Imponderable but not inevitable : warfare in the 20th century / Malcolm H. Murfett, editor.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. Casting Doubt on the Inevitability Syndrome / Malcolm H. Murfett -- 2. The Unknown and the Unknowable: The Loss of HMAS Sydney / Peter J. Dennis -- 3. The Madness of General George / Daniel K. R. Crosswell -- 4. What Do They Want, and How Can We Respond? Commonwealth Intelligence and Confrontation with Indonesia, 1963 / Brian P. Farrell -- 5. Air Power Finds Its Ascendancy, at Last / Christopher Clark -- 6. Three of a Kind? Fisher, Rickover, and Gorshkov and the Management of Naval Change / Geoffrey Till -- 7. Measuring Defeat: Imponderables of the American Experience in Vietnam / Ronald Spector -- 8. What's Luck Got to Do with It? Random Elements That Affected the Naval Campaigns of 1939-1945 / Malcolm H. Murfett.

"The battle plan is brilliant. Superior forces and firepower are at your command. Every contingency has been considered and accounted for. And yet, throughout the 20th century, despite constant improvements in technology and logistics, something unexpected - a change in the weather, weapons malfunctions, illness, an unpredictable foe - turned certain military successes into puzzling setbacks." "By definition, the unforeseeable cannot be seen, but one way to bring more variables under consideration when planning a military action is to review those instances where the unforeseeable changed everything. For professionals and enthusiasts alike, Imponderable But Not Inevitable: Warfare in the 20th Century does just that, reviewing specific instances in 20th-century warfare when things did not go according to plan." "Imponderable but Not Inevitable uses case studies to expose the "Inevitability Syndrome," exploring the role of luck, fate, and randomness in influencing both victory and defeat. In essays drawn from World War II, Konfrontasi, the Vietnam War, and the Gulf War, a distinguished set of military experts look at real scenarios of inexplicable losses, illustrating why nothing - nothing - should be taken for granted in war."--BOOK JACKET.