The Wars in the Age of Louis XIV, 1650-1715: An Encyclopedia of Global Warfare and Civilization (Greenwood Encyclopedias of Modern World Wars) by Cathal J. Nolan

by Cathal J. Nolan

Dominated by the ambitions of France's King Louis XIV, Europe in the years 1650-1715 witnessed a series of wars from which emerged many of the theories, practices, and technologies that characterize modern warfare. During this period, European armies evolved modern ideas of army organization and military leadership, as well as modern views of campaign strategy and battle tactics. As European soldiers and colonists moved into Asia, the Middle East, and the Americas, the practice or influence of their military techniques and ideas also affected wars fought in those places. In this volume's 1000 plus entries, an award-winning author of reference works on international relations and war describes and defines important events, technologies, and individuals from this seminal period of global military history.

Hardcover

First published July 30, 2008

About the author

Cathal J. Nolan is Professor of History and Director of the International History Institute at Boston University.

The Allure of Battle: A History of Wars Have Been Won and Lost (Oxford UP, 2017), won the Gilder Lehrman Prize for Military History, as "the best book on military history in the English-speaking world, distinguished by its scholarship, contribution to the literature, and appeal to both a general and an academic audience." In 2019 it was named the first ever "Distinguished Book" by War on the Rocks, which deemed it "essential reading for national security professionals."

Nolan also publishes future military fiction under the pen name Kali Altsoba. His series The Orion War has reached seven volumes (and counting). His new series, on future space naval and marine war, is White Sails. Volume I, Destroyer, will be published in June 2020.