World History of Warfare (review)

This book deserves a review article, not a review, both because it is one of the best attempts to tackle its topic to appear in recent years and because, as a textbook for introductory college courses in military history, it will clearly be influential. Deservedly so, as the goals of the project are both worthy and largely fulfilled. The authors, all professors at one of the leading centres of military history, the University of Calgary, aim to comprehend both the operational and the war and society approaches, while each chapter seeks to discuss the attitude of a particular period toward warfare, the extent to which war influenced society then, the impact of technology, the nature of armies and the experience of soldiers. There is also an attempt to include more "pre-modern" conflict than is usually the case, as well as giving due weight to non-Western material.

To fit all this into one volume is impossible and, obviously, there are gaps. Thus, for example, warfare in China in the 1920s and 1930s is ignored, as part of a more general neglect of the interwar period that raises questions about the selection and the understanding of material. The 1920s witnessed a range of important conflicts, as well as instructive developments in the context of war, while the 1930s were far more than just a prelude to World War Two. In addition, among other problems, Africa prior to the European conquest receives insufficient attention, the welcome chapter on 'Eastern Styles of Warfare' in the medieval and early-modern period is not as accomplished, detailed or searching as several of the other chapters, and, as often happens in works of this type, the discussion of medieval European warfare fails to devote due weight to the varieties of its subject. The major sources for this section are Verbruggen and Delbrück, but important work has subsequently appeared and the failure to consider it is a weakness.

Critical comments are easily made when reviewing works of this scope, but the overwhelming impression is of a successful project. There are some particularly good sections, including those on the age of Western imperialism and on World War Two, a section that is particularly interesting in its analysis. More generally, the inclusion of naval warfare as part of the narrative and analysis is also most welcome. Although several of the maps are poor, there is a good use of quotations from contemporary sources, for example on Manchu atrocities, Omdurman, and World War One. There are also several pertinent case studies. The authors deserve much praise for their ambition and their achievement. There is room to debate some of the analytical assumptions, but that itself increases the pedagogical value of this text.