An engaging, accessible introduction to war, from ancient times to the
present and into the future
"Forty short chapters . . . describe war from the ancient world to the
present day. . . . A Short History of War offers an expansive and
often evocative account of great causes that are never lost or
won."--Crawford Gribben, Wall Street Journal
Throughout history, warfare has transformed social, political, cultural,
and religious aspects of our lives. We tell tales of wars--past,
present, and future--to create and reinforce a common purpose.
In this engaging overview, Jeremy Black examines war as a global
phenomenon, looking at the First and Second World Wars as well as those
ranging from Han China and Assyria, Imperial Rome, and Napoleonic France
to Vietnam and Afghanistan. Black explores too the significance of
warfare more broadly and the ways in which cultural understandings of
conflict have lasting consequences in societies across the world.
Weaponry, Black argues, has had a fundamental impact on modes of war: it
created war in the air and transformed it at sea. Today, as
twentieth-century weapons are challenged by drones and robotics, Black
examines what the future of warfare looks like.
