The Main Line

Revolutionary War in World Strategy 1945-1969 By Sir Robert Thompson Taplinger, 171 pp., $4.59 In the jargon of our campus militants “relevant” gets a big play, though we seldom learn what anything is supposed to be relevant to. If they really wanted to understand what is happening in the world, as very few of them seem to do, they would have a hard time finding a text more relevant than Sir Robert Thompson’s new book: relevant in every paragraph and sentence, for there is no fat here, not a word off the main line, not a moment out for anything subjective, any “self-expression.”

Revolutionary War in World Strategy 1945-1969 is the third book in what may now be seen as a trilogy. The first, Defeating Communist Insurgency, deals with the postwar revolutionary conflict in Malaya, in which Sir Robert had a leading military and administrative role. The second, No Exit from Vietnam, narrates, analyzes and discusses the Vietnam affair, especially subsequent to the American involvement. Sir Robert was chief of the British Advisory Mission to Vietnam; he has been in close touch with the United States military and, since President Nixon took office, with the White House.

JB

About the Author

James Burnham

Featured Tags

Revolutionary War in World Strategy 1945-1969 By Sir Robert Thompson Taplinger, 171 pp., $4.59 In the jargon of our campus militants “relevant” gets a big play, though we seldom learn what anything is supposed to be relevant to. If they really wanted to understand what is happening in the world, as very few of them seem to do, they would have a hard time finding a text more relevant than Sir Robert Thompson’s new book: relevant in every paragraph and sentence, for there is no fat here, not a word off the main line, not a moment out for anything subjective, any “self-expression.”

Revolutionary War in World Strategy 1945-1969 is the third book in what may now be seen as a trilogy. The first, Defeating Communist Insurgency, deals with the postwar revolutionary conflict in Malaya, in which Sir Robert had a leading military and administrative role. The second, No Exit from Vietnam, narrates, analyzes and discusses the Vietnam affair, especially subsequent to the American involvement. Sir Robert was chief of the British Advisory Mission to Vietnam; he has been in close touch with the United States military and, since President Nixon took office, with the White House.