S. P. MacKenzie

This is a comparative study of ten armies of revolution, spanning the modern era from the New Model Army to the Viet Cong.
The author examines these in case studies to discern what, if anything made them special or particularly different from their opponents/contemporary armies.
More than that though, is a detailed attempt to dismantle the mystique surrounding the armies: that their revolutionary fervour and nature was central or responsible in some way for their success.

In cases where I had read up on the army previously, the examination was nothing new (e.g. Nosworthy etc. on the French Revolutionary Army) but even there the number of people who still hold to the myth is amazing (obviousy many people are still reading popular histories, which are often 50 years behind current state-of-the-art research)
As for other armies (Bolivar/Voortrekkers/Taipeng Rebellion) where I'm not up to speed, it's definitely useful.

As for the pricing it's definitely not worth the ($125/£66) pricetag , but that price looks more aimed at the academic-library market; in which case it may do some good!
These studies are exactly the kind of thing which would be suitable for the undergraduate, to break the myths some of the idealistic rhetoric and self-serving memoirs (or lazy military histories) may have created.
One thing that definitely looks missing is a decent comparative summation (e.g. comparing desertion rates amongst these revolutionary armies and their peers).… (mehr)