The first installment of this roundup of new military history/studies titles (LJ 5/1/09) looked at what's on the horizon in studies of World War I and World War II. This second installment considers coverage of other wars through the ages. A forthcoming installment will cover studies of current military hotspots. This issue's list is arranged alphabetically rather than chronologically.

Afghanistan, long the object of strategic interest, with invaders from Alexander the Great to the Soviet Union failing miserably, has suffered through capitalism, communism, and Islamicism in recent years, none fully taking hold. BBC correspondent Loyn has had close contacts with Taliban leaders. His views on various foreigners' ignorance, overconfidence, and missed opportunities make for a valuable gloss in view of President Obama's change of approach in Afghanistan.

Many captains of the Continental Navy were argumentative and clashed with the Continental Congress, their peers, their subordinates, and their enemies quite indiscriminately. Despite their antagonistic personalities, they made effective combat commanders. In studying five of the captains, including John Paul Jones, Norton offers insights into the psychological traits valuable to command. Worth a look by those who enjoy naval history.

By 1864, the North and South had settled into a positional war around Richmond and Petersburg, VA, with trenches, cannon, disease, and delay. Gen. Grant decided to try a mine, digging under a portion of the fortifications and cramming the tunnel with explosives. It was the largest explosion ever seen at the time—and led to a crushing Union defeat, with 4500 dead. There have been lots of books about the Crater, but the eminent Slotkin does a respectable job. Civil War history enthusiasts will want this.

During the Civil War, it was not uncommon for lonely soldiers to advertise in newspapers for correspondents—and Ohio soldier Lewis Lybarger had uncommon success. His preserved collection of over 150 letters he received are full of daily life, passion, and travails, giving us an intriguing glimpse of the women's side of wartime. An excellent choice for Civil War collections.

Russell (1820–1907) has been described as the first modern war correspondent. For three years he sent reports to the Times of London on the successes, failures, abject stupidity, inept medical care, disease, and brutality in the Crimea, electrifying contemporary readers. At the war's end in 1856 he published The Complete History of the Russian War, here reprinted with a new introduction and a minimum of explanatory material. His work remains valuable primary-source history.

A labor of love by surviving members of this unit in the Korean War, an all-volunteer unit that came together when President Truman was putting an end to the segregated military. Told in the first person and not very polished, this is still a record of a transitional time that tested all concerned. Many readers will appreciate this addition to Korean War studies.

The Spanish-American War's first combat trial of the new steel battleships is mostly ignored in the public consciousness today, but its consequences still resound for design, diplomacy, and geopolitics. This accessible and extensively annotated introduction to the naval story of that war is to be welcomed by most military history readers doing this kind of naval exploration.

Centering on the Easter Offensive of 1972, in which North Vietnamese forces were barely prevented from overrunning South Vietnam, former marine Botkin describes the battlefield exploits and postwar experiences of marine John Ripley and Vietnamese major Le Ba Binh, championing their great deeds in what became a losing cause. For those seeking personal narratives on this war.

Here are combat stories of a small unit that specialized in behind-the-lines operations with intense danger. Based on interviews with unit veterans who commissioned Morris to write this book, it covers the high casualties, great friendships, and intimate details of life in combat far away. For those seeking more books on soldiers' experiences of this war.

The War of 1812 saw the Royal Navy wreak havoc on Chesapeake Bay, nearly destroying the region's economy. An American naval force was scraped together. Capt. Joshua Barney's Chesapeake Flotilla, with great gallantry, challenged the better-equipped British. Although it was ultimately defeated, its efforts were not in vain. Marine archaeologist Shomette, who directed excavation of the flotilla's flagship, here revises a book he originally published in 1981 and includes further information on the officers, crew, and boats making up the flotilla and on the region's experience of war. This is detailed history for serious readers on the subject.

Arnold examines five insurgencies, including the Philippines over 100 years ago, as well as Malaya, Algeria, Vietnam, and Iraq, i.e., insurgencies countered variously by U.S., French, and British forces. He attempts to bring some general principles to light, e.g., the notion that information is important and that whoever can best control its flow has a great advantage in motivating the populace. For subject collections.

Covering the 1960s to the present, with revealing interviews, Geraghty looks at the virtues and failings of the world's second- oldest profession. Mercenaries are controversial, but the many conflicts of the past five decades have created a demand for them. Are they tough men who do hard work for money or bloodthirsty renegades? This serious study should find its way to most readers of military history.

In lengthy and detailed battle narratives, as the regiment's official historian, McManus (U.S. military history, Missouri Univ. of Science & Technology), covers the unit's pre-Cold War combat experiences, forming a prequal to his The Seventh Infantry Regiment: Combat in an Age of Terror. Will be popular with some readers.

We don't want to fight the last war again, so how do we meet the challenge of the new war? What is the balance between experience and innovation? Steed, a U.S. Army officer who has taught battlefield tactics, offers a template to recognize game-changing innovation and provides historical examples in which a commander altered the battlefield to defeat a superior, complacent enemy, e.g., at Little Bighorn and more recently at Grozny (1996). For serious readers in military history.

Some Americans may know Diego Garcia as the isolated atoll in the middle of the Indian Ocean that holds an American military base, crucial to current engagements in the Middle East. But few may know the full story. The island became a British Indian Ocean Territory in 1965, taken away from Mauritius, to which its indigenous peoples, the Chagossians, were removed en masse to make way for the base. The displaced population has not fared well since. Vine's (anthropology, American Univ.) work is for serious students of naval history, as well as readers in ethnography or human rights.