Which generals were most influential in World War II? Did Winston Churchill really see himself as culturally "half American"? What really caused the break between Harry S. Truman and Dwight Eisenhow
Revolutions are difficult to understand and almost impossible to predict. Egypt’s 2011 revolt was no exception. The military’s abandonment of Mubarak—a turning point for the revolt—confounded many obs
This collection of essays examines the struggles of the people of England with the collapse of civilization as they knew it. As the country fell into civil war and near anarchy, the people sought out in word and action how to preserve what could still be preserved or to create new political, religious and social certainties. The authors discuss individuals or groups who were soldiers, writers or statesmen of the Civil Wars or the Interregnum, people who were at the centre of power or in more humble and localized circumstances. All of the authors take their inspiration from the work of Austin Woolrych, whose own books and articles focus on these very questions. This volume is published in his honour.
This collection of essays examines the struggles of the people of England with the collapse of civilization as they knew it. As the country fell into civil war and near anarchy, the people sought out in word and action how to preserve what could still be preserved or to create new political, religious and social certainties. The authors discuss individuals or groups who were soldiers, writers or statesmen of the Civil Wars or the Interregnum, people who were at the centre of power or in more humble and localized circumstances. All of the authors take their inspiration from the work of Austin Woolrych, whose own books and articles focus on these very questions. This volume is published in his honour.
Hazem Kandil presents the Egyptian revolution and its aftermath as the latest episodes in the ongoing power struggle between the three components of Egypt’s authoritarian regime: the military, the sec
"The relationship between military leaders and political leaders has always been a complicated one, especially in times of war. When the chips are down, who should run the show, the politicians or the
The orthodoxy regarding the relationship between politicians and military leaders in wartime democracies contends that politicians should declare a military operation's objectives and then step aside
Historians have long sought to explain how the world descended into war in the wake of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife on June 28, 1914. Focusing on the interactions betwee
War termination reflects a civil-military bargain and affects relevant decisions made by political leaders. For the leader embroiled in protracted war, this risk dictates whether he or she will commit
England's response to the Revolt of the Netherlands (1568–1648) has been studied hitherto mainly in terms of government policy, yet the Dutch struggle with Habsburg Spain affected a much wider community than just the English political elite. It attracted attention across Britain and drew not just statesmen and diplomats but also soldiers, merchants, religious refugees, journalists, travellers and students into the conflict. Hugh Dunthorne draws on pamphlet literature to reveal how British contemporaries viewed the progress of their near neighbours' rebellion, and assesses the lasting impact which the Revolt and the rise of the Dutch Republic had on Britain's domestic history. The book explores affinities between the Dutch Revolt and the British civil wars of the seventeenth century - the first major challenges to royal authority in modern times - showing how much Britain's changing commercial, religious and political culture owed to the country's involvement with events across the Nort
These essays explore the discourse on war in Germany and the United States between 1871 and 1914 - in the era bounded by the mid-century wars in Europe and North America and the First World War. The concept of 'total war', which was prefigured in aspects of the earlier conflicts and realized in 1914, provides the analytical focus. The essays reveal vigorous discussions of warfare in several forums - among soldiers, statesmen, women's groups and educators - on both sides of the Atlantic. Predictions of long, cataclysmic wars were not uncommon in these discussions, while the involvement of German and American soldiers in colonial warfare suggested that future combat would not spare civilians. Despite these 'anticipations of total war', virtually no one drew the practical implications in planning for war in the early twentieth century.
The First World War was the first large-scale industrialized military conflict in the world's history, and it gave birth to the concept of total war. The essays in this 2000 volume analyse the experience of the war in light of this concept's implications, in particular the systematic erosion of distinctions between the military and civilian spheres. With an emphasis on developments in Germany, France, Great Britain and the United States, leading scholars from Europe and North America locate the First World War along a trajectory that began in the wars of the middle of the nineteenth century and culminated in worldwide conflict in the middle of the twentieth. The essays explore the efforts of soldiers and statesmen, industrialists and financiers, professionals and civilian activists to adjust to the titanic, pervasive pressures that the military stalemate on the western front imposed on belligerent and neutral societies.
With his flair for dramatic stories and telling detail, A. N. Wilson singles out those writers, statesmen, scientists, philosophers, and soldiers whose lives illuminated the fervor of an age on the c