War in the Modern World

by Bloomsbury Academic

Overview

Theodore Ropp's landmark book, which B. H. Lidell-Hart called a "brilliant survey of the history of warfare . . . the best yet produced anywhere," defined the "new military history" when first published in 1959 and remains valuable as an astute and engaging survey of warfare from the Renaissance to the Cold War. Topics that Ropp discusses in this definitive survey of the social, political, military, and technological aspects of modern warfare range from the new techniques of military organization that emerged in Renaissance Europe and the life of the common soldier in the eighteenth to the Anglo-American military tradition and in-depth treatments of both the First and Second World Wars. For students of military history and general readers interested in the way that warfare has shaped and been shaped by history, the return into print of this engaging study of the Western way of war over the last six centuries is cause for celebration.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780313228445
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	10/16/1981
Edition description:	Revised ed.
Pages:	400
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.94(d)

About the Author

Theodore Ropp is a professor of history emeritus at Duke University. He is the author of The Development of a Modern Navy: French Naval Policy, 1871-1904 and History and War. He was awarded the 1991 Samuel Eliot Morison Prize for his contributions to the field of military history. Alex Roland is chair of the History Department at Duke University and the author of Underwater Warfare in the Age of Sail, Model Research: The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, 1915-1958, and (with Richard Preston and Sydney Wise) Men in Arms: A History of Warfare and Its Interrelationships with Western Society.

Table of Contents

Contents:

Preface

Introduction to the Johns Hopkins Edition, by Alex Roland

Introduction to the Original Edition

Part I: The Age of the Great Captain

sChapter 1: Land Warfare from the Renaissance to the Neoclassical Age (1415-1789)

i. New Techniques and Types of Military Organization

ii. The Wars for Italy and the Rise of Spain (1494-1559)

iii. The Army of the Spanish Hapsburgs

iv. Spain's Decline (1559-1659)

v. The Age of Louis XIV (1643-1715)

vi. The Age of Frederick the Great: Neoclassical Warfare

vii. The Common Soldier in the Neoclassical AgeChapter 2: Naval Warfare from the Renaissance to the Neoclassical Age (1417-1789)

i. The Command of the Sea

ii. Portuguese and Spanish Sea Power

iii. The Rise of English Sea Power

iv. Navies in the Neoclassical AgeChapter 3: The Anglo-American Military Tradition

i. The Weakness of the Standing Army

ii. Problems of Imperial Defense

iii. The Break with Britain

iv. The Continental Army and Navy

v. The British in the American RevolutionChapter 4: The French Revolution and Napoleon

i. French Military Reformers

ii. The Revolution

iii. The Organizer of Victory

iv. The Napoleonic Empire

v. The Opposition to Napoleon: The Peninsula

vi. The Opposition to Napoleon in Eastern EuropePart II: The Industrial Revolution and WarChapter 5: The First Half of Nineteenth Century (1815-1853)

i. Britain and the Long Peace

ii. Austria, Russia, and France

iii. PrussiaChapter 6: The Wars of the Mid-Nineteenth Century (1854-1871)

i. The New Weapons of the Industrial Revolution

ii. The Crimean and Italian Wars

iii. The Rise of Germany

iv. The American Civil War: Men and Tactics

v. The American Civil War: StrategyChapter 7: The Years of Uneasy Peace (1871-1914)

i. Military Organization: The Spread of Prussian Doctrine

ii. Mobilization and Intellectual Preparation of the Mass Army

iii. The Race for Colonies and Sea Power

iv. Land Tactics with the New Fire Weapons

v. The War Plans of the Continental Powers

vi. British Participation in a Continental WarPart III: The Age of Violence

Chapter 8: The First World War

i. The Opening Battles (1914)

ii. Deadlock in the West (1915-1916)

iii. German Victory in the East (1915-1916)

iv. The United States and the War (1917)

v. Years of Decision (1917-1918)Chapter 9: The Long Armistice (1919-1939)

i. The Peace Settlements

ii. The Totalitarian State: Bolshevik Russia

iii. Italian Fascism and the Theories of Giulio Douhet

iv. The Military Recovery of Germany

v. The Three DemocraciesChapter 10: The Second World War

i. The Opening Battles

ii. Britain, the Mediterranean, and the Atlantic

iii. The Russo-German War

iv. Allied Deployment: Decision in Western Europe

v. The East Asian and Pacific Wars: The Japanese Raid

vi. The Allied Counterattack in the Pacific

vii. The War for East AsiaEpilogue

Index

What People are Saying About This

B. H. Lidell-Hart

A brilliant survey of the history of warfare... the best yet produced anywhere.

Alex Roland

Alex Roland, from the new introduction to the Johns Hopkins University Press edition
War in the Modern World marked a turning point in the historiography of war. Just as Keegan's The Face of Battle marked the transition to the social history of the military, so Ropp's classic coincided with the first full flowering of what would later be called the 'new military history' . . . This is good, reliable history, told with clarity, wit, insight, and understanding. It rewards reading just as much as when the new military history was new.

Editorial Reviews

The narrative flows easily, is illuminated by flashes of colorful detail, and relates the development of warfare to the political, technological, and economic changes of the modern era.

New York Herald Tribune

Ropp's book is a remarkable achievement.

Political Science Quarterly

Far and away the best of the histories of military affairs . . . A remarkably fine piece of work.

American Political Science Review

Leaves the reader astonished by its combinations of brevity, clarity, and accuracy.

Times Literary Supplement

A substantial and scholarly history of modern warfare from the age of the 'great captains' through the innovations of the industrial revolution, to our age of unlimited violence.

Foreign Affairs

Outstanding and penetrating outline of the processes of war and the means of fighting from 1415 onward.

Chicago Tribune

<:st> Cited in . A historical survey of the social, political, military, and technological aspects of warfare from the Renaissance to the Cold War. Originally published by Duke University Press in 1959. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews

War In The Modern World is a seminal, comprehensive survey of the social, political, military, and technological aspects of modern warfare from the Renaissance to the Cold War. This superbly written and presented, insightful informative, meticulously research and scholarly work by historian and professor of history emeritus at Duke University Theodore Ropp is an outstanding contribution to any personal or academic military history collection, and is a very highly recommended addition to history and military studies reading lists.

"The narrative flows easily, is illuminated by flashes of colorful detail, and relates the development of warfare to the political, technological, and economic changes of the modern era... Especially stimulating and helpful is Mr. Ropp's system of bibliographic footnotes. These are found on almost every page, directing the reader to a well-selected choice of historical and military writings which will provide more light and wider vistas whenever his interest is further stirred by what he is reading... This reviewer... has never seen anything quite as calculated to guide the beginner in further exploration of the subject or to serve as a quick reference index for the experienced analyst."

New York Herald Tribune