War In The Modern World

“A brilliant survey of the history of warfare... the best yet produced anywhere.” — B. H. Liddell Hart “Outstanding and penetrating outline of the processes of war and the means of fighting from 1415 onward... skillfully and carefully written... [includes] one of the most comprehensive bibliographies of the history of war.” — E. B. Long, Chicago Tribune “A substantial and scholarly history of modern warfare from the age of the ‘great captains’ through the innovations of the industrial revolution, to our age of unlimited violence.” — Henry L. Roberts, Foreign Affairs “Leaves the reader astonished by its combinations of brevity, clarity, and accuracy.” — Times Literary Supplement “Theodore Ropp’s thoughtful and well-documented study of wars of Western civilization from 1415 to the present is most welcome because of its comprehensiveness. His book has the added attraction of readability, so it is to be hoped that it will inform and influence not only the professional soldier, but also the intelligent layman... Dr. Ropp has been eminently successful in emphasizing the most essential lessons for today. We see policy and grand strategy cooperate or fall apart in military activities from planning, recruiting, and training to strategy and tactics... throughout we are unobtrusively shown the disastrous consequences of failure to coordinate policy and strategy.” — Donald Armstrong, Military Affairs “Dr. Ropp has written a brilliant survey of the history of warfare in modern times. It is useful to the military man because it surveys concisely yet adequately modern concepts of war; it is equally helpful to the advocate of peace because it portrays the factors and the beliefs he must overcome if war is to be removed from the world... [a] concise, yet meticulously organized and accurate account of the place of war in modern society... Ropp has produced an invaluable insight into military thinking of the modern world.” — Elden Billings, World Affairs “[A] short and vivid summary of warfare as waged in modern time... Ropp’s book is a reminder that the history of warfare includes the raw materials with which the political, economic, diplomatic, or social historian also works... Ropp preserves timeless lessons for us, along with his evidence that warfare did much to disrupt and change the life of man in the past three hundred years. The historian cannot ignore the ways and means by which nations enforced these changes if he is to give the whole picture of the past.” — Forrest C. Pogue, The American Historical Review “A scholarly, thoughtful and well-written survey of the evolution of warfare from the ‘age of the captains’ to the ‘age of violence.’ The main stress is on the wars of the 20th century and on the effect of political, social and economic circumstances on the theory and practice of the military profession.” — C. P. Snow, Scientific American “Theodore Ropp’s volume... is principally a history of the political and social implications of warfare from the Renaissance to the present. But it is much more than that. It adequately summarizes the battles and campaigns that form the stuff of conventional military history; it analyzes the principal military theorists from Machiavelli to Clausewitz and Mahan; and it discusses the complex problem of military organization and the intricate relationships between military institutions and the governments they serve. Moreover, the analysis of American and European political, economic and social history is as sound as the discussion of the technical issues of strategy and tactics... a remarkable volume which, in addition, contains one of the finest working bibliographies of military history that has ever been put into print.” — Richard D. Challener, The American Scholar “It requires courage to undertake to survey the history of warfare through the past five centuries in less than 400 pages. Professor Ropp has done a remarkable job of just that in this unique volume... outstanding... is the manner in which the Bibliography is presented. It is developed by means of Footnotes to the text so that the reader has the applicable reference before him as he reads... The compilation of the Bibliography alone is a monumental piece of work... This volume is much more than an introductory textbook to military history; it is a reference work of real worth.” — Bern Anderson, The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science “War in the Modern World is a valuable book. It will be very useful in military history courses. And Professor Ropp’s excellent bibliographical notes are the most thorough and up-to-date guide to recent work in military history which is presently available; they are, indeed, beyond praise. These and its other virtues will make this a standard work in its field, useful alike to the beginner and the professor of military history. “ — William R. Emerson, The Mississippi Valley Historical Review “[A] distinguished one-volume history of military affairs spanning the past five centuries. It is superbly annotated and brilliantly balanced in its interpretation... the basic contribution of War in the Modern World is found in its central thesis: political, technological, and organizational features of warfare in history are indivisible... Professor Ropp’s contribution comes as close as any volume will to filling the crucial need for a balanced single volume on military history, broadly considered.” — Eugene M. Emme, Technology and Culture “War in the Modern World is far and away the best of the histories of military affairs... a remarkably fine piece of work... Professor Ropp has made a great contribution to an understanding of the phenomenon of war.” — Edward L. Katzenbach, Jr., The American Political Science Review “Surpasses any other general history of the subject.” — Library Journal “The narrative flows easily, is illuminated by flashes of colorful detail, and relates the development of warfare to the political, technological, and economic changes of the modern era... Especially stimulating and helpful is Mr. Ropp’s system of bibliographic footnotes. These are found on almost every page, directing the reader to a well-selected choice of historical and military writings which will provide more light and wider vistas whenever his interest is further stirred by what he is reading... This reviewer... has never seen anything quite as calculated to guide the beginner in further exploration of the subject or to serve as a quick reference index for the experienced analyst.” — New York Herald Tribune

In War in the Modern World, 1990-2014, Jeremy Black looks at the most modern of conflicts from the perspective that war is a central feature of the modern world. Arguing that understanding non-Western developments is crucial if the potential of Western war-making is to be assessed accurately, the book also asserts that knowing the history of conflict can only help future generations. Black argues for the need to emphasise the variety of military circumstances, as well as the extent to which the understanding of force and the definitions of victory and defeat are guided by cultural assumptions. War has a multi-faceted impact in the modern world, and this book shows its significance. As the latest volume in the Warfare and History series, this title takes a global and historical perspective on modern warfare, enabling the reader to approach familiar conflicts through a new analytical framework. This book is an invaluable resource for all students of the history of modern warfare.

From a highly decorated general, a brilliant new way of understanding war and its role in the twenty-first century. Drawing on his vast experience as a commander during the first Gulf War, and in Bosnia, Kosovo, and Northern Ireland, General Rupert Smith gives us a probing analysis of modern war. He demonstrates why today’s conflicts must be understood as intertwined political and military events, and makes clear why the current model of total war has failed in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other recent campaigns. Smith offers a compelling contemporary vision for how to secure our world and the consequences of ignoring the new, shifting face of war.

This book presents a collection of essays charting the developments in military practice and warfare across the world in the early modern period. It also considers the nature and role of technological change, and the relationship between military developments and state-building.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER SHORTLISTED for the 2021 Lionel Gelber Prize Thoughtful and brilliant insights into the very nature of war--from the ancient Greeks to modern times--from world-renowned historian Margaret MacMillan. War--its imprint in our lives and our memories--is all around us, from the metaphors we use to the names on our maps. As books, movies, and television series show, we are drawn to the history and depiction of war. Yet we nevertheless like to think of war as an aberration, as the breakdown of the normal state of peace. This is comforting but wrong. War is woven into the fabric of human civilization. In this sweeping new book, international bestselling author and historian Margaret MacMillan analyzes the tangled history of war and society and our complicated feelings towards it and towards those who fight. It explores the ways in which changes in society have affected the nature of war and how in turn wars have changed the societies that fight them, including the ways in which women have been both participants in and the objects of war. MacMillan's new book contains many revelations, such as war has often been good for science and innovation and in the 20th century it did much for the position of women in many societies. But throughout, it forces the reader to reflect on the ways in which war is so intertwined with society, and the myriad reasons we fight.

Volume 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.

In this latest addition to the War & Conflict Through the Ages series, Brian Sandberg offers a truly global examination of the intersections between war, culture, and society in the early modern period. He traces the innovative military technologies and practices that emerged around 1500, exploring the different forms of warfare including dynastic war, religious warfare, raiding warfare, and peasant revolt that shaped conflicts during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. He explains how significant social, economic, and political developments transformed warfare on land and at sea at a time of global imperialism and growing mercantilism, forcing states and military systems to respond to rapidly changing situations. Engaging and insightful, War and Conflict in the Early Modern World will appeal to scholars and students of world history, the early modern period, and those interested in the broader relationship between war and society.

This book examines the key dimensions of 21st century war, and shows that orthodox thinking about war, particularly what it is and how it is fought, needs to be updated. Accelerating societal, economic, political and technological change affects how we prepare, equip and organise for war, as well as how we conduct war – both in its low-tech and high-tech forms, and whether it is with high intensity or low intensity. The volume examines changes in warfare by investigating the key features of the conduct of war during the first decades of the 21st century. Conceptually centred around the terms ‘kinetic’, ‘connected’ and ‘synthetic’, the analysis delves into a wide range of topics. The contributions discuss hybrid warfare, cyber and influence activities, machine learning and artificial intelligence, the use of armed drones and air power, the implications of the counterinsurgency experiences in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria, as well as the consequences for law(fare) and decision making. This work will be of much interest to students of military and strategic studies, security studies and International Relations. Chapters 1, 2, 5, and 19 of this book are freely available as downloadable Open Access PDFs at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.