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Books > Social sciences > Warfare & defence > Weapons & equipment > General
The Army of George II is often forgotten, as 18th century British
military history is bookended by the victories of the Duke of
Marlborough during the War of the Spanish Succession and the final
defeat of Napoleon by the Duke of Wellington. Yet it was in this
period that Britain rose to prominence, not only as a European, but
also as a world power, defeating the French in India, North
America, and the Caribbean and fighting them in two major wars in
Europe. Great leaders emerged, such as Robert Clive and James
Wolfe, whilst the private soldiers proved themselves to be
adaptable, stoic, and, above all, brave in the face of extreme
hardship. This was the army that crushed French colonial ambitions
and in so doing laid the groundwork for the British Empire. In this
book you will find details of how the army was recruited, funded,
and how it functioned day-to-day. Details are also provided of the
uniforms worn by infantry, artillery, and cavalry; how they were
organised, paid, and punished. There are also new insights into the
logistics of 18th century warfare, how the soldiers performed in
battle, both in Europe and in the colonies, and what medical
treatment they could expect when the battles were over. This book
provides a unique insight into what it was like to serve in the
Army of King George II.
The outbreak of WW1 in 1914 found the British Army unready in many
respects for a new age of warfare. However, the British led the
world in the personal equipment worn by the infantryman thanks to
an American officer named Anson Mills and the skills of the company
created to produce his design - the 1908 equipment set made in
woven cotton web. By the outbreak of WW2, the British infantry had
new 1937 pattern equipment, whose design reflected a new generation
of weapons and tactics. This proved unequal to the special demands
of jungle warfare in the Far East: so 1944 saw yet another set of
kit. In this book the author offers collectors and students of
militaria a detailed review of these infantry equipments which
spanned the British soldier's combat experience throughout most of
the 20th century.
Bringing together the law of armed conflict governing the use of
weapons into a single volume, the fully updated Second Edition of
Weapons and the Law of Armed Conflict interprets these rules and
discusses the factors influencing future developments in weapons
law. After relating the historical evolution of weapons law, the
book discusses the important customary principles that are the
foundation of the subject, and provides a condensed account of the
law that exists on the use of weapons. The treaties and customary
rules applying to particular categories of weapon are thereafter
listed and explained article by article and rule by rule in a
series of chapters. Having stated the law as it is, the book then
explores the way in which this dynamic field of international law
develops in the light of various influences. The legal review of
weapons is discussed, both from the perspective of how such reviews
should be undertaken and how such a system should be established.
Having stated the law as it is, the book then investigates the way
in which this dynamic field of international law develops in the
light of various influences. In the final chapter, the prospects
for future rule change are considered. This Second Edition includes
a discussion of new treaty law on expanding bullets, the arms
trade, and norms in relation to biological and chemical weapons. It
also analyses the International Manuals on air and missile warfare
law and on cyber warfare law, the challenges posed by 'lethal
autonomous weapon systems', and developments in the field of
information and telecommunications otherwise known as cyber
activities.
Former secretary of defense Leon Panetta once described cyber
warfare as "the most serious threat in the twenty-first century,"
capable of destroying our entire infrastructure and crippling the
nation. Already, major cyber attacks have affected countries around
the world: Estonia in 2007, Georgia in 2008, Iran in 2010, and most
recently the United States. As with other methods of war, cyber
technology can be used not only against military forces and
facilities but also against civilian targets. Information
technology has enabled a new method of warfare that is proving
extremely difficult to combat, let alone defeat. And yet cyber
warfare is still in its infancy, with innumerable possibilities and
contingencies for how such conflicts may play out in the coming
decades. Brian M. Mazanec examines the worldwide development of
constraining norms for cyber war and predicts how those norms will
unfold in the future. Employing case studies of other
emerging-technology weapons-chemical and biological, strategic
bombing, and nuclear weaponry-Mazanec expands previous
understandings of norm-evolution theory, offering recommendations
for U.S. policymakers and citizens alike as they grapple with the
reality of cyber terrorism in our own backyard.
A substantial amount of work has been carried out to explore the
military systems of Western Europe during the early modern era, but
the military trajectories of the Asian states have received
relatively little attention. This study provides the first
comparative study of the major Asian empires' military systems and
explores the extent of the impact of West European military
transition on the extra-European world. Kaushik Roy conducts a
comparative analysis of the armies and navies of the large agrarian
bureaucratic empires of Asia, focusing on the question of how far
the Asian polities were able to integrate gunpowder weapons in
their military systems. Military Transition in Early Modern Asia,
1400-1750 offers important insights into the common patterns in war
making across the region, and the impact of firearms and artillery.
This Is A New Release Of The Original 1915 Edition.
Military logistics is a relatively new word to describe a very old
practice; the supply, movement and maintenance of an armed force
both in peace time and under operational conditions. Logistic
considerations are generally built into battle plans at an early
stage. Without logistics, tanks, armored personnel carriers,
artillery pieces, aircraft are just numbers on a table of
organization and equipment. Through this book an endeavor has been
made to understand the logistics of People's Liberation Army (PLA)
of China. An introduction to the theory of supply chain management
and logistics of foreign Armies is discussed. Today 'Revolution in
Military Logistics' (RML) is taking place in the People's
Liberation Army. An attempt has been made to study this evolution,
development and rapid modernization of the People's Liberation Army
logistics.
This book consists of fifteen cartoons inspired by an 1866 Harper's
Weekly article about the hypothetical length of the Thirty Years'
War at different periods in time and extending into the future when
both sides had developed the ultimate weapons to end all wars. Of
course, war is inspired by the devil.
Firepower is an absorbing and stimulating study of methods of
winning wars. Firepower does not invariably mean what comes out of
the barrel of a gun; it comprises everything from morale to
tactics, strategy to logistics, and subversion to diplomacy.
Written by the leading military historian Philip Warner, Firepower
examines weapons from slings and poisoned arrows to their modern
counterparts - rockets and chemical weapons. Many weapons now
thought to be ultra modern were derived from less sophisticated
versions to use in pre-Christian and medieval times. Some of the
secrets of early terror weapons such as 'Greek fire' which could
burn on water and stick to stone, have been lost, but the author
makes shrewd assessments of their constituents and power. The book
describes the evolution of aircraft, tanks, underwater craft, and
even the art of secret communication. The narrative is illustrated
by accounts from soldiers with personal experience of clearing
minefields, engaging in hand to hand combat and pitting human
skills against electronic devices. Motivation is shown to be one of
the most important factors in the history of warfare, and is
closely allied to training. The book includes a wide survey of
modern weapons and their systems, explaining those available in the
armouries of the NATO forces and the then Warsaw Pact countries.
All this is essential reading for anyone who wishes to understand
the wars and skirmishes which take place in many parts of the world
today; by its knowledgeable, sober assessments, the book tends to
be reassuring rather than alarmist. Firepower is a comprehensive
survey which avoids technical jargon and is written in a clear,
vigorous style. It will interest the expert and amateur alike.
Philip Warner is a former senior lecturer at the Royal Military
Academy at Sandhurst and author of forty books in the field of
military history and biography. He joined the army after graduating
from Cambridge in 1939 and served in the Far East throughout Would
War II. The book includes an extensive picture gallery and author
biography and bibliography.
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