Western Warfare 1775 1882

This is a wide-ranging and comprehensive survey of warfare from the outbreak of the American War of Independence to the British conquest of Egypt. Drawing on both primary and secondary sources this book offers an unrivalled account of civil and international conflicts involving Western powers, integrating both naval and land warfare. This book covers military capability as well as conflict, social and political contexts as well as weaponry, tactics and strategy. As well as examining such major conflicts as the Napoleonic Wars, the Crimean War, the American Civil War and the Wars of German Unification, this book redresses the imbalance of previous treatments by examining other important conflicts, for example, those in Latin America, as well as insurgency and counter-insurgency in Europe. This book's global perspective provides for a more reliable assessment of what constitutes military capability. In so doing, the author challenges the technological determinism and linear conceptions of developments in military science that continue to characterise much of military history. Instead the author reveals a much more complex dynamic, indeed going so far as to question the idea of 'modernity' itself. Bold in scope, and cutting-edge in its interpretations, this book offers much for the student, general reader and professional historian alike.

In this companion volume to "Western Warfare, 1775-1882," Jeremy Black takes his analysis of modern warfare into the twentieth century. As before, a distinctive feature of the author's approach is the coverage of both land and naval warfare as well as conflict within the West and between Western and non-Western powers. Beginning with the British conquest of Egypt in 1882, this book goes on to examine the Spanish-American War of 1898, the Boer War and the Balkan conflicts leading to world war in 1914. A revisionist account of the First World War is followed by a discussion of Western expansionism in the period to 1936. Chapters on the interwar years and the Second World War lead on to a discussion of the retreat from empire and the advent of Cold War. The narrative closes with the end of the Vietnam War in 1975 and a discussion of the limitations of Western military technique, doctrine and technology. Throughout, the themes of military change and modernization are brought into sharp focus and the revolutionary characteristics of the machination of war in this period are questioned. Jeremy Black offers a new and challenging interpretation of modern warfare that will be required reading not only for students of military history but for all those interested in the impact of war in the making of the modern world.

Our world of increasing and varied conflicts is confusing and threatening to citizens of all countries, as they try to understand its causes and consequences. This book takes advantage of a diversity of geographic perspectives as it analyzes the political processes of war and their spatial expression.

How and why war and peace occur cannot be understood without realizing that those who make war and peace must negotiate a complex world political map of sovereign spaces, borders, networks, and scales. This book takes advantage of a diversity of perspectives as it analyzes the political processes of war and their spatial expression. Topics include terrorism, nationalism, religion, drug wars, water conflicts, diplomacy, peace movements, and post-war reconstruction.

Developing ideas established in the successful first edition, this new version of America's War on Terror updates and expands the original collection of essays, allowing the reader to fully understand how the causes of the war on terror, both the domestic and foreign policy implications, and the future challenges faced by the United States have moved on since 2003. Features include: " Four specifically designed sections which examine the topic from different perspectives and orientations to provide a balanced and nuanced understanding of the issues. " New material takes into account events through the election of Barack Obama and potential changes in the US-led war on terror. " Four additional core chapters look at Homeland Security, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Central Asia, Iraq and the Persian Gulf and Globalization, all with a focus on the War on Terror. " A robust introduction builds on the previous preface, while the editors have also developed a concluding section that brings together the major themes of the work and provides an overview of future policy challenges and options. The book's existing tables and appendices are also completely updated. " Essays written from a variety of perspectives provide instructors with a useful tool to supplement course materials. " The book also offers the student an analytical means with which to understand the factors behind the attacks, the nation's response to them, and the continuing evolving impact of terrorism on domestic and international politics. America's War on Terror, Second Edition will be of interest and utility to academics, the general public and most significantly to students as a reader for such courses as US foreign policy, international security, terrorism, Islamic studies, American politics and international relations.

Introduction to Global Military History provides a lucid and comprehensive account of military developments around the modern world from the eighteenth century up to the present day. Beginning with the background to the American War of Independence and the French Revolutionary wars and ending with the recent conflicts of the twenty-first century, this third edition combines fully up-to-date global coverage with close analysis not only of the military aspects of war but also its social, cultural, political and economic dimensions and repercussions. The new edition includes a fully revised chapter on conflicts during the eighteenth century, updated coverage of events post-1990 and increased coverage of non-Western conflicts to provide a truly international account of the varied and changing nature of modern military history. Covering lesser-known conflicts as well as the familiar wars of history and illustrated throughout with maps, primary source extracts and case studies, it is essential reading for all students of modern military history and international relations.

War, Peace and International Relations provides an introduction to the strategic history of the past two centuries, showing how those 200 years were shaped and reshaped extensively by war. The book takes a broad view of what was relevant to the causes, courses, and consequences of wars. Written by leading strategist Professor Colin Gray, the book provides students with a good grounding in the contribution of war to the development of the modern world, from the pre-industrial era to the age of international terrorism and smart weapons. This second edition has been thoroughly revised and updated: It is the first one-volume strategic history textbook on the market; It covers all the major wars of the past two centuries; It is up to date and comprehensive, including a new section on the American Civil War, a new chapter on geography and strategy, and completely rewritten chapters on Iraq and Afghanistan in the 2000s and on irregular warfare. This textbook will be essential reading for students of strategic studies, security studies, war studies, international relations and international history.

“An “insightful and informative” overview of the role of tanks in combat from the First World War to the present day (Dennis Showalter, author of Armor and Blood). The story of the battlefield in the twentieth century was dominated by a handful of developments. Foremost of these was the introduction and refinement of tanks. In Tank Warfare, Jeremy Black, a recipient of the Samuel Eliot Morison Prize from the Society for Military History, offers a comprehensive global account of the history of tanks and armored warfare in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. First introduced onto the battlefield during World War I, tanks represented the reconciliation of firepower and mobility and immediately seized the imagination of commanders and commentators concerned about the constraints of ordinary infantry. The developments of technology and tactics in the interwar years were realized in the German blitzkrieg in World War II and beyond. Yet the account of armor on the battlefield is a tale of limitations and defeats as well as of potential and achievements. Tank Warfare examines the traditional narrative of armored warfare while at the same time challenging it, and Black suggests that tanks were no “silver bullet” on the battlefield. Instead, their success was based on their inclusion in the general mix of weaponry available to commanders and the context in which they were used. “An excellent overview of the subject.” —Alaric Searle, author of Armoured Warfare: A Military, Political and Global History

Described as "the New York Review of Books for history,"Historically Speaking has emerged as one of the most distinctive historical publications in recent years, actively seeking out contributions from a pantheon of leading voices in historical discourse from both inside and outside academia. Recent Themes in Military History represents some of the best writing on military history to appear in the past five years. This collection of forums, interviews, and individual essays drawn from Historically Speaking provides contrasting views on such topics in military history as the existence and function of military revolutions in the past and present, the experience of soldiering and combat, the particularly violent and gruesome nature of twentieth-century warfare, and projections of the nature of future wars. The ebb and flow of discourse between contributors also illustrates how the study of history is an ongoing conversation wherein discovery and debate lead to deeper understanding and development of fresh opportunities for further inquiry.