Product Description

How has war shaped modern society and vice versa? How has it changed between the introduction of firearms and the invention of the atom bomb? How is war waged today? The Oxford History of Modern War examines the techniques, technology, and theory of war from the 'military revolution' of the seventeenth century to the present day, with fascinating thematic chapters covering air and sea warfare, combat experience, women and war, and even opposition to war. The expert contributors explore major developments and themes, including the growth of modern military professionalism and mass armies, the extraordinary achievements of Napoleon's armies, the role of nationalism in battlegrounds as various as the American Civil War and the former Yugoslavia, colonial wars, the concept and reality of 'total war', and guerrilla warfare. This new and updated edition, with new chapters on 'people's war' and technology and war, brings the story into the twenty-first century, addressing the dilemmas faced by military strategists in confronting international terrorism and in the wake of the invasion of Iraq.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #254659 in Books
• Published on: 2005-06-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 432 pages

About the Author
Charles Townshend is Professor of International History at Keele University and the author of numerous books on warfare, including: Making the Peace: Public Order and Public Security in Modern Britain (1993) and Ireland: the Twentieth Century (1999).

Customer Reviews

A must read...
The book is the combined effort of some of the best military historians, edited by Charles Townshend, who did it with a great intelligence and craftsmanship.

'The musket made the infantryman and the infantryman made the democrat' The book starts with this quote from General J.F.C. Fuller. After reading the whole book, I think this is the essence of having such a compact text that describes such a long period of time that extends for almost a millinium. I do not think that it is meant to give all the little details about every battle in history. It is, on the other hand, a very good way to put militarism and military history in their historical context, how were they affected, and did affect, the social, political, economical and intellictual way of life in the west mainly and in the rest of the world.

The first part is 10 chapters putting the chronological evolution of modern war from the first military revolution until the people's war. It is what evereyone needs to know in order to properly understand historical lessons and know how and why we have what we have today. This part is written in a typical and a bit 'dry' historian style, It is very readable if you have interest in the subject, but at some points, one gets entangled with all the names and dates.

Part two is about the elements of modern war, technology, sea and air warfare, people, women, and how wars were opposed. This is more interesting and has more insight and analysis than the first part and will keep interest high after the first 200 pages of pure history telling.

Overall, I think this is a valuable book. We need to know the basics of history to be able to understand the present and, hopefully, improve the future.