PublishedPen And Sword, August 2023 |
ISBN9781399060899 |
FormatHardcover, 256 pages |
Dimensions23.4cm × 15.6cm |
An original and unique work that will fill a huge gap in the field of military history, and be of interest to both scholars and general readers, and it should attract reviews in academic journals like The British Journal of Military History or The Review of Military History but importantly in more popular journals and magazine like History Today, BBC History and Military History.
It is a picture of the universal role of cavalry in warfare from earliest times to the present - and future. It covers the role of horses and essential mobility in 'shock action', in warfare in the classical world, in the major civilisations of China and India, Steppe cavalry, in the middle ages with Islamic and European conflict, the 'social politics' in Christendom with knightly valour, and war with non-Christian forces including the Muslim invasion of Europe, Islamic Spain, and conflict with the Mongols - the last probably new to readers. The early modern period covers the Asia and North Africa and the Ottomans - a major field of warfare continuing up to the modern period - and the time is notable for the introduction of horses in the Americas - a new phase in cavalry history. The modern period from Napoleon to the First World War is the history of the mobility of cavalry in European warfare and in imperial expansion and empire-building, but the concept of cavalry 'redundancy' arises in the maelstrom of 1914-1918 with artillery bombardment, trench warfare and the role of infantry. The long 'transition' period leading up the present and future is fascinating for both cavalry and infantry, with the development of tanks and armour. And here is a fascinating and original concept of cavalry 'transformation' and not cavalry 'survivalism', with modern and post-modern development of drone warfare - from horses to drones - as a 'new cavalry' for reconnaissance and combat. Contents: 1 Strengths and Starts 2 The Classical World - 350CE 3 The Post-Classical World and the Attacks of Steppe Peoples, 350-1150 4 Medieval Centuries 5 The Early Modern Period I, 1500-1660 6 The Early Modern Period II, 1650-1800 7 From Napoleon to the First World War 8 Transition, 1916-1945 9 Armour as the Cavalry Arm, but Drones as the Next Generation? 1945 -the Future 10 Conclusions. AUTHOR: Jeremy Black has been described as 'the most prolific historical scholar of our age' and see the strongly supportive reviews for his Logistics: The Key to Victory and The Geographies of War from Professor Michael Clarke (ex-Director of RUSI and of KCL, author of our Great British Commanders, and Professor J E Spence of KCL. Jeremy Black has researched and written widely on British history, politics, including political ideas, and international relations, since the 17th and 18th centuries to the present, and especially on military history. He obtained a starred First in History at Queens College, Cambridge followed by postgraduate work at St John's and Merton Colleges, Oxford, and was Lecturer and Professor of History at Durham University, and now Emeritus Professor of History at Exeter University. He is senior fellow at the Center for the Study of America and the West at the Foreign Policy Research Institute in Philadelphia. He has lectured extensively in various British Commonwealth countries, Europe and the USA. He has served as archives editor, council member of prestigious academic and research bodies like Royal Historical Society and the British Records Association and on editorial boards of numerous history journals - History Today, RUSI Journal, International Review of Military History, Media History etc. He has numerous honours including the MBE.
