1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910457383403321

Autore

France John

Titolo

Perilous glory [[electronic resource] ] : the rise of western military power / / John France

Pubbl/distr/stampa

New Haven, : Yale University Press, c2011

ISBN

0-300-17744-5

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (448 p.)

Disciplina

355/.03301821

Soggetti

Military art and science - History

Military history

Electronic books.

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Frontmatter -- CONTENTS -- List of Illustrations and Maps -- Preface -- 1. The Many Faces of War -- 2. Many Worlds of War -- 3. Horses and Hoplites -- 4. The Glory of Empire, 336 BC-AD 651 -- 5. Ideology and Warfare, 500-c.1200 -- 6. The Steppe Supremacy, c.1200-1683 -- 7. Discipline, c.1683-c.1860 -- 8. The Military Revolution -- 9. Industrial Killing -- 10. Culture and Warfare in the Age of Total War, 1919-1945 -- 11. A New Age of War -- Notes -- Further Reading -- Appendix 1: Tables -- Index

Sommario/riassunto

This expansive book surveys the history of warfare from ancient Mesopotamia to the Gulf War in search of a deeper understanding of the origins of Western warfare and the reasons for its eminence today. Historian John France explores the experience of war around the globe, in Europe, Asia, Africa, and America. His bold conclusions cast doubt on well-entrenched attitudes about the development of military strength, the impact of culture on warfare, the future of Western dominance, and much more.Taking into account wars waged by virtually all civilizations since the beginning of recorded history, France finds that despite enormous cultural differences, war was conducted in distinctly similar ways right up to the Military Revolution and the pursuit of technological warfare in the nineteenth century. Since then, European and American culture has shaped warfare, but only because



we have achieved a sense of distance from it, France argues. He warns that the present eminence of U.S. power is much more precarious and accidental than commonly believed. The notion that war is a distant phenomenon is only an illusion, and our cultural attitudes must change accordingly.