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9780521846820 - The Asian Military Revolution - From Gunpowder to the Bomb - by Peter A. Lorge
Frontmatter/Prelims

The Asian Military Revolution

Records show that the Chinese invented gunpowder in the 800s. By the 1200s they had unleashed the first weapons of war upon their unsuspecting neighbors. How did they react? What were the effects of these first wars? This extraordinarily ambitious book traces the history of that invention and its impact on the surrounding Asian world – Korea, Japan, Southeast Asia and South Asia – from the ninth through the twentieth century. As the book makes clear, the spread of war and its technology had devastating consequences on the political and cultural fabric of those early societies although each reacted very differently. The book, which is packed with information about military strategy, interregional warfare, and the development of armaments, also engages with the major debates and challenges traditional thinking on Europe’s contribution to military technology in Asia. Articulate and comprehensive, this book will be a welcome addition to the undergraduate classroom and to all those interested in Asian studies and military history.

PETER LORGE is Senior Lecturer in the Department of History at Vanderbilt University, Tennessee. His previous publications include War, Politics and Society in Early Modern China (2005) and The International Reader in Military History: China Pre-1600 (2005).

New Approaches to Asian History

This dynamic new series will publish books on the milestones in Asian history, those that have come to define particular periods or mark turning-points in the political, cultural and social evolution of the region. Books are intended as introductions for students to be used in the classroom. They are written by scholars whose credentials are well established in their particular fields and who have, in many cases, taught the subject across a number of years.

Books in the series
Judith M. Brown, Global South Asians: Introducing the Modern Diaspora
Diana Lary, China’s Republic
Peter A. Lorge, The Asian Military Revolution: From Gunpowder to the Bomb

The Asian Military Revolution

From Gunpowder to the Bomb

Peter A. Lorge
Vanderbilt University, Tennessee

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS
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Cambridge University Press
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Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York

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Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521609548

© Peter A. Lorge 2008

This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception
and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements,
no reproduction of any part may take place without
the written permission of Cambridge University Press.

First published 2008

Printed in the United Kingdom at the University Press, Cambridge

A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Lorge, Peter Allan, 1967–
The Asian military revolution / Peter A. Lorge.
p. cm. – (New approaches to Asian history)
ISBN 978-0-521-84682-0
1. Asia–History, Military. 2. Military art and science–History.
I. Title. II. Series.
DS33.7.L66 2008
355.0095–dc22
2007051673

ISBN 978-0-521-84682-0 hardback

ISBN 978-0-521-60954-8 paperback

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the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or
third-party internet websites referred to in this book,
and does not guarantee that any content on such
websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.

Contents

Maps

Acknowledgments

This book would not have been written without the encouragement of David Graff. It was his idea that I write a book on gunpowder in Asian history, and he overcame my initial resistance to such a project. I can only hope that the end result does not disappoint him. My editor, Marigold Acland, provided further encouragement, and steered me through the very long process of book production. Her team of editors vastly improved my manuscript. I must also thank the three anonymous reviewers of the initial proposal, whose comments were so helpful. To the anonymous reader of the final manuscript, who caught so many errors, I can only say dōmo arigatō gozaimashita. My thanks also to my copy-editor, Carol Fellingham Webb.

I was also fortunate to receive timely criticism from Michael Charney and Lai-chen Sun that corrected many points in my chapter on Southeast Asia.

Having stretched so far to write this book, I am acutely aware of my shortcomings. Despite the kindly and scholarly efforts of several people, many of my mistakes remain.

Chronology

Glossary

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