Warfare and Culture in World History

Warfare and Culture

by Wayne E. Lee (Editor)

An expanded edition of the leading text on military history and the role of culture on the battlefield



Ideas matter in warfare. Guns may kill, but ideas determine when, where, and how they are used. Traditionally, military historians attempted to explain the ideas behind warfare in strictly rational terms, but over the past few decades, a stronger focus has been placed on how societies conceptualize war, weapons, violence, and military service, to determine how culture informs the battlefield.

Warfare and Culture in World History, Second Edition, is a collection of some of the most compelling recent efforts to analyze warfare through a cultural lens. These curated essays draw on, and aggressively expand, traditional scholarship on war and society through sophisticated cultural analysis. Chapters range from an organizational analysis of American Civil War field armies, to an exploration of military culture in late Republican Rome, to debates within Ming Chinese officialdom over extermination versus pacification.

In addition to a revised and expanded introduction, the second edition of Warfare and Culture in World History now adds new chapters on the role of herding in shaping Mongol strategies, Spanish military culture and its effects on the conquest of the New World, and the blending of German and East African military cultures among the Africans who served in the German colonial army. This volume provides a full range of case studies of how culture, whether societal, strategic, organizational, or military, could shape not only military institutions but also actual battlefield choices.

Genres: History

362 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 1, 2011

About the author

A specialist in early modern military history, with a particular focus on North America and the Atlantic World, Wayne Lee is Bruce W. Carney Distinguished Professor of History at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Reviews

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of essays on the interplay between warfare and culture in world history from the Ancient Assyrians to the American military after WWII.

[Willy Martinez · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good non fiction read. I used it for research for my Thesis project in rhetoric and composition.

[Cynthia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bezoars...

[Chase Metcalf · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of essays provides multiple frames for considering cultures impact on militaries and warfare. Each essay addresses different aspects of cultural impact providing the reader with useful perspective. Best of all the inclusion of non-Western examples and some less well known examples (German military in Africa pre WWI) are likely to offer most readers new historical context. That said the book lacks a solid conclusion or wrap up leaving it to the reader to pull the various perspectives together. Despite that this is a solid read for those interested in how culture impacts warfare and militaries.