising to the occasion when called to war.

Drawing on his decades of study and military experience, Gen. Clark sheds light on the tactics and strategy behind such famous battles as Yorktown, New Orleans, Gettysburg, D-Day, Inchon, and Operation Desert Storm, among many others. He also recounts his own experiences in combat during the Vietnam War, which he barely survived. This presentation is the closest most listeners will get to studying war the way military officers do - with every battle serving as a textbook for possible paths to victory.

Among the many examples, you learn that the ideal time to attack is when an opposing force is separated, distracted, and disorganized due to crossing an obstacle such as a river, as happened to British Gen. Edward Braddock's troops while fording the Monongahela River during the French and Indian War. You also learn that the fall of Fort Donelson during the Civil War was due to incoherent strategy by the Confederates, combined with brilliant tactics by Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, who went on to win the war for the North. In one of the last lectures, Gen. Clark gives insight into his own strategy for halting Serbian ethnic cleansing during Operation Allied Force in 1999, when he was the general in charge.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©2018 The Teaching Company, LLC; 2018 The Great Courses

Not bad - could be better

I have a lot of respect for General Clark and his contributions to the US military. This Great Course, however, was not his finest work. There is nothing wrong with the course, and the product may be exactly what he was contracted to do. The problem is that it could've been so much more.

In brief, Clark offers a general overview of the conflicts in which the United States has been involved and describes the major campaigns in each. That's it. Any number of people could've provided these lectures, even armchair military historians. With someone of Clark's caliber, you'd expect more. There's limited discussion of leadership and none about the change in leadership concepts.over the past 200+ years of the US military. Worse, there's little discussion of strategy, usually it's limited to specific.leaders. If Clark isn't familiar with the broad picture, he certainly could discuss how the US formulates strategy and implements it. Similarly, there's no discussion of organization or military reforms. Clark is well positioned to give more nuanced, most advanced lectures but is limited to the basics. He is much better when discussing conflicts about which he has first hand knowledge (he's very critical of the Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts), and, arguably, should have limited his lectures to the past 50 years and done a deeper dive of the period. Graduated escalation = bad, overwhelming force = good doesn't cut it. As an aside - oddly - Clark makes no mention of the Indian wars of the latter half of the 19th century.

As a narrator, Clark is satisfactory, better than some other Great Course lecturers and worse than some others. The upside for some readers are Clark's personal vignettes related to some of the topics.

I don't recommend this series for anyone who has a reasonable grasp of US military history - it's nothing new. If you are looking for an overview, this might be for you.

Fell Short of My Expectations

I respect General Wesley Clark on multiple levels: from his knowledge of the US military and its history of armed conflicts to his vast personal achievements as a general living these wars first hand. It is clear he knows the inner workings of the US military better than just about every man or woman alive today.

However, as a Great Courses lecturer something was lacking. It was hard for me to put him up there with the typical elite presenters of which The Great Courses always seem to have an unending supply. While his knowledge and personal experience brings value to this course others could not, his presentation style wasn't able to fully pull me in and engage me. I had a hard time following his points at times and at others his "lessons" seemed too simplified. In both cases I wish he would've expounded more. His narrative of the conflicts at times just didn't resonate with me.

There were exceptions: Lectures 10 (US-Spanish War), 11-12 (World War II), 17 (Korean War), 20 (Grenada and Panama), and 23 (Afghanistan and Iraq) were keepers and I am happy to retain those in my library. Otherwise if you are familiar with the topics in the other lectures I'm not sure you will gain much here.

Yes, this this is a course one would suspect would dedicate lots of time on tactical battle movements but I was still hoping this would be complemented with more info on strategic aims relating to the individual battles so more sense could be made out of what at times could sound like an endless string of battles: how did they fit in to the bigger picture of the war? What were the objectives?

I was a bit surprised that there wasn’t much history on how the US military evolved over time from their formations to organizational units to their weaponry. There was some of discussion in this realm but not as much as one would think from the course's title. Lectures focused on each engagement in isolation without an analysis on how the military as an entity changed over the centuries.

I was pleasantly surprised to find video clips of World War I battle action...I did not know those existed!

Now for the real annoying aspects of this course: the sound effects! The placement of sounds randomly in the lectures as the lecturer was talking proved highly annoying and distracting. These included:

1- The re-enactment of battle sounds in earlier lectures like yells, shots fired, and clanging while the lecturer was talking. What value did this add? Who in quality control thought a bunch of modern men yelling and simulating cannon sounds would add atmosphere or put the listener in the action? Terrible decision.

2- When the location on a map wanted to be highlighted this weird sound went off: way too loud and piercing, sounding too much like an alarm clock which caused more alarm than learning enhancement. I can't tell you how many times I jumped a little and checked my phone to see if some alarm clock setting was going off until I (begrudgingly) got used to the sound.

This wasn't a bad course. I've experienced quite a few of those through the years. But try as I might I can't stand behind calling this a great one either. There are many other military and US history courses in TGC catalog that do the trick better. To the average TGC listener it is hard for me to recommend the entire course (though I do think there is value in listening to lectures 10-12, 17, 20, and 23). However, my one caveat to that would be this: those who have a military background or have followed General Clark's career may find this course very interesting (especially considering he weaves in many of his personal experiences and stories into the narratives).

Great book, but last chapter is optional

I really enjoyed Gen. Clark walking is through the history of the IS military and weaving in anecdotes from his career. However, the last chapter is more bloviating from his failed presidential campaign. Basically that chapter boils down to: (1) War is bad unless I’m in command and (2) military officers should not be partisan, unless it’s me lecturing that I’m a better diplomat than experienced civil servants

Good summaries

A sweeping overview of the different wars of our history. Pretty good reference for further reading.

I came away with a newfound respect for the military

Since 9/11 as I matured I began to stop reflexively criticizing the military. As I began to take on responsibilities, especially logistics, it dawned on me just how complex the whole enterprise is. And that’s before you get to fighting/dying. I learned a bit from friends who were deployed. This lecture series has given me a concise overview about our country’s military history and it’s fascinating.

before reviewing; listen to the last chapter

For those whom find war and/or the military in general negatively, I (a veteran of war) would suggest reading/listening to the last chapter first... I think you will be hard pressed any combat vet that would disagree...

Overall dry, perhaps expected from career military

Overall lacks many interesting or little known facts or anecdotes. History is much more recited. Analysis of significant events, people, or turning points needs more substance and style. Probably too hard to separate the career military man from his roots.

For the serious history buff

Just not what I was looking for. You need a strong base of military history before listening to this book.

a great brief summary from a military man's POV

a great brief summary from a military man's POV an interesting listen had well read by the author

Stories from an American hero

So to start off Gen. Clark is an American hero and a great man. This course is part lecture, but really part story from someone who lived the history. I've listened to around 50 courses in the history arena and they've all been roughly the same model. This course is that model on paper, but in practice it almost feels like a guest lecture course in what is otherwise a normal class. It's awesome because of that.

Now I will say it was one of the less informative lectures I've listened to. It is a high level survey, for the most part entire wars being boiled down to single lectures. Listen to this because you want to hear it out of the mouth of someone that knew so many of the people and lived so much of this history. That's why it's a great course.