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George Beahm, a former U.S. Army major, draws on his experience to discuss the military science of the sprawling Star Wars universe its personnel, weapons, technology, tactics and strategy, including an analysis of its key battles to explain how the outmanned and outgunned rebels ultimately prevailed against overwhelming forces.
Contrasting the military doctrine of the real world with the fictional world of Star Wars, the author constructively criticizes the military strengths and weaknesses of Darth Vader’s Galactic Empire and Kylo Ren’s First Order...
From Star Wars A New Hope (1977) to Rogue One (2016), this timely book demystifies the operational arts in an accessible and entertaining way for military personnel and civilians.
Replete with a glossary of military terms, The Military Science of Star Wars is supplemented with an annotated bibliography.
Read Online The Military Science of Star Wars George Beahm Books
"Perfect gift for a graduating high schooler with a passion for Star Wars. Imaginative analysis of plots with a dash of humor. Who could ask for more?"
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The Military Science of Star Wars George Beahm Books Reviews :
The Military Science of Star Wars George Beahm Books Reviews
- I would have given this a 3.5 out of 5 if I could, but I decided to round up to 4.
The basic premise and purpose of this book is one that I have long been waiting for. I am not a 'hardcore' Star Wars fan, really only paying attention to the live action films, but a fan nonetheless, and my favorite 'thing' in the series is actually the Space Battles. I do have a great long time interest in military history and science, despite never having served in the armed forces.
The book does cover several aspects of military science as portrayed in the Star Wars films (Episodes 1 through 7, plus Rogue One), alongside comparisons with real life counterparts in our world, mostly with the modern US military. I particularly appreciated the appraisals of the abilities of some of the characters, especially Han Solo, Jyn Erso, Rey, and Admiral Piett, and his praising of the strong female characters was quite welcome.
I don't necessarily agree with all of the author's conclusions on some things, especially since I think that, in most respects, the Emperor's plan for the space ambush at Endor in Return of the Jedi was rather well thought out but failed to have contingencies, but I wont go into detail on that.
My first criticism is that some portions, particularly the examinations of specific battles in part 5, were rather short. I would also have liked an examination of the Battle of Scarif in Rogue One.
But this book, despite having just been released, is in desperate need of a revised edition for two reasons
The first is that, while the Last Jedi is referenced a few times, I believe it should be explored more, and of course there could be plenty to discuss in the as yet unnamed Episode IX.
However, the main reason why this needs to be revised is that there are SEVERAL blatant errors that should have been caught and are mostly VERY easy to fix. I'm not talking about specific little details on specs of things like X-Wings and AT-ATs, but obvious big picture things that absolutely should have been caught, some of which don't have to do with Star Wars, but our own real world. This is especially annoying when the author rightly says that this is for those who are already familiar with, at minimum, the films (again Episodes 1-7, plus Rogue One)
The worst is that on several occasions, the Battle of Naboo is referred to having happened in Episode II Attack of the Clones, including on the first page of the section analyzing the battle, when the header clearly gives the correct film it was in Episode I The Phantom Menace. (also, strangely, in the afterword, the author appears to not acknowledge the existence of Episode III Revenge of the Sith, mentioning the '13 year wait after Attack of the Clones' for Abrams to bring us the new series.)
Also, several times there are references to the Second Death Star being the center of Empire Strikes Back, when in actually the film it was in was Return of the Jedi. One point also mentions the presence of Female X-Wing pilots in Empire Strikes Back. Having seen the film several times, as far as I can tell, the ONLY X-Wing and pilot really shown in any detail is Luke Skywalker's craft. Now I have no doubt that in the actual universe there probably were female pilots, but they are not shown on screen. The only female fighter pilot I can recall seeing in the Original Trilogy is one brief shot of an A-Wing pilot in Return of the Jedi that is female, but inexplicably and frustratingly is dubbed over with a male voice.
There are also glaring errors with things about our own world. One passage refers to a battle between Alexander the Great and Darius III happening in 1100BC, which is very wrong, as both rulers were alive in the 300s BC. Another makes mention of the 'underdogs' in the Vietnam War. I quote from the book "the little guy was represented by the North Vietnamese regulars, known as the Vietcong". The North Vietnamese Regulars, or the uniformed soldiers, were separate and different from the Vietcong, who were irregular guerillas, largely from South Vietnam.
Also, there are two very big errors in an early part of the book talking about the effect the first Star Wars release in 1977 had. Here is the passage
"It was as time when the public badly needed and escapist movie in which to lose themselves, because the Vietnam War had just ended the month before and left a bitter aftertaste.
Star Wars paved the way for another summer blockbuster a month later Steven Spielberg's Jaws"
Okay, the second error is the most obvious Jaws was released in June 1975, almost two years before Star Wars, and Jaws was really the first 'blockbuster' so that statement is completely false and should just be removed altogether.
Regarding the public mood over Vietnam and Star Wars being an escape, that is basically correct, however, the Vietnam War did not end 'just the month before". Star Wars was released on May 25th 1977 (and I maintain that May 25th should be the real Star Wars Day). You could argue two times when the Vietnam war ended, neither of which are even close to one month from May 1977 January 1973, when the US formally ended involvement, or April 30 1975, when South Vietnam finally fell to the North.
These errors should be so jarringly obvious to most who would be interested in this book (fans of Star Wars and Military Affairs), that these errors should absolutely have not made it to print.
This book is pretty good overall and I am glad to have bought it, but there seriously needs to be a revised edition, the errors are so blatant and obvious that anyone seriously reading it cannot miss them. There are even a few that I did not mention. - I found this book to be very enjoyable and informative.Â
The concept of someone that has military training and/or experience analyzing and exploring the accuracy (or lack thereof) of the military aspects of the Star Wars franchise is great. Â And the execution is overall very well done. Â I especially like how the author broke down the different aspects of war and battle in the book with Personnel, Weapons, Technology, etc. Â This makes it really great to jump around on the and read about a specific topic. Â The footnotes spread throughout also provide lots of great little tidbits and insights.
One addition I would love to see in a future revision, is in the Personnel section. Â A lot of time was spent discussing Jyn Erso and Rey early on in the book as well as females in combat overall, and although I enjoyed and appreciated these sections, I would love the author to have added some more sections discussing his thoughts and analyses on some of the other iconic characters in the total franchise. Â The section feels a bit incomplete to me without exploring Obi Wan's military career (which spans four of the films) but making room for the Gomer Pyle of Star Wars Jar Jar Binks.
Overall, I am very pleased with the book and would recommend it to anyone with even a passing interest in the Star Wars franchise and especially those that consider themselves fans of the series who want more insight into all of the military aspects of the series. - Perfect gift for a graduating high schooler with a passion for Star Wars. Imaginative analysis of plots with a dash of humor. Who could ask for more?
- This book really gets the science of star wars. I did not think anything was bad about this book. I like it
- [I received a copy of this in exchange for an honest review.]
This IS the (droid) book I've been looking for! If that very exacting title doesn't grab ya, this is probably not for you, because the military science of Star Wars is exactly what The Military Science of Star Wars is all about. Surprised?
Because of my all-abiding childhood love of Star Wars, I was hoping for a book that took the movie franchise seriously and that's what I got. Military veteran George Beahm provides a nice overview of various aspects of the movies - leadership, weaponry, tactics - and analyses each regarding effectiveness. When he praised Princess Leia and trashed Jar Jar, I knew I was in good hands.
This book is only meant to be a primer for the layman, so it doesn't go into fine-tooth-comb levels of depth. There were times when I wished Beahm lingered longer on blasters and ship capabilities, but being an all-encompassing encyclopedia was not the intention and so I had to reel in my hopes and dreams a bit now and then. Plus, I can always find a more in depth book on any specific topic of interest, which will be easy to find, because this book is rounded out with a lengthy bibliography and interesting appendixes. I almost enjoyed them as much as the rest of the book. That's a first!
Oh, one last important thing. This guy really does not like Top Gun. He makes fun of its inaccuracies at every turn. Another reason to love this book! - A fascinating book! If you ever wondered “So why did the Empire lose to the Rebels when they had so many more forces?â€, then this is the book for you. Very easy to read, the book answers that questions and explains so many other military Star Wars matters so everybody can understand them.
