Sign-In
Cart
The Future of War: A History
Paperback
General Political ScienceGeneral SociologyMilitary Strategy
Publisher Price: $18.99
ISBN13: 9781541742772
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Published: Nov 5 2019
Pages: 400
Weight: 0.65
Height: 1.20 Width: 5.40 Depth: 8.00
Language: English
An award-winning military historian, professor, and political adviser delivers the definitive story of warfare in all its guises and applications, showing what has driven and continues to drive this uniquely human form of political violence.
Questions about the future of war are a regular feature of political debate, strategic analysis, and popular fiction. Where should we look for new dangers? What cunning plans might an aggressor have in mind? What are the best forms of defense? How might peace be preserved or conflict resolved?
From the French rout at Sedan in 1870 to the relentless contemporary insurgencies in Iraq and Afghanistan, Lawrence Freedman, a world-renowned military thinker, reveals how most claims from the military futurists are wrong. But they remain influential nonetheless.
Freedman shows how those who have imagined future war have often had an idealized notion of it as confined, brief, and decisive, and have regularly taken insufficient account of the possibility of long wars-hence the stubborn persistence of the idea of a knockout blow, whether through a dashing land offensive, nuclear first strike, or cyberattack. He also notes the lack of attention paid to civil wars until the West began to intervene in them during the 1990s, and how the boundaries between peace and war, between the military, the civilian, and the criminal are becoming increasingly blurred.
Freedman's account of a century and a half of warfare and the (often misconceived) thinking that precedes war is a challenge to hawks and doves alike, and puts current strategic thinking into a bracing historical perspective.
Also in
Military Strategy
Soul of the Samurai: Modern Translations of Three Classic Works of Zen & Bushido
Cleary, Thomas
Hardcover
Viking Warrior Operations Manual: The Life, Equipment, Weapons and Fighting Tactics of the Vikings
Konstam, Angus
Hardcover
Henry Knox's Noble Train: The Story of a Boston Bookseller's Heroic Expedition That Saved the American Revolution
Hazelgrove, William Elliott
Hardcover
U.S. Army Special Forces Guide to Unconventional Warfare: Devices and Techniques for Incendiaries
Army
United States Department of the Army
Paperback
Left of Bang: How the Marine Corps' Combat Hunter Program Can Save Your Life
Van Horne, Patrick
Riley, Jason A.
Paperback
Waging a Good War: How the Civil Rights Movement Won Its Battles, 1954-1968
Ricks, Thomas E.
Paperback
The Official U.S. Army Survival Manual Updated
Underwood, Peter T.
U S Department of the Army
Paperback
Art of War & Other Classics of Eastern Philosophy (Deluxe Leatherbound Edition)
Lao-Tzu
Confucius
Tzu, Sun
Hardcover
The Hour Strikes: Churchill, Roosevelt, and Hitler at the Hinge of History, 1941
Thomas, Evan
Thomas, Oscie
Hardcover
The Generosity of Scars: How Your Stories of Struggle Can Change Lives--Especially Your Own
Mann, Scott
Hardcover
The Code of the Samurai: A Modern Translation of the Bushido Shoshinshu of Taira Shigesuke
Cleary, Thomas
Hardcover
Great Power Diplomacy: The Skill of Statecraft from Attila the Hun to Kissinger
Mitchell, A. Wess
Hardcover
The Book of Five Rings: Including the Book of Family Traditions on the Art of War by Yagyu Munenori
Musashi, Miyamoto
Paperback
Three Days at the Brink: Fdr's Daring Gamble to Win World War II
Baier, Bret
Whitney, Catherine
Paperback
Special Reconnaissance and Advanced Small Unit Patrolling: Tactics, Techniques and Procedures for Special Operations Forces
Wolcoff, Edward
Paperback
Such Troops as These: The Genius and Leadership of Confederate General Stonewall Jackson
Alexander, Bevin
Paperback
The Other Side of the Mountain: Mujahideen Tactics in the Soviet-Afghan War
Jalali, Ali Ahmad
Grau, Lester W.
Paperback
Spec Ops: Case Studies in Special Operations Warfare: Theory and Practice
McRaven, William H.
Paperback
Bushido: The Samurai Code of Japan: With an Extensive Introduction and Notes by Alexander Bennett
Nitobe, Inazo
Hardcover
The CIA PSYOP Manual - Psychological Operations in Guerrilla Warfare: Updated 2017 Release - Newly Indexed - With Additional Material - Full-Size Edit
Agency, Central Intelligence
Paperback
On War (Royal Collector's Edition) (Annotated) (Case Laminate Hardcover with Jacket)
Von Clausewitz, Carl
Hardcover
The Way of the Warrior: The Way of the Samurai, the Art of War, the Book of Five Rings
Tzu, Sun
Nitobe, Inazo
Musashi, Miyamoto
Hardcover
The Strategists: Churchill, Stalin, Roosevelt, Mussolini, and Hitler--How War Made Them and How They Made War
O'Brien, Phillips Payson
Hardcover
Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife: Counterinsurgency Lessons from Malaya and Vietnam
Nagl, John A.
Paperback
Mahan on Naval Strategy: Selections from the Writings of Rear Admiral Alfred Thayer Mahan
Mahan, Alfred Thayer
Paperback
The Myth of the Great War: A New Military History of World War I
Mosier, John
Literary Group International
Paperback
Sun Tzu's Art of War for Women: Strategies for Winning Without Conflict - Revised with a New Introduction
Huang, Catherine
Rosenberg, A. D.
Paperback
Psyop: Military Psychological Operations Manual: Military Psychological Operations Manual
U S Army
Paperback
Brothers in Arms: One Legendary Tank Regiment's Bloody War from D-Day to Ve-Day
Holland, James
Paperback
The Burma Road: The Epic Story of the China-Burma-India Theater in World War II
Webster, Donovan
Paperback
Scripture and the Sword: Tactical, Practical and Spiritual Lessons from the Bible's Greatest Warriors
Hix, Jordan
Paperback
Chamber Divers: The Untold Story of the D-Day Scientists Who Changed Special Operations Forever
Lance, Rachel
Paperback
The New Rules of War: How America Can Win--Against Russia, China, and Other Threats
McFate, Sean
Paperback
The Art of War: The Definitive Interpretation of Sun Tzu's Classic Book of Strategy
Tzu, Sun
Hardcover
Defense Against Drones: Defending Against Threats From The Air - Combatting Scout and Attack Drones
Nagy, Kristóf
Reisner, Markus
Paperback
U.S. Army Special Forces Guide to Unconventional Warfare: Devices and Techniques for Incendiaries
U S Department of the Army
Paperback
The Skulking Way of War: Technology and Tactics Among the New England Indians
Malone, Patrick M.
Paperback
Empires in World History: Power and the Politics of Difference
Cooper, Frederick
Burbank, Jane
Paperback
Blunting the Spear: The Pacific Carrier War from Pearl Harbor to the Doolittle Raid
Stern, Robert C.
Hardcover
Kaigun: Strategy, Tactics, and Technology in the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1887-1941
Peattie, David
Evans, David C.
Paperback
The Art of War: A Classical Treatise on Strategy and Military Science
de Jomini, Baron Antoine-Henri
Paperback
Collected Writings of Chairman Mao: Volume 3 - On Policy, Practice and Contradiction
Zedong, Mao
Tse-Tung, Mao
Paperback
Verdun: The Lost History of the Most Important Battle of World War I, 1914-1918
Mosier, John
Paperback
Napoleon Bonaparte's First Campaign: Italy 1796-97 and the Defeat of the Austrian Armies
Sargent, Herbert H.
Paperback
Sipri Yearbook 2025: Armaments, Disarmament and International Security
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
Hardcover
Red Star Over the Pacific, Third Edition: China's Rise and the Challenge to U.S. Maritime Strategy
Yoshihara, Toshi
Holmes, James R.
Paperback
Five Rings: The Classic Text on Mastery in Swordsmanship, Leadership and Conflict: A New Translation
Musashi, Miyamoto
Hardcover
Military History for the Modern Strategist: America's Major Wars Since 1861
O'Hanlon, Michael
Paperback
The Art of War (Royal Collector's Edition) (Annotated) (Case Laminate Hardcover with Jacket)
Tzu, Sun
Hardcover
The Book of Ninja: The Bansenshukai - Japan's Premier Ninja Manual
Cummins, Antony
Minami, Yoshie
Hardcover
Cornelius Ryan: The Longest Day (D-Day June 6, 1944), a Bridge Too Far (Loa #318)
Ryan, Cornelius
Hardcover
Abraham Lincoln and the Heroic Legend: Reconsidering Lincoln as Commander in Chief
Noe, Kenneth W.
Hardcover
How They Won the War in the Pacific: Nimitz and His Admirals
Hoyt, Edwin P.
Eller, Rear Admiral E. M.
Paperback
Engineers of Victory: The Problem Solvers Who Turned the Tide in the Second World War
Kennedy, Paul
Paperback
China's Military Modernization: Assessing China's Weapons and Strategic Reach in the Early 21st Century
Boufesis, Alexandros
Paperback