The Cambridge Illustrated History of Warfare

Synopsis

"Now available in a revised and updated version, The Cambridge Illustrated History of Warfare provides a unique account of Western warfare from antiquity to the present day. The book treats the history of all aspects of the subject: the development of warfare on land, sea and air; weapons and technology; strategy and defense; discipline and intelligence; mercenaries and standing armies; cavalry and infantry; chivalry and Blitzkrieg; guerrilla assault and nuclear arsenals. It places in context particular key events in the history of armed engagement, from the Greek victory at Marathon, through the introduction of gunpowder in medieval England and France, to the jungle warfare of Vietnam and the strategic air attacks of the Gulf War. Throughout, there is an emphasis on the socio-economic aspects of military progress: who pays for it, how can its returns be measured, and to what extent does it explain the rise of the West to global dominance over two millennia?" [Amazon] "By 1800 western states controlled some 35 per cent of the world's land surface; by 1914 they had increased that total to almost 85 per cent--acquiring 10 million square miles between 1878 and 1914 alone. Even in the 1990s, although the area under their direct control has shrunk dramatically, the agility of western armed forces to intervene directly and decisively by land and sea more or less wherever they choose serves to safeguard the economic interests of it component states and to perpetuate a favourable balance of global power. The military abilities that preserved the West at Salamis (480 BC) and the Lechfeld (AD 955), and expanded its dominance at Tenochtitlan (1519-21) and Plassey (1757), for better or worse still sustain its preponderant role in the world today. The rise of the West is inconceivable without them." [p. 9]

RefTags

Cambridge Illustrated History of Warfare

Released

1995

Location

Global

Setting