Thursday, November 10, 2011

575 online

In honor of the US Marines 'birthday' I went looking for information in our collection about the Marines. Our subscription to the complete
Credo Reference gives us access to 575 reference books on-line. The history collection in Credo includes the Readers Companion to Military History. That title did seem to be the most likely source for information about the Marines.

The 'about this book' tab provides an extensive description:
How did war originate? What makes a war popular or unpopular at home? How common is desertion or mutiny? What makes a successful guerrilla insurgency? How have armies been fed throughout history? The Reader's Companion to Military History addresses these and other intriguing aspects of the most destructive, fascinating, and relentless of human enterprises -- war.

Filled with surprising anecdotes, little-known facts, and rare illustrations, The Reader's Companion covers major events and battles, commanders and theorists, weaponry and technological advances, and strategy and tactics. What makes the volume especially distinctive, however, is the range of thematic articles, covering such topics as courage, discipline, the effects of weather on warfare, military justice, surrender, the role of propaganda, the use of animals in war, the evolution of uniforms, psychological warfare, and morale. Unlike many military histories, the volume covers Asian, African, and South American history as well as that of Europe and North America. Subjects range from the Persian Wars of 490 B.C. to contemporary topics such as the revelations of Robert McNamara, gays in the military, and ethnic cleansing. One hundred fifty distinguished military historians, biographers, and journalists produced this volume under the editorship of Robert Cowley, editor of MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History, and Geoffrey Parker, Robert A. Lovett Professor of Military and Naval History at Yale University. The result is a remarkable chronicle of warfare that combines compelling historical narrative with the latest in contemporary scholarship.
.

It is easy to search Credo as a whole or through individual books. A complete Credo search pulled up 1323 references to 'marines'. A search just in The Readers Companion to Military History provided 12 articles.

Semper Fi.

-kss

Check with your campus librarian for the login.

No comments: