War in the Age of Technology: Myriad Faces of Modern Armed Conflict

by Geoffrey Jensen, Andrew Wiest

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780814742501
Publisher:	New York University Press
Publication date:	04/01/2001
Series:	World of War Series
Pages:	406
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.19(d)

About the Author

Robert Geoffrey Jensen (Editor)
Geoffrey Jensen is John Biggs ’30 Cincinnati Chair in Military History at Virginia Military Institute.

Andrew Wiest (Editor)
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.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"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."

-Holger H. Herwig,University of Calgary

"It is the product of an unusual intellectual matrix."

-Technology and Culture,

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

-The Historian

Editorial Reviews

"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."

Holger H. Herwig

"It is the product of an unusual intellectual matrix."

Technology and Culture

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

The Historian

"It is the product of an unusual intellectual matrix."

-Technology and Culture

"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."

-Holger H. Herwig,University of Calgary

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

-The Historian

From the Publisher

Considering the relationships between war, technology, and modern society, this book fuses military and social history concerning the use of organized violence between states during the period since 1789. Thirteen essays look at the military use of technology on and off the battlefield, the introduction of total war (during the two world wars), and the possibility of limited war in the nuclear age. The experiences of the British military are emphasized. Contributors include historians, archivists, psychologists, and military scholars. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews

A stimulating fusion of military and social history

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