The military revolution

Geoffrey Parker

"This is a new edition of Geoffrey Parker's much-admired illustrated account of how the West, so small and so deficient in natural resources in 1500, had by 1800 come to control over one third of the world. This edition incorporates new material, including a substantial 'Afterword' which summarizes the debate which developed after the book's first publication." "Geoffrey Parker's argument is in two parts. First the military practice of the West 'at home' in Europe is analysed, with special reference to the role of firearms in the transformation of both offensive and defensive warfare; to the rapid growth in army size; and to the creation of ocean-going warships which fought with long-range guns instead of ramming and boarding. He then argues that these major changes amounted to a 'military revolution' which gave Westerners a decided advantage over the people of other continents: over...

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