On the Psychology of Military Incompetence

The Crimea, the Boer War, the Somme, Tobruk, Singapore, Pearl Harbour, Arnhem... highlights of a century of miltiary incompetence, of costly mishaps and tragic blunders. Are such blunders simply mishaps? Do they happen by accidence - as the `bloody fool' theory has it - or are they inevitable, caused by an incompetence which is itself an inexorable result of the requirements of the military system? Here, Dr. Dixon examines these and other mistakes and relates them to the social psychology of military organization and to the personalities of some eminent military commanders. His conclusions are both startling and disturbing...