War in the Age of Technology

Published by New York University Press 2001

War in the Age of Technology

Myriad Faces of Modern Armed Conflict

Edited by: Robert Geoffrey Jensen and Andrew Wiest

https://doi.org/10.18574/nyu/9780814743867.001.0001

Overview
Contents

About this book

Technology of one kind or another has always been a central ingredient in war. The Spartan king Archidamus, for instance, reacted with alarm when first witnessing a weapon that could shoot darts through the air. And yet during the past two centuries technology has played an unprecedented role in military affairs and thinking, and in the overall conduct of war. In addition, the impact of new technology on warfare has brought major social and cultural changes.
This volume explores the relationship between war, technology, and modern society over the course of the last several centuries. The two world wars, total conflicts in which industrial technology took a terrible human toll, brought great changes to the practice of organized violence among nations; even so many aspect of military life and values remained largely unaffected. In the latter half of the twentieth century, technology in the form of nuclear deterrence appears to have prevented the global conflagration of world war while complicating and fueling ferocious regional contests.
A stimulating fusion of military and social history, extending back to the eighteenth century, and with contributions from such leading historians as Brian Bond, Paddy Griffith, and Neil McMillen, War in the Age of Technology will interest lay readers and specialists alike.

Author information

JensenRobert Geoffrey:

Geoffrey Jensen is John C. Biggs ’30 Cincinnati Chair in Military History at Virginia Military Institute.WiestAndrew:

Andrew Wiest is Professor of History and Co-Director of the Center for the Study of War and Society at the University of Southern Mississippi. He is co-editor of War in the Age of Technology: Myriad Faces of Modern Armed Combat (NYU Press, 2001) and author or co-author of numerous books, including Rolling Thunder in a Gentle Land: The Vietnam War Revisited, Atlas of World War II, and The Vietnam War, 1959–1975. He lives in Hattiesburg, MS.

Reviews

Both general readers and military specialists . . . will find much that is informative and thoughtful in this generally superior collection of essays.

It is the product of an unusual intellectual matrix.

Holger H. Herwig,University of Calgary:
Technology has been central to war from the Greeks to the present, from Archidamus, who reacted with alarm to the appearance of a weapon that could shoot darts through the air, to today's U.S. armed forces, which see a revolution in military affairs around every corner. Jensen and Wiest provide a highly readable yet sophisticated analysis of technology's place in modern warfare that incorporates industrial, political, military, social, and psychological aspects. It is a model of erudition and scholarship.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
CONTENTS Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
Introduction: The Meaning of War in a Technological Age Geoffrey Jensen Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Part I TECHNOLOGY AND THE MILITARY: On and Off the Battlefield
Chapter 1 Infantry Armament and the Perception of Tactical Need, 1789–1918 Paddy Griffith Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	17
Chapter 2 Technology, Industry, and War, 1945–1991 Warren Chin Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	42
Chapter 3 The Impact of Communications and the Media on the Art of War since 1815 Stephen Badsey Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	66
Part II THE MYRIAD FACES OF TOTAL WAR
Chapter 4 The Morale of the British Army on the Western Front, 1914–18 A Case Study in the Importance of the “Human Factor” in Twentieth-Century Total War G. D. Sheffield Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	103
Chapter 5 Not All Beer and Skittles? Everyday Life and Leisure on the Western Front Chris McCarthy Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	140
Chapter 6 The Indian Corps on the Western Front: A Reconsideration Robert McLain Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	167
Chapter 7 The Somme in British History Brian Bond Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	194
Chapter 8 The Elusive Victory The BEF and the Operational Level of War, September 1918 Niall J. A. Barr Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	211
Chapter 9 Scientists at War The Development of Radar and Jet Propulsion in Britain Eric Bobo Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	239
Chapter 10 War and Black Memory World War II and the Origins of the Civil Rights Movement Neil R. McMillen Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	263
Part III THE NUCLEAR AGE Myriad Faces of Limited War
Chapter 11 Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: The Legacy of War Andrew Wiest, Leslie P. Root and Raymond M. Scurfield Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	293
Chapter 12 Iraq A Third-World Superpower? Sean McKnight Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	333
Chapter 13 Russia and Warfare in the Postindustrial Age Michael Orr Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	365
CONTRIBUTORS Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	381
INDEX Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	385

Language: English
Publisher: New York University Press
Audience: Professional and scholarly;

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Published: April 1, 2001
ISBN: 9780814743867

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War in the Age of Technology

Myriad Faces of Modern Armed Conflict