Book Description

The history of nineteenth-century European warfare is framed by the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815 and the outbreak of the First World War in 1914. The Crimean War and the struggles for Italian and German unification divide this century in two. In the first half, armies struggled to emerge from the shadow of Napoleon amidst an era of financial retrenchment, political unrest and accelerating technological change. The mid-century wars left an equally problematic legacy, including aspects that pointed towards 'total war'. The 26 essays in this volume examine these changes from a variety of innovative and fresh perspectives.