The Cambridge Illustrated History of Warfare

'Here is the story of war as the driving force in the rise of the West from the Greeks to our own day, now updated to 2019. In the fifteen years since the first edition of this book, war has unfortunately not become less central to our concerns - just the opposite. This remarkable volume, written by some of the world's leading experts in military history, helps us to understand why and how something as terrible as war remains so important in the history of the West and the world. Rarely has so much learning, lucidity, and wisdom been found between two covers.' Barry Strauss, Cornell University, and author of Ten Caesars: Roman Emperors from Augustus to Constantine

'This is, simply, the best survey of the history of warfare in half a century. It explains what the Western way of war is, whence it came, and how it dominated the planet down to the present day. The product of the collaboration of some of the best military historians now writing, it offers judgements as well as a compelling narrative, an argument as well as a story. There can be no better introduction to the study of military history.' Eliot A. Cohen, Robert E. Osgood Professor, Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies

'Highly polished and well illustrated, this book is a comprehensive history of the Western (European) way of war ... The text is superbly supported by numerous and handy sidebars providing details, insights, and anecdotes.' Library Journal

'... this is a well-written and handsomely presented volume ... the illustrations are pertinent, and the captions interesting ... the range of scholarship is impressive ... and it has all been pulled together by the finest military historian currently writing, who has also contributed several important sections'. History in Focus

'... exceptional ... and beautifully illustrated ... A highly readable book, and an interesting one, both for the expert and the amateur enthusiast. A must for college libraries.' USI Journal

'... impressive ...' Contemporary Review

Geoffrey Parker isAndreas Dorpalen Professor of European Historyand an associate of the Mershon Centerat The Ohio State University. He haspublished forty books, includingThe Army of Flanders and the Spanish Road 1567-1659: The Logistics of Spanish Victory and Defeat in the Low Countries'Wars,The Grand Strategy of Philip II,andThe Military Revolution 1500-1800: Military Innovation and the Rise of the West.His books have won numerous awards, and, in 2012, he received the biennial Heineken Prize in History, awarded by the Dutch Academy of Arts and Sciencesto the historian deemed to have had the greatest impact on the discipline. In 2006, nominated by some of his students, he won Ohio State's Alumni Award for Distinguished Teaching. He has also directed thirty-five doctoral theses to completion, and, in 2013, his advisees presented him with a Festschrift in honour of his seventieth birthday: The Limits of Empire: European Imperial Formations in Early Modern World History.

Preface; Introduction: The Western way of war Geoffrey Parker; Part I. The Age of Massed Infantry: 1. Genesis of the infantry, 600-350 BC Victor Davis Hanson; 2. From phalanx to legion, 350-250 BC Victor Davis Hanson; 3. The Roman way of war, 250 BC-AD 300 Victor Davis Hanson; Part II. The Age of Stone Fortifications: 4. On Roman ramparts, 300-1300 Bernard S. Bachrach; 5. New weapons, new tactics, 1300-1500 Christopher Allmand; 6. The gunpowder revolution, 1300-1500 Geoffrey Parker; Part III. The Age of Guns and Sails: 7. Ships of the line, 1500-1650 Geoffrey Parker; 8. The conquest of the Americas, 1500-1650 Patricia Seed; 9. Dynastic war, 1494-1660 Geoffrey Parker; 10. States in conflict, 1661-1763 John A. Lynn; 11. Nations in arms, 1763-1815 John A. Lynn; Part IV. The Age of Mechanized Warfare: 12. The industrialization of war, 1815-1871 Williamson A. Murray; 13. Towards world war, 1871-1914 Williamson A. Murray; 14. The West at war, 1914-1918 Williamson A. Murray; 15. The world in conflict, 1919-1941 Williamson A. Murray; 16. The world at war, 1941-1945 Williamson A. Murray; 17. The post-war world, 1945-1991 Williamson A. Murray; 18. The new world disorder, 1991-2019 Peter Mansoor and Geoffrey Parker; Epilogue: The future of Western warfare Geoffrey Parker and Leif A.Torkelsen; Reference guide; Chronology; Glossary; Bibliography; The contributors; Notes; Picture acknowledgements; Index.