A global history of war : from Assyria to the twenty-first century / Gerard Chaliand ; translated by Michele Mangin-Woods and David Woods ; foreword by R. Bin Wong.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Chaliand, Gérard, 1934- author.

Bin Wong, R., author of introduction, etc.

Contributor:

Mangin-Woods, Michele, 1942- translator.

Woods, David, 1947- translator.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Strategy--History.

Strategy.

History.

War--History.

War.

War and civilization.

Genre:

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (309 pages)

Place of Publication:

Oakland, California : University of California Press, 2014.

System Details:

text file

Summary:

While many books examine specific wars, few study the history of war worldwide and from an evolutionary perspective. A Global History of War is one of the first works to focus not on the impact of war on civilizations, but rather on how civilizations impact the art and execution of war. World-renowned scholar Gerard Chaliand concentrates on the peoples and cultures who have determined how war is conducted and reveals the lasting historical consequences of combat, offering a unique picture of the major geopolitical and civilizational clashes that have rocked our common history and made us who we are today. Chaliand's questions provoke a new understanding of the development of armed conflict. How did the foremost non-European empires rise and fall? What critical role did the nomads of the Eurasian steppes and their descendants play? Chaliand illuminates the military cultures and martial traditions of the great Eurasian empires, including Turkey, China, Iran, and Mongolia. Based on fifteen years of research, this book provides a novel military and strategic perspective on the crises and conflicts that have shaped the current world order. Book jacket.

Contents:

1 Overview: War and History 4

2 The First Military Empire: The Assyrians 48

3 The Grand Strategy of the Byzantine Empire 55

4 The Arabs 100

5 The Nomads of the Eurasian Steppes 108

6 The Seljuks, the Mamluks, and the Crusades 127

7 The Mongol Empire 141

8 Timur the Lame 151

9 The Ottomans 156

10 Safavid Persia 170

11 The Ming and Chinese Politico-Military Traditions 176

12 The Manchu and the End of the Nomads 185

13 The Mughals and Islam in India 185

14 Russia and the End of the Tatars 193

15 The Ascent of Europe 200

16 The Time of Revolutions 212

17 Guerrilla Warfare 225

18 From Total War to Asymmetrical Conflict 244

19 Conclusion 251.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

Local Notes:

Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest, 2015. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest affiliated libraries.

Other Format:

Print version: Chaliand, Gerard, 1934- Global history of war : from Assyria to the twenty-first century.

ISBN:

9780520959439

OCLC:

890529405

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.