This clear, readable introduction to the popular field of military history is now available in a refreshed and updated second edition. It shows that military history encompasses not just accounts of campaigns and battles but includes a wide range of perspectives on all aspects of past military organization and activity. In concise chapters it explains the fundamental features of the field, including:The history of military history, showing how it has developed from ancient times to the present; The key ideas and concepts that shape analysis of military activity; it argues that military history is as methodologically and philosophically sophisticated as any field of history; The current controversies about which military historians argue, and why they are important; A survey of who does military history, where it is taught and published, and how it is practiced; A look at where military history is headed in the future.The new edition of What is Military History? provides an up-to-date bibliography and cutting edge new case studies, including counterinsurgency, and as such continues to be ideal for classes in military history and in historiography generally, as well as for anyone interested in learning more about the dynamics of a rich and growing area of study.

1 An Introduction to Military History 1Military History: Defi nitions, Topics, Scope 3Who Studies Military History and Why? 5Overview of this Book 92 Military Historiography 11Classical Roots: Military History in Ancient Times 12Military History in the Traditional World: Histories, Manuals, and War Tales 21Science, Nationalism, and General Staffs: Military History in the Nineteenth andEarly Twentieth Centuries 30New Military Histories: The Transformations of the Last 50 Years 373 Conceptual Frameworks 45Military History and Philosophy of History 46Military Art and Practice 55War and Society: Interdisciplinary Infl uences 64Global History and Comparative Methodology 70Conclusions 744 Current Controversies 75Military Revolutions 77Counter-Insurgency: History and Policy 86"The West": Exceptionalism and Dominance? 89War, Society, and Culture: Other Controversies 96Conclusion: Revisionism and Reading the Process of History 1025 Doing Military History 105Forms 105Sources 110Programs 113Journals, Presses, and Associations 1156 The Future of Military History 118Trends in the Field 119The Politics of Military History 122Notes 125Further Reading 139Index 155