The Military Revolution: Military Innovation and the Rise of the West, 1500-1800

The Military Revolution: Military Innovation and the Rise of the West, 1500-1800

By: Geoffrey Parker  

Buy it now at Amazon.com!

Average Customer Rating: 4.0 out of 5

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Customer Review: 2 out of 5
achy - I'm a student, and I hated this book. It could be condensed into one sentence. Who needs all the backing up facts that you'll forget about anyway. That's what happens when you have to take required classes.

Customer Review: 4 out of 5
Complementary readings to Parker's book - There are already some good reviews, so I will only suggest reading the following books on war in addition to Parker's: a) "War in human civilization" by Azar Gat; b) "War before Civilization. The Myth of the Peaceful Savage", by Lawrence Keeley; c) "How War Began" by Keith F. Otterbein; d) "War and Peace and War: The Rise and Fall of Empires" by Peter Turchin; and e) "War and the Law of Nations: A General History" by Stephen Neff.

Customer Review: 4 out of 5
R.M.A. - Parker managed to analyze the R.M.A. phenomenon (which still is a controversial issue for many) giving a global perspective. This is one of the big advantages of this book; he is not 'isolated' in the European continent but rather gives us an idea of the R.M.A.'s impact in other cultures and societies. Excellent book for postgraduate students...

Customer Review: 5 out of 5
Michael Roberts (Modified & Expanded) - During the 1990s, it was fashionable in the defense intellectual community to talk and write about a military revolution driven by the advances of the Information Age. The concept of a "military revolution" can trace its lineage back to a lecture given by the British historian Michael Roberts at Queen's University in Belfast in January 1955 titled "The military revolution 1560-1660." Thirty years later Geoffrey Parker delivered a series of lectures at Trinity College, Cambridge, that endorsed, but modified Roberts' original and highly influential thesis, and which was ultimately turned into book form as "The Military Revolution: Military innovation and the rise of the West, 1500-1800."

It is important to clearly state Parker's main objective in writing this piece. He notes that much scholarly attention has been devoted to explaining the rapid conquest by western states during the 19th century. It has been claimed that between 1800 and 1914 the West went from controlling 35% of the earth's surface to 84%. Here Parker endeavors to explain how the West came to control the first 35%, which cannot be explained by the Industrial Revolution, and his explanation is derived from Roberts' original thesis of a military revolution in the 16th century.

Parker accepts but modifies Roberts' general argument that a fundamental change in tactics, accompanied by a stunning growth in army size, the development of complex strategies, and the profound impact of military operations on society led to a military revolution that had deep and lasting consequences. To begin with, Parker suggests that the impact of the military revolution was much slower to develop and much less decisive than Roberts had argued. Thus, where Roberts' revolution is contained in a one hundred year period (1560-1660), Parker sees a revolution that unfolded over a period that began a bit earlier (1500) and took much longer to mature (1800). Next, he sees the rise of modern fortifications, especially the famed trace italienne, as the truly distinguishing characteristic of the revolutionary period, and not the tight drill of handheld firearm weaponry by infantry units as argued by Roberts and brought to perfection by the Swedish army of Gustavus Adolphus in the Thirty Years War. Parker suggests that Roberts over-emphasized the importance of tactical changes in set piece battles, such Breitenfeld (1631) or Lutzen (1632), which occurred in Germany precisely because of the absence of modern trace italienne fortifications. It was the artillery fortifications that drove the rapid expanse in army size and logistical sophistication, Parker argues, and not mobile infantry firepower.

Parker sees a clearly definable progression of military development. First came the maturation of gunpowder artillery, which so clearly obsolesced the high and thin fortification walls of Italy in the French invasion of 1494. Second, in response to the power of siege artillery against classical walls developed to thwart scaling attacks, a new form of fortification was low, thick and oblique in design (not to mention incredible expensive), which diffused all through out the lands of the Hapsburgs in Western Europe and were effective against artillery barrage. Third, the answer to conquering the new "artillery fortresses" was massive manpower to strangle the strongpoint into submission over a long period of time. Fourth, in order to recruit, supply, and pay such forces of unprecedented size required a bureaucratic revolution that ultimately changed the face of governments in Europe and, in Roberts' and Parker's view, led directly to the rise absolutism. Finally, and central to the whole thesis of the book, Parker maintains that the combination of artillery firepower, large armies with an infrastructure to support them, and nearly impregnable artillery fortresses to garrison conquered land combined to serve as the engine of empire in the early days of Western expansion, leading directly to conquest of one-third of the world by dawn of the 19th century.

This book is a great read and a vivid introduction to the topic of the military revolution of the 16th century. I can't remember the last time I read a serious work of history that included so many relevant and useful pictures, diagrams, and maps. It is highly recommended to anyone with an interest in early Modern Europe, military innovation, or western imperialism.

Customer Review: 5 out of 5
Well Written, Concise, But Imperfect - In this well written and concise book, Geoffrey Parker argues that a revolution in European fighting methods in this era transformed Europe and gave Europeans a military advantage over the rest of the world. As a result, by 1800 European powers held substantial empires which they would expand greatly in the eighteen and nineteen hundreds. Parker gives convincing arguments on the advantages of gunpowder weapons, superior European organization, superior European naval power, and the ruthlessness of European warfare compared to that of some opponents. What is less convincing is the emphasis on the Italian trace system of fortifications and the supposedly resulting increase in army size and weakness of smaller states. Good coherent coverage is given to naval warfare and early imperialism, like the Portuguese and Dutch in Indonesia as well as later British success in India. The efforts of non-western powers to adapt to the revolution are also covered, as well as eastern practices of impoundment of goods as a substitute for strong naval power. This book is excellent, but for a fuller view, please also read "The Military Revolution Debate" edited by Clifford Rogers.

--> Find out more about "The Military Revolution: Military Innovation and the Rise of the West, 1500-1800" at Amazon.com or Order Now