Category: Military Innovation
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The Imperial Roman Army (1969) by Graham Webster
First published in 1969, Graham Webster’s The Imperial Roman Army was one of the first modern accounts of the Roman military, charting its evolution from the Republican period through to the Empire at its height. Webster’s work has long stood as a staple introduction for students and enthusiasts alike, praised for its clarity and archaeological…
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The Imperial Roman Army (1989) by Yann Le Bohec
Yann Le Bohec’s “The Imperial Roman Army” (1989) is a sweeping, detailed, and authoritative account of the Roman military during the Empire’s most formative and enduring centuries. Originally published in French and translated into English in 1994, the book quickly became a cornerstone of Roman military studies. Rather than focusing solely on battlefield exploits or…
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The Making of the Roman Army: From Republic to Empire (1984) by Lawrence Keppie
Lawrence Keppie’s “The Making of the Roman Army: From Republic to Empire” (1984) is an informed, well-structured study of one of the most formidable and influential military institutions in world history. From the rudimentary levy-based militias of early Rome to the professionalized, standing legions of the imperial era, Keppie traces the evolution of the Roman…
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Winning the Next War: Innovation and the Modern Military (1991) by Stephen Peter Rosen
Stephen Peter Rosen’s “Winning the Next War: Innovation and the Modern Military” (1991) came out just when the idea of a Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA) was coming into vogue in defence policy circles. It is one of the most influential books I’ve ever read. I discovered it my first year in graduate school at…
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Dreadnought: Britain, Germany, and the Coming of the Great War (1991) by Robert K. Massie
Robert K. Massie’s “Dreadnought: Britain, Germany, and the Coming of the Great War” (1991) is a monumental achievement in narrative history, weaving together biography, diplomacy, military innovation, and geopolitical rivalry into a compelling and deeply human account of the path to World War I. It stands as one of my all-time favorite books. At its…
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The Military Revolution: Military Innovation and the Rise of the West, 1500-1800 (1988) by Geoffrey Parker
During the 1990s, discussions about a new “military revolution” shaped by advances in the Information Age dominated defense intellectual circles. Yet the concept of a “military revolution” as a transformative historical process actually dates back much further—to a seminal 1955 lecture by British historian Michael Roberts titled The Military Revolution 1560-1660. Building on and revising…
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War Made New: Technology, Warfare, and the Course of History, 1500 to Today (2006) by Max Boot
A decade ago, the defense policy community was a buzz about an emerging “Revolution in Military Affairs” (RMA) – a discontinuous change in the nature of warfare generated by the information revolution whose potential was so clearly demonstrated by the overwhelming advantage that precision guided munitions and operational awareness conferred to US forces in the…
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Clausewitz in English: The Reception of Clausewitz in Britain and America, 1815–1945 (1994) by Christopher Bassford
Carl von Clausewitz’s masterpiece “On War” was published posthumously in Prussia in the 1830s. Arguably the most thoughtful and influential treatise on warfare ever written, his impact on the English-speaking world, especially the United States, was very slow in coming. Author Christopher Bassford claims this was due to several reasons. First, “On War” wasn’t available…
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Forging Stalin’s Army: Marshal Tukhachevsky And The Politics Of Military Innovation (1999) by Sally Stoecker
“Forging Stalin’s Army: Marshal Tukhachevsky and the Politics of Military Innovation” came out in the late 1990s when interwar studies on military innovation were all the rage, much like case studies of counterinsurgency would be a decade later. Much has been written about the German, American, British and Japanese experience during the 1920 and 1930s…
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