What Is Military History?

by Morillo, Stephen; Pavkovic, Michael F.

• ISBN13: 9780745659787
• ISBN10: 0745659780
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2012-10-22
• Publisher: Polity Pr

Summary

This clear, readable introduction to the popular field of military history is now available in a refreshed and updated second edition. It shows that military history encompasses not just accounts of campaigns and battles but includes a wide range of perspectives on all aspects of past military organization and activity. In concise chapters it explains the fundamental features of the field, including: The history of military history, showing how it has developed from ancient times to the present; The key ideas and concepts that shape analysis of military activity; it argues that military history is as methodologically and philosophically sophisticated as any field of history; The current controversies about which military historians argue, and why they are important; A survey of who does military history, where it is taught and published, and how it is practiced; A look at where military history is headed in the future. The new edition of What is Military History? provides an up-to-date bibliography and cutting edge new case studies, including counterinsurgency, and as such continues to be ideal for classes in military history and in historiography generally, as well as for anyone interested in learning more about the dynamics of a rich and growing area of study.

Author Biography

STEPHEN MORILLO is the Jane and Frederic M. Hadley Chair in History at Wabash College. His many publications in military history include the book, War in World History.

MICHAEL PAVKOVIC is Professor of Strategy and Policy at the United States Naval War College.

Table of Contents

• 1. An Introduction to Military History
• Military History: definitions, topics, scope
• Who studies Military History and why?
• Overview of this book
• 2. Military Historiography
• Classical Roots: Military History in Ancient Times
• Military History in the Traditional World: Histories, Manuals, and War Tales
• Science, Nationalism and General Staffs: Military History in the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries
• New Military Histories: The Transformations of the Last Fifty Years
• 3. Conceptual Frameworks
• Military History and Philosophy of History
• Military Art and Practice
• War and Society: Interdisciplinary Influences
• Global History and Comparative Methodology
• Conclusions
• 4. Current Controversies
• Military Revolutions
• Counter-Insurgency: History and Policy
• "The West": Exceptionalism and Dominance?
• War, Society and Culture: Other Controversies
• Conclusion: Revisionism and Reading the Process of History
• 5. Doing Military History
• 6. The Future of Military History
• Notes
• Further Reading