Castles, Battles, and Bombs: How Economics Explains Military History (Hardcover)

~ (Author), Hubert van Tuyll (Author)
Key Phrases: condottieri period, proportional deterrence, bombing tonnage, United States, World War, Civil War (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"In bringing economics into assessments of military history, the authors turn their interdisciplinary lens on the mercenary arrangements of Renaissance Italy; the wars of Marlborough, Frederick the Great, and Napoleon; Grant's campaigns in the Civil War; and the strategic bombings of World War II. The results are invariably stimulating." - Martin Walker, Wilson Quarterly "This study is serious, creative, important. As an economist I am happy to see economics so professionally applied to illuminate major decisions in the history of warfare." - Thomas C. Schelling, winner of the 2005 Nobel Prize in Economics "The authors have cogently synthesized an extensive literature to effectively demonstrate to nonspecialists how basic economic concepts can provide insights into the nature of war." - Choice" --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Review

"My skepticism was relieved by the preface, my expectations enhanced by the first chapter, my confidence assured by the second. This study is serious, creative, important. As an economist I am happy to see economics so professionally applied to illuminate major decisions in the history of warfare."�Thomas C. Schelling, University of Maryland, winner of the 2005 Nobel Prize in Economics (Thomas C. Schelling )

�Rarely does reading a book offer such rewards. Unarguably scholarly, cast in Jared Diamond�s mold, Brauer and van Tuyll�s work transported this economic historian across centuries and into realms that opened my eyes and engaged my imagination, both as an historian and an economist. My understanding of a past I thought I knew has been broadened and deepened and my teaching of that past forever altered. I enjoyed the journey. I am in the authors� debt.��John J. McCusker, Trinity University (John McCusker )

"In bringing economics into assessments of military history, [the authors] also bring illumination. . . . [The authors] turn their interdisciplinary lens on the mercenary arrangements of Renaissance Italy; the wars of Marlborough, Frederick the Great, and Napoleon; Grant''s campaigns in the Civil War; and the strategic bombings of World War II. The results are invariably stimulating."�Martin Walker, Wilson Quarterly (Martin Walker Wilson Quarterly )

"The authors have cogently synthesized an extensive literature to effectively demonstrate to nonspecialists how basic economic concepts can provide insights into the nature of war." (Choice )

�[Brauer and van Tuyll�s] analysis and discussion of military history is fascinating and mirrors the substantial recent interest on the economic dimensions of conflicts and the fiscal important of strategic choices. . . . The strengths of this book include the clarity of the material and the writing style, the accessibility of both the economic theory and historical cases used, and the various illustrations and additional materials. . . . I can heartily recommend this for everyone interested in military history and on how economics theory can help us understand historical outcomes better.��Jari Eloranta, Journal of Economic History (Jari Eloranta Journal of Economic History )

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 424 pages
• Publisher: University Of Chicago Press (May 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0226071634
• ISBN-13: 978-0226071633
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #695,535 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Economics Applied to Military History, June 2, 2008

By	I. Martinez-Ybor "Ignacio Martínez-Ybor" (Miami, FL USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This pioneering work is not a military history narrative, though much of it there is, but the application of economic principles and theory to select socio-military developments in history, seeking to demonstrate the clarity of analysis the rigor of such application can bring to a field which seems to have hitherto lacked much formal structure. The famed WWI Schlieffen Plan (there's controversy about the extent to which the Germans actually implemented it fully, but the authors take it as given) provides the springboard for a discussion of opportunity costs (the real cost of X is the Y you are giving up by doing X) as applied to the strategic and operational choices in WWI to which are added the assymetries in information between combatants. The authors use the Schlieffen Plan analysis to introduce their methodology, a good and clear starting point because there is an actual war-making plan involved. Having thus established a an analytical template, they go back in history to medieval times and move forward with particularly interesting sections on the American Civil War, the strategic bombing campaign of Germany during WWII, France's decision to develop nuclear weapons, and, of contemporary interest but not really based on contemporary choices, the long history of "condottieri" (private contractors) to wage war ("provide security"). Afghanistan and Iraq are not covered as those theatres are still active, so it is premature to draw conclusions.

One learned in school that an objective of theory is to reduce variables to a meaningful few. This work is positing a template for military historiography (though, not an exclusive one). In the process, the authors are truly compelling in their advocacy of looking at war with the tools of economic analysis, for a simpler, keener understanding of the meaningful forces at work. Human suffering is indeed part of the calculus, as the section on WWII strategic bombing of Germany shows that, ironically, rather than demoralize the German volk into submission, all evidence points to it having stiffened resistance. Thus indeed what was intended as a strategic campaign in effect became a tactical one.

There is an introductory chapter on Economics explaining the concepts used. Each chapter has clear, useful matrices and charts througout the work summarizing the analysis applied. Readers unaquainted with Economics as a discipline ought not to be intimidated as the book is written for the general reader. And it is an engrossing read if history is an area of interest to you.

Unfortunately, whatever aggressive tendencies seem germane to humankind have had their most effective expression in waging war. It seems to be a lasting condition, however rationalized or just the cause. The analytical tools Messrs. Brauer and van Tuyll advocate increase our understanding of a regrettable but very real and probably permanent aspect of our existence. It may be opportune to also recommend Chris Hedges' "War is a Force That Gives us Meaning."

5 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Interesting but overdone, August 29, 2008

By	Muriel Desloovere "book club two-timer" (St. Pete Beach, FL) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I had read a favorable review of this book in a publication I trust and ordered this book based upon that review. Military history is one of my spheres of interest and knowledge. I was quite disappointed. The author's theory is stretched to fit the topic.