War in the Early Modern World, 1450-1815

Conflict is central to human history and is frequently the cause, course, and consequence of change. Yet the study of war, especially prior to the modern period, is a subject that has received insufficient attention in academic circles over the past four decades. Furthermore, most of that attention has been devoted to warfare in Europe. When the rest of the world has been considered, it has generally been with reference to the expansion of European military power. This volume seeks to redress this imbalance.In War in the Early Modern World, Europe is deliberately allocated only one chapter as a team of distinguished international scholars provides accounts which qualify the usual Eurocentric perspective. The contributions on Africa, Asia, and America reveal the variety of military systems in the early modern world and are important not only to an understanding of military developments, but also to the history of particular regions and of the world in a crucial period of change and growing interaction. The Introduction provides valuable discussion on the "rise of the West" in light of the volume's emphasis on the vitality of non-Western military systems. The nature and role of technological change, and the relationship between military developments and state-building are also considered.