Reina PenningtonReina Pennington">
What Russia Can Teach Us About WarWhat Russia Can Teach Us About War will examine the surprising lessons in military history that the Russian and Soviet experience has to offer. Did Russia always rely on numbers to steamroller its foes? A chapter on "Quantity versus Quality" will answer this question. Does Russia fit the “Western Way of War,” or does it have its own unique patterns? A chapter will examine the heated debates about just how "western" the Russian and Soviet armies have been. Why is that Russian women have fought on the front lines, and just how good were they, really? One chapter will focus on the fascinating question of why women in communist Russia achieved equality on the battlefield, decades before women in democratic countries.
This book seeks to examine a variety of key aspects of war by using case studies from Russian and military history. Offense versus defense; the treatment of civilians; motivation of soldiers; racial integration in the armed forces; the unpredictability of war--all will be examined through the Russian lens. It features a fascinating cast of characters, including eccentric theorists, generals both brilliant and misguided, mutinous soldiers, and patriotic heroes and heroines. Russia can teach us a lot about war.
I expect to complete the first draft of the manuscript in 2019.
Here's a link to a podcast of a book talk I gave at The New York Military Affairs Symposium in June 2018 on this project.