Edition |
2008
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Publication |
USA, Cambridge University Press, 1995.
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Description |
vii, 440pRed Spine
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Summary/Abstract |
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 defence; discipline and intelligence; mercenaries and standing armies; cavalry and infantry; chivalry and Blitzkrieg; guerilla 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?
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Contents |
Introduction: the Western way of war
Part I The Age of Massed Infantry
Genesis of infantry 600-350 BC
From phalanx to legion 350-250 BC
The Roman way of war 250 BC-AD 300
Part II The Age of Stone Fortifications
On Roman ramparts 300-1300
New weapons, new tactics 1300-1500
The gunpowder revolution 1300-1500
Part III The Age of Guns and Sails
Ships of the line 1500-1650
Conquest of the Americas 1500-1650
Dynastic war 1494-1660
States in conflict 1661-1763
Nations in arms 1763-1815
Part IV The Age of Mechanized Warfare
The industrialization of war 1815-1871
Towards world war 1871-1914
The West at war 1914-18
The world in conflict 1919-41
The world at war 1941-45
The post-war world
Epilogue: the future of Western warfare
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Standard Number |
9780521738064 Pb.
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