"Wars have often determined the character of society. Society in exchange has determined the character of wars. This is the theme of Michael Howard's stimulating book. It is written with all his usual skill and in its small compass is perhaps the most original book he has written. Though he
surveys a thousand years of history, he does so without sinking in a slough of facts and draws a broad outline of developments which will delight the general reader."--A.J.P. Taylor, Observer
"Michael Howard...shows that he can spread his range of historical vision as far as an eagle surveying a mountain chain. He covers, in a fewer than 150 pages of text, warfare over a thousand years; and he covers it comprehensively, without trying to be encyclopaedic. He has the true historian's
gift for combining the general view and the illuminating detail...This is a book that, for all its brevity, broadens and deepens our understanding of how the world we live in came to be the shape it is."--The Economist
"The beginning undergraduate will find this book a superb introduction; the specialist will find it a stimulating review. Highly recommended for all college libraries."--Choice
"A marvel of concise erudition."--John Shy, University of Michigan
"Wars have often determined the character of society. Society in exchange has determined the character of wars. This is the theme of Michael Howard's stimulating book. It is written with all his usual skill and in its small compass is perhaps the most original book he has written. Though he
surveys a thousand years of history, he does so without sinking in a slough of facts and draws a broad outline of developments which will delight the general reader."--A.J.P. Taylor, Observer
"Michael Howard...shows that he can spread his range of historical vision as far as an eagle surveying a mountain chain. He covers, in a fewer than 150 pages of text, warfare over a thousand years; and he covers it comprehensively, without trying to be encyclopaedic. He has the true historian's
gift for combining the general view and the illuminating detail...This is a book that, for all its brevity, broadens and deepens our understanding of how the world we live in came to be the shape it is."--The Economist
"The beginning undergraduate will find this book a superb introduction; the specialist will find it a stimulating review. Highly recommended for all college libraries."--Choice
"A marvel of concise erudition."--John Shy, University of Michigan
"Wars have often determined the character of society. Society in exchange has determined the character of wars. This is the theme of Michael Howard's stimulating book. It is written with all his usual skill and in its small compass is perhaps the most original book he has written. Though he surveys a thousand years of history, he does so without sinking in a slough of facts and draws a broad outline of developments which will delight the general reader."--A.J.P. Taylor, Observer
"Michael Howard...shows that he can spread his range of historical vision as far as an eagle surveying a mountain chain. He covers, in a fewer than 150 pages of text, warfare over a thousand years; and he covers it comprehensively, without trying to be encyclopaedic. He has the true historian's gift for combining the general view and the illuminating detail...This is a book that, for all its brevity, broadens and deepens our understanding of how the world we live in came to be the shape it is."--The Economist
"The beginning undergraduate will find this book a superb introduction; the specialist will find it a stimulating review. Highly recommended for all college libraries."--Choice
"A marvel of concise erudition."--John Shy, University of Michigan
"Wars have often determined the character of society. Society in exchange has determined the character of wars. This is the theme of Michael Howard's stimulating book. It is written with all his usual skill and in its small compass is perhaps the most original book he has written. Though he surveys a thousand years of history, he does so without sinking in a slough of facts and draws a broad outline of developments which will delight the general reader."--A.J.P. Taylor, Observer
"Michael Howard...shows that he can spread his range of historical vision as far as an eagle surveying a mountain chain. He covers, in a fewer than 150 pages of text, warfare over a thousand years; and he covers it comprehensively, without trying to be encyclopaedic. He has the true historian's gift for combining the general view and the illuminating detail...This is a book that, for all its brevity, broadens and deepens our understanding of how the world we live in came to be the shape it is."--The Economist
"The beginning undergraduate will find this book a superb introduction; the specialist will find it a stimulating review. Highly recommended for all college libraries."--Choice
"A marvel of concise erudition."--John Shy, University of Michigan
