Almanac of American Military History

This set is perfectly in line with what information professionals have come to expect from this author-publisher team. As the title suggests, the bulk of the work is a chronology of our nation's wars, rebellions, revolts, and other examples of armed conflict, both here and abroad. Tucker casts a wide net, including events that are not strictly of a military nature but that impinge on the broader story. Entries begin with Norseman Leif Ericson's 1000 CE landfall at Newfoundland, Canada, and cover strife in the Middle East through December 27, 2011. The text is helpfully divided into sections by major conflict era, which essentially constitute chapters. Therefore, "Forging a Nation" concentrates on the American Revolutionary War, while "Turmoil in the Early American Republic" focuses on the War of 1812, and so on. Each of these discrete units follows a standard format of "Overview," which is an extended essay sketching out the big picture, followed by "Timeline," "Documents," "Statistics," and "Bibliography." All entries are fully fleshed out with plenty of particulars regarding journalism's famous "five w's." The set is replete with special features; numerous text boxes contain biographical sketches of major military figures, explanations of various weapons, and statistical snapshots of battles. Generous end matter consists of appendixes listing military ranks, awards/decorations, and overall statistics, along with a glossary of military terms, a bibliography, and chronological and general indexes. While the set is well illustrated with historic prints, paintings, and maps (many taking up a full page for easy viewing), all are in black and white only. Color printing would have enlivened the page and enabled the reader to discern more details of dress and armament, yet this is a quibble.