The Dynamics of Military Revolution, 1300-2050 [Hardcover]

MacGregor Knox (Editor), Williamson Murray (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 27, 2001

The Dynamics of Military Revolution bridges a major gap in the emerging literature on revolutions in military affairs. It suggests that two very different phenomena have been at work over the past centuries: "military revolutions," which are driven by vast social and political changes, and "revolutions in military affairs," which military institutions have directed, although usually with great difficulty and ambiguous results. MacGregor Knox and Williamson Murray provide a conceptual framework and historical context for understanding the patterns of change, innovation, and adaptation that have marked war in the Western world since the fourteenth century--beginning with Edward III's revolution in medieval warfare, through the development of modern military institutions in seventeenth-century France, to the military impact of mass politics in the French Revolution, the cataclysmic military-industrial struggle of 1914-1918, and the German Blitzkrieg victories of 1940. Case studies and a conceptual overview offer an indispensible introduction to revolutionary military change,--which is as inevitable as it is difficult to predict. Macgregor Knox is the Stevenson Professor of International History at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He is the author of Common Destiny (Cambridge, 2000) and Hitler's Italian Allies (Cambridge, 2000). Knox and Murray are co-editors of Making of Strategy (Cambridge, 1996). Willamson Murray is Senior Fellow at the Institute for Defense Analysis. He is the co-editor of Military Innovation in the Interwar Period (Cambridge, 1996) and author of A War to Be Won (Harvard University Press, 2000).

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The Dynamics of Military Revolution brings a much needed historical perspective to the current debate about the 'revolution in military affairs.' The future of military force is not simply about technology, but rather about the concepts and doctrine that utilize technology to achieve larger purposes. That is precisely the focus of this challenging and thoughtful book."
-Newt Gingrich, former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives

"This is an important little book. It deserves to be widely read."
-The Washington Times

"This provocative book is a welcome addition to the literature on military innovation that is well recommended to those with any interest in the ongoing debate about U.S. force transformation."
-Air Power History

"The separate chapters contain some of the best examples of analytical history available...a first-class work that should be on every professional's reading list."
-Air & Space Power Journal

"...highly readable, impecably researched, and academically of the first order... the book provides some interesting insights in discussions..."
-Mark O'Hare, Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society

"...provocative findings and the book's case studies provide a needed context for current debates...these essays provide needed context for understanding the dynamics of military change..."
-H-Net Reviews

"This book masterfully presents the most current and profound thinking on the subject of revolutions in military affairs. More importantly, it does so from an historical context that provides the foundation for the continuing dialogue needed to educate our nation's civilian and military leaders as they address possible future revolutions in military affairs."
-Lieutenant General Paul Van Riper, USMC (ret.)

"Dynamics of Military Revolution is certain to be viewed as the standard work. This well-edited collection of scintillating case studies shows us how history can and should be used to test important ideas."
-Colin S. Gray, University of Reading

"...reading The Dynamics of Military Revolution is well worth the time invested."
-Parameters

"Whether one agrees with the editor's assessment or not, The Dynamics of Military Revolution will reward historians and military professionals alike. This book belongs on the reading lists of officers from all four services."
-Miltary Review

"The Dynamics of Military Revolution, 1300-2050...is a thought-provoking examination of critical military history. It provides prerequisite knowledge for understanding the true nature of RMAs and possible pitfalsl for the future U.S. military."
-Special Warfare

Book Description

The Dynamics of Military Revolution suggests that there have been two very different phenomena at work over the past centuries: 'military revolutions', which are driven by vast social and poltical changes; and 'revolutions in military affairs,' which military institutions have directed. By providing both a conceptual framework and a historical context for thinking about revolutionary changes in military affairs, the work establishes a baseline for understanding the patterns of change, innovation, and adaptation that have marked war in the Western world since the thirteenth century.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 218 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press; 1 edition (August 27, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 052180079X
• ISBN-13: 978-0521800792
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #239,597 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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74 of 78 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Heart of Asymmetric Advantage is NOT Technology, October 28, 2001

By 

Robert D. Steele (Oakton, VA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Dynamics of Military Revolution, 1300-2050 (Hardcover)

This is the only serious book I have been able to find that addresses revolutions in military affairs with useful case studies, a specific focus on whether asymmetric advantages do or do not result, and a very satisfactory executive conclusion. This book is strongly recommended for both military professionals, and the executive and congressional authorities who persist in sharing the fiction that technology is of itself an asymmetric advantage.

It merits emphasis that the author's first conclusion, spanning a diversity of case studies, is that technology may be a catalyst but it rarely drives a revolution in military affairs--concepts are revolutionary, it is ideas that break out of the box.

Their second conclusion is both counter-intuitive (but based on case studies) and in perfect alignment with Peter Drucker's conclusions on successful entrepreneurship: the best revolutions are incremental (evolutionary) and based on solutions to actual opponents and actual conditions, rather than hypothetical and delusional scenarios of what we think the future will bring us. In this the authors mesh well with Andrew Gordon's masterpiece on the rules of the game and Jutland: we may be best drawing down on our investments in peacetime, emphasizing the education of our future warfighters, and then be prepared for massive rapid agile investments in scaling up experimental initiatives as they prove successful in actual battle.

The book is noteworthy for its assault on fictional scenarios and its emphasis on realism in planning--especially valuable is the authors' staunch insistence that only honesty, open discussion among all ranks, and the wide dissemination of lessons learned, will lead to improvements.

Finally, the authors are in whole-hearted agreement with Colin Gray, author of Modern Strategy, in stating out-right that revolutions in military affairs are not a substitute for strategy as so often assumed by utopian planners, but merely an operational or tactical means.

This is a brilliant, carefully documented work that should scare the daylights out of every taxpayer--it is nothing short of an indictment of our entire current approach to military spending and organization. As the author's quaintly note in their understated way, in the last paragraph of the book, "the present trend is far from promising, as the American government and armed forces procure enormous arsenals only distantly related to specific strategic needs and operational and tactical employment concepts, while continu[ing], in the immortal words of Kiffin Rockwell, a pilot in the legendary First World War Lafayette Escadrille, to 'fly along, blissfully ignorant, hoping for the best.'"

Lest the above be greeted with some skepticism, let us note the 26 October 2001 award of $200 billion to Lockheed for the new Joint Strike Fighter calls into serious question whether the leadership in the Pentagon understands the real world--the real world conflicts of today--all 282 of them (counting 178 internal conflicts) will require the Joint Strike Fighter only 10% of the time--the other 90% of our challenges demand capabilities and insights the Pentagon is not only not capable of fielding, it simply refuses to consider them to be "real war." Omar Bin Laden beat the Pentagon on 11 September 2001, and he (and others who follow in his footsteps) will continue to do so until we find a military leadership that can lead a real-world revolution in military affairs.... rather than a continuing fantasy in which the military-industrial complex lives on regardless of how many homeland attacks we suffer.

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Technology alone just doesn't cut it...., April 21, 2003

By 

"top_cat1980" (United Kingdom) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Dynamics of Military Revolution, 1300-2050 (Hardcover)

This book contains an awful lot of wisdom for such a slim volume (it clocks in at just under 200 pages).

The authors examine the natures of military revolutions and RMA (a very hot topic that has arguably produced more hot air than substance) and provide a number of case studies examining the issues and testing the authors' views through history.

The case studies are;

- The English in the 14th century
- 17th century France
- The French Revolution
- The American Civil War
- The Prussian RMA, 1840-1871
- The Battlefleet Revolution
- The First World War
- Blitzkrieg 1940

The various case studies are backed up by an extremely satisfying introduction and a thorough, well argued conclusion which fires one or two shots across the bows of those residents of the Pentagon who may be suffering from technology-centric tunnel vision. The authors (very distinguished bunch, it should be said) warn against the idea that Clausewitzian truths regarding such issues as friction can be discounted thanks to the wonders of technology and indeed make clear that they are as important as ever.

The various case studies work extremely well as concise stand-alone works on their various historical periods, even if RMA is not your hot topic. Especially good are the chapters on the English in the 14th century and on the Battlefleet Revolution (and the inner workings of the Imperial German Navy and the Royal Navy during this period).

This is a well written, interesting book which should annoy all the right people.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Military Development, September 18, 2010

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C. Reich (Heidelberg, Germany) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Dynamics of Military Revolution, 1300-2050 (Hardcover)

This is a standard book that is required reading for Army Field Grade officers. It is easy to read and has some good points.