Customer Reviews

The Cambridge Illustrated History of Warfare (Cambridge Illustrated Histories)

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As with its political and economic systems, Western Europe came to develop very unique military institutions that had evolved from Greco-Roman military doctrines applying war as a science and as a precise instrument towards defined political ends: emphasizing on uniform training and equipment as well as strict discipline. This book studies the evolution of Western military institutions from antiquity to modern times and demonstrates how these progressive changes contributed to the modern doctrines of Western warfare that are used today by every nation-state.

Geoffrey Parker did an excellent job in this work. Although many illustrative books are just that, this book has very detailed explanations in addition to very useful illustrations such as photos, maps, and diagrams. The book covers all of the important aspects of Western military evolution. For example, it will start by explaining how the early Greek phallanx comprised of citizen farmers was a significant factor to developing the citizen armies of the Roman legions to the later nation-state armies of 18th century Europe. The book looks at the impact of important military/political thinkers such as Thucydides, Caesar, Machiavelli, and Clausewitz, in the evolution of military doctrine. The book of course makes sure to cover how advances in science and engineering such as siege engines, firearms, and explosives changed the conduct of warfare and how armies adapted to such changes.

This is nothing short of an excellent book that has the right balance between text and illustrations. Unlike other illustrative texts that are mostly pictures with little substance, this book is extremely thorough and detailed as to the main factors responsible towards the unique evolution of western military institutions and their impact on the world. I strongly recommend it.

This book offers an excellent overview of warfare throughout the ages, from the Assyrians to the present day, and covering the personalities, weapons, strategies, tactics and technologies used. It should be noted that it covers only warfare as it has impacted and been fought in the Western culture, with no reference at all to important forces like the Mongols and only very brief interludes relating to the likes of China and Japan (except insofar as their wars involved Western opponents as in the Russo-Japanese War or World War II).

It is not a work for experts, in my opinion, but a terrific primer for those who are new to the subject and looking to ground themselves in the subject before moving on to more focussed and analytical works.

One very helpful feature of the book is that it contains diagrams of several key battles, showing troop deployments and movements. Many other overview texts on the history of warfare which I have seen merely describe the battles, and I found the diagrams particularly useful in clarifying how these fights developed. My one criticism of the book is that might have used more such diagrams, but that is a quibble.

Geoffrey Parker has assembled some of the best working military historians for this volume, so that each chapter is up-to-date, well written, and reliable. Unlike many illustrated histories, this one gives at least some endnote references, and includes excellent short bibliographies for each chapter. The illustrations are also outstanding. About as good a history of warfare as could be produced within its word limits. --Professor Clifford J. Rogers

This book is a great guide to the history of warfare. I have looked at and read a lot of books on this subject, and I find this book to be pretty good. What makes it better than most are the pictures, special boxes highlighting neat events, maps, and graphics.

The book accomplishes its goal amazingly well with clear graphics, lucid text, and wonderful accuracy . Easily the best in its field, the book gives you a profound understanding and knowledge of the european wars. The chapters are well written and up-to-date. The bibliographies are clearly stated to give the reader further information on a given topic. This is history of war at its finest.

This book provides a good first glance at the various stages of warfare that have come and gone throughout human history, from Greek Hoplites to guerilla warfare. The illustrations in this book are very beautiful and informative, and a number of insets provide interesting factoids.

This book is ideally suited for those wanting a good overview of the history of warfare. Be forewarned, though, that this book should not be used as a reference except for general facts in the history of warfare. Battle formations, major skirmishes and important people make up the majority of the content. Smaller details are not included, for the most part.

Overall, this is a great book to own. I bought it for a college course a few years back and kept it afterwards. This is a good starting-off point for any interested in military history.

As a student I found this book to be helpful and articulate. It has a lot of ground to cover--Ancient Greece to the present day--and does a remarkable job of conveying what happened and why. Though it is occasionally dry, I found myself engaged throughout. My only complaint is that it maybe could have benefited from being a bit longer. Brevity is certainly a virtue, but when your topic is as large as this one, I think a longer book is justified. It's definately nice to have around as a reference book too.

A nice straightforward history compilation. The book is a collection of summaries that read easily and are well written.

Focuses less on the who, what, where and when and more on the how and why in regard to the nature and evolution of western conflicts and warfare. It is more of a narrative of the contributing factors, prevailing societal political, socioeconomic and cultural realities surrounding western warfare and how these influenced conflicts and the ramifications these had on Western warfare. What distinguished this volume from others I have read on military history is that the focus is not necessarily on the conflicts and military engagements themselves but more on contributing factors (advances in science and technology, societal factors such as structure, religion, culture, politics, and population, changing role of economy in warfare, how notable military leaders influenced warfare) that influenced the evolution and development of warfare in the West. "Warfare" describes how evolution of warfare was autocatalytic much in the same way that societal development was shown to be in "Guns, Germs and Steel" and how state-making and war-making stimulated each other.

First a pet peeve - why is it necessary to make a book glossy from cover to cover forcing the reader to heft over 3 pounds every time he or she reads it? I have never had my arm muscles ache as much as with this 400 page book!

Ok, on to content.

This book is a comprehensive look at the way men have gone to battle since the rise of the West in ancient Greece. Using detailed diagrams when necessary, the reader can see how manpower was deployed and how weapons were used.

Particularly interesting to me were the diagrams of the Greek phalanx and the Roman centuries, examples of the discipline and technique that along with technology helped the West to defeat opponents. Did you know that a major factor in the success of Alexander the Great was the ability of his troops to carry all they needed thus avoiding a long supply line and crowd of camp followers?

This book is filled with insightful commentary on why armed conflicts turned out the way they did. Why was the huge Spanish Armada defeated by the relatively insignificant (at the time) English Navy? What was the Needlegun and why did it give the Prussians an advantage? How did Cortez with just a few hundred Spaniards defeat tens of thousands of Aztecs?

The tide of battle can be turned by weather, by leadership or the lack thereof, by technology and other factors. You will find yourself on an informative march through over 2000 years of conflict up to the 1991 war in Iraq. On finishing this book, I wondered how the Bush directed "war of choice" in 2003 would be seen by such a history as this.

As one would expect, more recent wars are treated in more detail with excellent accounts of WW1 and WW2. Happily, the book doesn't get bogged down in detailed maps of tactical movements of armies on the field unless it aids in making the reader aware of some new battlefield technique. Likewise, there are no long discussions of particular weapons. The goal is always to ask - how did things change and why?

Provided you work out at the gym to build up your biceps for this brick of a book, I think you will be rewarded by the fact packed, concise writing supported with excellent illustrations. In war, victory or defeat can happen as a result of unpredictable factors but, over time, superior practices and technologies have a telling effect. The persistent rise of the West was no accident. Read this book to find out how it happened.