The Cambridge History of War
The Cambridge History of War
Dennis Showalter, Colorado College
Hans van de Ven, University of Cambridge
£141.00
GBPVolume IV of The Cambridge History of War offers a definitive new account of war in the most destructive period in human history. Opening with the massive conflicts that erupted in the mid nineteenth century in the US, Asia and Europe, leading historians trace the global evolution of warfare through 'the age of mass', 'the age of machine' and 'the age of management'. They explore how industrialization and nationalism fostered vast armies whilst the emergence of mobile warfare and improved communications systems made possible the 'total warfare' of the two World Wars. With military conflict regionalized after 1945 they show how guerrilla and asymmetrical warfare highlighted the limits of the machine and mass as well as the importance of the media in winning 'hearts and minds'. This is a comprehensive guide to every facet of modern war from strategy and operations to its social, cultural, technological and political contexts and legacies.
- Comprehensive, global history of war in the modern world
- Taking a broad approach to military history, the volume pays attention to the social effects of war, to occupation, to memory and efforts to contain and humanize it, as well as to strategy and operations
- Expert authors provide authoritative summaries of the principal wars of the period
Reviews & endorsements
'This final volume of The Cambridge History of War poses perhaps a greater challenge to its editors than any of its predecessors, but they have met it with total success. The years it covers, from the mid-nineteenth century to the present day, have seen the greatest transformation in society in the history of mankind, and war has been transformed with it … It would be invidious to single out individual chapters for commendation. All are by well-chosen experts … but the real credit must go to the editors who planned the book, selected a team so uniquely well qualified to write it and provided an excellent bibliography.' International Affairs
'This is a pretty amazing book … The speed of this ambitious romp through history is sometimes breathtaking.' Thomas Ricks, Foreign Policy (foreignpolicy.com)
'A cultural history of war that is based on the latest scholarship and state-of-the-art conceptualization. … an outstanding collective achievement.' Benjamin Ziemann, H-Soz-u-Kult
Product details
September 2012Hardback
9780521875776
668 pages
235 × 157 × 37 mm
1.19kg
39 b/w illus. 19 maps
Available
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Part I. The Industrialization of Warfare, 1850–1914:
- 1. The wars of mid century Hans van de Ven
- 2. War, technology and industrial change, 1850–1914 Geoffrey Wawro
- 3. War and imperial expansion Bruce Vandervort
- 4. The non-western world responds to imperialism, 1850–1914 John P. Dunn
- 5. War, society, and culture, 1850–1914: the rise of militarism Roger Chickering
- 6. War-making and restraint by law: the formative years, 1864–1914 Jean Quataert
- 7. The arms race: qualitative and quantitative aspects Antulio J. Echevarria II
- Part II. The Era of Total War, 1914–45:
- 8. World War I Michael S. Neiberg
- 9. Military captivity in two world wars: legal frameworks and camp regimes Iris Rachamimov
- 10. Military occupations, 1914–45 Sophie De Schaepdrijver
- 11. Homefronts: the mobilization of resources for total war Pierre Purseigle
- 12. The search for peace in the interwar period Carole Fink
- 13. Commemorating war, 1914–45 Jay Winter
- 14. Military doctrine and planning in the interwar era Eugenia Kiesling
- 15. The military and the revolutionary state Roger Reese
- 16. World War II Gerhard Weinberg
- Part III. Post-Total Warfare, 1945–2005:
- 17. Military occupations, 1945–55 Dennis Showalter
- 18. The wars after the War, 1945–54 Odd Arne Westad
- 19. Weapons technology in the two nuclear ages C. Dale Walton
- 20. Conventional war, 1945–90 Williamson Murray
- 21. Wars of decolonization, 1945–75 Anthony Clayton
- 22. War and memory since 1945 Rana Mitter
- 23. The era of American hegemony, 1989–2005 Mark Moyar.
