On Artillery

Gudmundsson tells the story of field artillery in the 20th century and its impact on the major conflicts of our time. Its purpose is to provide the readerwhether artilleryman or notwith hitherto unavailable insights on the role that artillery plays in the larger battle and how that has helped shape the world that we live in today. Unique aspects of the book include the treatment of technical issues in nontechnical language, the extensive use of German and French sources generally unavailable to the Englishspeaking reader, the shattering of some longcherished myths, and the discussion of issues that are often papered over in the literature of field artillerylosses from friendly fire, the frequent impotence of counterbattery fire, and the French origins of current American doctrine.The bulk of the literature on field artillery can be fairly described as gunner propaganda. Gudmundsson, with his emphasis on the way artillery interacts with other arms and the dynamics of the battle as a whole, takes a more balanced and a more critical view, dealing with the failures as well as the achievements of field artillery. This study provides a thorough overview of field artillery in nontechnical language that will be of interest to military professionals, military historians, and wargamers.