European Warfare, 1660–1815

In this study, the author presents a wide-ranging analysis of European land and naval warfare from the time of the military revolution of the mid-seventeenth century to the end of the Napoleonic Wars. Focusing not only on warfare in Europe but also on the complex conflicts that involved European states outside Europe (such as the British victories over the French in North America and India), the author assesses the conduct, cost, and consequences of European wars for major and minor powers. Exploring more fully than previous scholars the naval dimension of European warfare and giving added prominence to military activity in Eastern Europe, the author challenges Michael Roberts' view that a military revolution took place between 1560 and 1660. He argues that the century following 1660 was considerably more important in terms of the great expansion in the size of many European armed forces, the development of new tactics and weaponry, and the increased impact of military organization in society. Drawing on previously unknown sources and on an unrivaled knowledge of the secondary literature, the author provides a chronological narrative and sociology of armies and war that shed new light on many important battles of the past.