Mystics & Statistics

Four Russo-Ukrainian War Books

Below is a picture of my three (four) books on the Russo-Ukrainian War. It includes The Battle for Kyiv, the paperback Kyiv, The Siege Mariupol, and Operation Spider’s Web. We have a fourth book in work (2026?), plans for a fifth book (2027?) and have discussed a sixth and seventh book (maybe 2028). Sort of depends what else I am doing with my time.



Anyhow, do have a picture of their bindings so you can see their relative size difference. Not all my books are really thick.

Operation Spider’s Web is my most recent release:

 

 

French Air Power 1918-1940: Politics

The seventh of a series of eight presentations on French Air Power 1918 – 1940 by Dr. James Slaughter is this Wednesday, 10 June, 7:00 PM (EST) via Zoom.

The Zoom link is here:

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82312904908?pwd=hThCR8854TXLDessozm3w8MrUNydYW.1

The whole series is here: French Air Power 1918-1940 – The Dupuy Institute

 

The call for presentations for the Fifth HAAC is here: Call for Presentations for the Fifth HAAC, 20 – 22 October 2026 – The Dupuy Institute

The schedule for the Fifth HAAC is rapidly filling in. Now is a good time to commit: HAAC 2026: Fifth Historical Analysis Annual Conference (HAAC) – The Dupuy Institute

Just email me at LawrenceTDI@aol.com is you want to sign up for a presentation.

The sign-up for Fifth HAAC is here: Fifth Historical Analysis Annual Conference (HAAC) Tickets, Tuesday, October 20  •  8 AM – 6 PM | Eventbrite

I have received my copies of Operation Spider’s Web

I have received my six author copies of Operation Spider’s Web. The book is available in the UK at bookstores and on Amazon.com (UK). It will be available in the U.S. at bookstores and on Amazon.com come 30 July.

Got a few pictures of it:

 

With the exception of America’s Modern Wars (my most significant book), we do not sell any of my books directly. We do sell several of Trevor Dupuy books directly: Understanding War (his most significant book), Elusive Victory (still the best book on the Arab-Israeli Wars), Brave Men and Great Captains, Understanding Defeat, Future Wars, Harper Encyclopedia of Military Biography, Military Heritage of America (volume 2), If War Comes, Hitler’s Last Gamble (in Japanese) and A Genius for War. We are out of Attrition and Numbers, Predictions and War. See: Books – The Dupuy Institute

Elon Musk on The Encyclopedia of Military History

It has just come to my attention that Elon Musk has referenced the Encyclopedia of Military History in one of his posts two years ago. See: Elon Musk on The Encyclopedia of Military History by Richard Ernest Dupuy and Elon Musk on X: “Some audiobook recommendations: The Story of Civilization by Durant Iliad (Penguin Edition) The Road to Serfdom by Hayek American Caesar by Manchester Masters of Doom by Kushner The Wages of Destruction by Tooze The Storm of Steel by Junger The Guns of August by Tuchman The” / X

He does comment that:

I hope someone makes an audiobook of The Encyclopedia of Military History by Dupuy and The Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World by Creasy.

Anyhow, if he is reading the Encyclopedia, I would also recommend Understanding War by Trevor Dupuy and possibly War by Numbers by Christopher A. Lawrence. 

A new board has been stood up for The Dupuy Institute

We have stood up a new board of nine members for The Dupuy Institute, Inc. They are listed below along with a brief online bio.

Chairman: Rear-Admiral Jeffrey Harley – Rear-Admiral-Jeffrey-A-Harleye265.pdf
Vice-Chairman: Dr. Alexander Kott – Alexander Kott – Silver Spring, Maryland, USA | Yrkesprofil | LinkedIn
Secretary/Treasurer: Col. Joseph Follansbee – JOE FOLLANSBEE – Combat Weapons Development LLC | LinkedIn
Dr. Christopher Davis – Christopher Davis, Ph.D. – US Army | LinkedIn
Dr. Arnold Dupuy – Arnold C. Dupuy – Atlantic Council
Jacob Friend – PolyForge Industries, LLC | LinkedIn
Christopher A. Lawrence – Director – Christopher A. Lawrence – The Dupuy Institute
LtC. Michael McCarthy – Michael McCarthy – At home | LinkedIn
Major General David San Clemente – National Guard Biography

The Dupuy Institute was founded in 1992 by Trevor Dupuy as a continuation of the historically-based analysis his organizations had been doing since 1962. De facto, we have roots going back 64 years. It was a non-profit 501(c)(3) company from 1992 to 2014. The new TDI, Inc. is also planned to be a non-profit corporation. Want to take a moment to thank all of our new board members for volunteering and for their commitment to development of historically-based (meaning real world) analysis of modern defense issues.

More data on Port of Salerno engagements

Now…. the engagement in the last post was from the Combat Data Subscription Service published in 1975. These were the engagements used to create the QJM (@1977) and validate the QJM. They were later assembled into something called the Land Warfare Data Base (LWDB) which was used as the basis of CBD90. It was also used as the basis for a lot of what became our DuWar series of databases, and this engagement is in the DLEDB (Division-Level Engagement Data Base). It has been reviewed and revised. The current database shows:

  1. Engagement: 23003
  2. Port of Salerno Beachhead
  3. 9/9/43
  4. Br 46th Div 
  5. Ger KG Doernemann, 16th PzD
  6. Strength: 12917
  7. Strength: 2,995
  8. Armor: 0
  9. Armor: 0
  10. Artillery: 90
  11. Artillery: 18
  12. Suprise level: Minor
  13. Casualties: 350 (2.71%)
  14. Casualties: 70 (2.34%)
  15. Created 30 October 1998 for EPW study by Richard Anderson

 

 

  1. Engagement: 23004
  2. Port of Slaerno (rev)
  3. 9/10/43 – 9/11/43
  4. Br 46th Div
  5. Ger KG Schmalz, HG Division
  6. Strength: 16,837
  7. Strength: 11,955
  8. Armor: 48
  9. Armor: 72
  10. Artillery: 119
  11. Artillery: 36
  12. Casualties: 1180 (3.50% a day)
  13. Casualties: 300 (1.25% a day)
  14. Extensively revised 30 October 1998 for EPW study by Richard Anderson. Original engagement no. 3950 deleted.

 

Anyhow, there two engagements replaced the original engagement in the QJM validation database and the CBD90. In the DLEDB there are actually 96 fields that describe an engagement. This is an abbreviated list. 

Data from the First Validation of the QJM

I do state in War by Numbers that there were three validations of the QJM/TNDM although the first was not published. That is not entirely correct. It was not published as a stand alone validation, but significant parts of it was published. The actual engagements were all published as part of the Combat Data Subscription Service. It was eight volumes, with the first volume published in 1975. In there it listed all the engagements used by the QJM. For example (page 6):

 

 

 

 

 

Now, the actual results of these test runs was published in his 1977 book Numbers, Predictions and War (NPW).  As Trevor Dupuy specifically notes on page 58 of his book:

Appendix B contains a consolidated summary of HERO’s QJM Engagement Data Base. The first 8l examples in this consolidated statistical comparison show the theoretical results and actual results of these 81 World War II engagements (60 in the Development Data Base, 21 in the Validating Data Base; 61 in ltaly, 19 in northwest Europe, and 1 in Russia). In all of these the P/P value reflects an average German combat effectiveness superiority factor of about 23 percent.”

This was done back in the day when Data Base was two words and could exist on paper, vice a computer.

Anyhow, in Appendix B of NPW is “HERO’s QJM Data Base (as of May 1977)”.  The specific engagement in question is given as:

No.     Year & Date          Battle Designation         Force X Designation     Posture
1.         1943, Sep   9-11     Port of Salerno                B  46 ID                               A
                                                                                                                                 Air %:
Force Y Designation       Posture            Na            Nd               S/S          W   W     P/P
G   16 PzD                            PD                     12,917       4,250         1.83          0     22   0.73
                                                                % cas/day
Surp     P/P          PR/PR      CEV       x         y             I          I           SE         SE
1.5          1.10          0.87          0.79      3.51    0.94      7.4      2.3       1.02     3.85

I left out the subscripts. But one can see Appendix B (pages 234-235) for these details.

Now, this does not still actually do a direct validation in that it compares model results to actual historical combat results, but one can see the data they used for their inputs and what the outcomes were of these engagements.

French Air Power: The Spanish Civil War

The sixth of a series of eight presentations on French Air Power 1918 – 1940 by Dr. James Slaughter is this Wednesday, 27 May, 7:00 PM (EST) via Zoom.

The Zoom link is here:

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87873302892?pwd=CxXR7quHmysDYl6S8xeOM73qDo6KwI.1

The whole series is here: French Air Power 1918-1940 – The Dupuy Institute




 

 

The call for presentations for the Fifth HAAC is here: Call for Presentations for the Fifth HAAC, 20 – 22 October 2026 – The Dupuy Institute

The schedule for the Fifth HAAC is rapidly filling in. Now is a good time to commit: HAAC 2026: Fifth Historical Analysis Annual Conference (HAAC) – The Dupuy Institute

Just email me at LawrenceTDI@aol.com is you want to sign up for a presentation.

The sign-up for Fifth HAAC is here: Fifth Historical Analysis Annual Conference (HAAC) Tickets, Tuesday, October 20  •  8 AM – 6 PM | Eventbrite

Operation Spider’s Web released in UK

My latest book Operation Spider’s Web: Ukraine’s Devastating Drone Attack on Russia’s Long-Range Aircraft has been released in the UK.

The link is here: Pen and Sword Books: Operation Spider’s Web – Hardback

The UK Amazon.com link is here: Operation Spider’s Web: Ukraine’s Devastating Drone Attack on Russia’s Long-Range Aircraft: Amazon.co.uk: Christopher A Lawrence: 9781036196738: Books

It is available in the UK in hardcover. The kindle edition will be available before 30 July in the U.S. and UK.  The hardcover version has a release date in the U.S. of 30 July 2026.

This is my third book on the Russo-Ukrainian War (Kyiv, Mariupol and now Operation Spider’s Web). Working on more. 

French Air Power: Doctrine and Intelligence 1934 – 1940

The fifth of a series of eight presentations on French Air Power 1918 – 1940 by Dr. James Slaughter is this Wednesday, 13 May, 7:00 PM (EST) via Zoom.

The Zoom link is here:

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83581419598?pwd=V2Pncrzxk686uy6ahVa7lT0M8GVPSu.1

The whole series is here: French Air Power 1918-1940 – The Dupuy Institute

The Morane D-3801 (from Switzerland late 1940).
At the Duxford Airshow 2006 (photo by Kogo)


The call for presentations for the Fifth HAAC is here: Call for Presentations for the Fifth HAAC, 20 – 22 October 2026 – The Dupuy Institute

The schedule for the Fifth HAAC is rapidly filling in. Now is a good time to commit: HAAC 2026: Fifth Historical Analysis Annual Conference (HAAC) – The Dupuy Institute

Just email me at LawrenceTDI@aol.com is you want to sign up for a presentation.

The sign-up for Fifth HAAC is here: Fifth Historical Analysis Annual Conference (HAAC) Tickets, Tuesday, October 20  •  8 AM – 6 PM | Eventbrite