dee@linus.MITRE.ORG (David E. Emery) (01/19/89)
Martin van Creveld has a new book out, I boutht it last night. It's called "Technology and War" (Free Press, $22.95). From the dustjacket: "From the earliest clashes of spear-wielding warriors to the computerized battles of the late twentieth century, the shape, conduct and sometimes the outcome of war has been intrinsically linked wiht technology. In this brilliant, definitive work - the result of a five-year research project originally commissioned by the Pentagon - the internationally respected military historian Martin van Creveld offers a comprehensive yet succinct historical analysis of this relationship between technology and warfare over the pat 4,000 years. Going far beyond a study of specific military weaponry and system, van Creveld considers the impact of all technological change not only on combat but on the totality of warfare, from the everyday phisical realities of roads, vehicles, communications, timekeeping and maps, to the complex problems involved in strategy, tehcnological management, innovation and conceptualization." (typos are my own...) I've never been dissapointed by anything van Creveld's written, so I snatched this right up. I'll post a review when I've finished. Also, Kennedy "Rise and Fall of the Great Powers" is now available in paperback, after I got the hardback for christmas. Well worth every penny, at least the first half is (I'm still reading it). dave emery emery@mitre.org