Geoffrey Parker . The Cambridge History of Warfare

Sabretache, March, 2006 by Anthony Staunton

Geoffrey Parker (editor). The Cambridge history of warfare, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0521618959, 528 pages, $49.95

Geoffrey Parker is the Andreas Dorpalen Professor of History at the Ohio State University and the author or editor of more than thirty books. Eighteen chapters tells the story of war as the driving force in the rise of the West from the Greeks to the 21st Century. There are contributions by seven experts including Geoffrey Parker who contributes to five chapters. This is an excellent survey of the history of warfare that explains the western way of war, how it evolved and why it has dominated through the ages. A compelling narrative, it offers sound judgments as is a good introduction to the study of military history.

The seven experts cover the development of warfare on land, seas, and air; weapons and technology; strategy and defence; discipline and intelligence; mercenaries and standing armies; cavalry and infantry; chivalry and blitzkrieg; guerrilla assault and nuclear warfare. The coverage is from the Greek victory at Marathon, to the introduction of gunpowder, the Worlds Wars, Korea, Vietnam and the present involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan. The first three parts were particularly well done but part four, the age of mechanised warfare, seemed more narrative with less analysis. Mention of a major attack by Plumer on 13 September 1917 did jar as was the uncritical use of the Kiggell quote which is now generally regarded as a fabrication. However, the book is a readable and all engaging review of the evolution of western warfare.