I happened to be reading this while reading a history of the Mossad which McPhee says was modeled on the Swiss army.

Well-written and an interesting look into Switzerland, but it is out of date (at least I assume so in many aspects) and not worth the read.

Enjoyable and informative.

Well, it was just OK. This is my fifth or sixth McPhee book, and this one had it's issues -some were McPhee's writing, some were his topic.

McPhee occasionally uses jargon well before he gives us context to understand it -in no book will he ever get around to coming out and explaining it. In some instances, the meaning is intuitive, but in a book about the Swiss military, that jargon is in French, and expands to include nuanced geography on Switzerland.

And the topic? It nearly felt like a sci-fi book - the Swiss have charges set to blow-up their bridges? Hidden airplane hangers set in holes in the Alps?

If you love McPhee, don't miss this; if you aren't committed to take the McPhee Pledge, put this on the back burner.

A typically McPhee-ian account of the Swiss Army, which has managed to keep its country out of wars for at least the last 400 years--no mean feat when you consider that most of the neighboring countries have been at each other's throats for at least half of those 400 years (okay, it's a rough estimate). Written with McPhee's usual bone-dry humor and laced with the kinds of McPhee-style factoids that you can use to spice up a particularly dull Thanksgiving dinner, it's a provocative little book that actually makes you think about some things that you'd never really thought about thinking about before.

Great book, very skillful writing. Its about the swiss army - an army so powerful its never been attacked. I never could decide if the story was true or fiction, or whether it was a little bit satire or dead serious. That made it a fun read. I recommend

Fascinating book.
Recently introduced to John McPhee’s writing and I’m hooked!

Wonderful and fascinating, as are all of McPhee's books. I only wish this one was longer.

Odd but feel like I learned a few things at least

Quick, short read about the enigmatic, but strangely effective, Swiss military.

My father's side of the family emigrated from Switzerland in the 19th Century. In a somewhat breezy fashion, John McPhee tours the Swiss military and shows a bit of why Switzerland has never been invaded successfully. I'd like to see my country adopt a similar strategy. (Cf. Heinlein's "Starship Troopers.")

I read this a long time ago and thought it was quite good. I need to reread it before I write a proper review and give it a rating.