Research Catalog

Title

The origins of war : from the Stone Age to Alexander the Great / Arther Ferrill.

Author

Ferrill, Arther.

Publication

New York, N.Y. : Thames and Hudson, 1985.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

240 pages : illustrations, maps; 24 cm

Summary

When did war begin? Archaeologist and historians have in the past been curiously reluctant to study the early history of organized warfare. Standard military accounts tend to start with the Graeco-Persian wars and to lay undue emphasis on the pre-eminence of Greek heavy infantry. But, as this strikingly original and entertaining book shows, the origins of war can be traced back, not to the Iron Age, or even to the Bronze Age, but to the emergence of settled life itself nearly 10,000 years ago. The military revolution that occurred at that time -the major new weapons, the massive fortifications, the creation of strategy and tactics -ultimately gave rise to the great war of machines of ancient Egypt, Assyria and Persia which dominated the Near East to the time of Alexander the Great. It is Professor Ferrill's thesis that in the period before Alexander there were two independent lines of military development, a Near Eastern one culminating in the expert integration of cavalry, skirmishers and light infantry, and a Greek one based on heavy infantry. When Philip and Alexander blended the two traditions in their crack Macedonian army, the result was a style of warfare that continued, despite technological changes, down to Napoleon. To prove his point, as a tailpiece Professor Ferril recreates the battle of Waterloo as if Alexander were in Napoleon's shoes, and concludes that it would have been a "near-run thing." Complete with detailed and copiously illustrated account of all the major battles on land and sea up to the fourth century BC, analysis of weapons from the sling to the catapult, and discussion of ancient strategy and tactics, this is a book for armchair historians everywhere.--Dust jacket flap.

Subjects

• History
• Oudheid
• Oorlogvoering
• Military history, Ancient
• Military art and science > History

Genre/Form

History.

Note

• Includes index.

Bibliography (note)

• Bibliography: p. 233-235.

Contents

Prehistoric warfare -- Ancient Near Eastern warfare : the copper-bronze age -- Assyria and Persia : the age of iron -- Classical Greek warfare -- The military revolution -- Alexander the Great and the origins of modern war.

ISBN

• 0500250936
• 9780500250938

LCCN

84051642

OCLC

• ocm11929378
• 11929378
• SCSB-9555283

Owning Institutions

Princeton University Library