The Seven Years War in Europe: 1756-1763 (Modern Wars In Perspective)

The Ottoman Empire had reached the peak of its power, presenting a very real threat to Western Christendom when in 1683 it suffered its first major defeat, at the Siege of Vienna. Tracing the empire’s conflicts of the next two centuries, The Ottoman Wars: An Empire Besieged examines the social transformation of the Ottoman military system in an era of global imperialism Spanning more than a ce...

Russia’s emergence as a Great Power in the eighteenth century is usually attributed to Peter I’s radical programme of ‘Westernising’ reforms. But the Russian military did not simply copy European armies. Adapting the tactics of its neighbours on both sides, Russia created a powerful strategy of its own, integrating steppe defence with European concerns. In Russia’s Wars of Emergence, examines ...

This study of the Anglo--Dutch Wars (1652-54, 1665-67, 1672-74) sets them in their naval, political and economic contexts. Competing essentially over trade, both governments were crucially influenced by mercantile interests and by the representative institutions that were central to England and the Dutch Republic. Professor Jones compares the effectiveness of the governments under pressure - Engli...

In The Dutch Wars of Independence, Marjolein ’t Hart assesses the success of the Dutch in establishing their independence through their eighty years struggle with Spain - one of the most remarkable achievements of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Other rebellions troubled mighty powers of this epoch, but none resulted in the establishment of an independent, republican state. This book: ...

The Seven Years War was a global contest between the two superpowers of eighteenth century Europe, France and Britain. Winston Churchill called it “the first World War”. Neither side could afford to lose advantage in any part of the world, and the decisive battles of the war ranged from Fort Duquesne in what is now Pittsburgh to Minorca in the Mediterranean, from Bengal to Quèbec. By its end Briti...

The Italian Wars of 1494-1559 had a major impact on the whole of Renaissance Europe. In this important text, Michael Mallett and Christine Shaw place the conflict within the political and economic context of the wars. Emphasising the gap between aims and strategies of the political masters and what their commanders and troops could actually accomplish on the ground, they analyse developments in mi...

This book provides an accessible study of the neglected but highly important series of wars fought for control of the Baltic and Northeastern Europe during the period 1558-1721. It is the first comprehensive history which considers the revolution in military strategy which took place in the battlefields of Eastern Europe. Robert Frost examines the impact of war on the very different social and pol...

Fought in both Caribbean and Pacific and turning on America's superior naval strength, this short but decisive war had momentous consequences internationally. It ended Spain's imperial power, and the US emerged for the first time as an active force in world affairs, acquiring -- amidst much domestic controversy -- an empire of her own in the Philippines, Guam, Puerto Rico, and Cuba (whos...

Wars rarely turn out as expected. This book shows how Britain entered a conflict that it believed could not be lost. The American Patriots were similarly optimistic about their martial prospects. Although they eventually secured independence, it was only with the assistance of France and indirectly Spain, who diverted British resources from the conflict in America, allowing France eventually to de...

Set in motion by the disputed succession of Maria Theresa and her husband to the lands and dignities of Emperor Charles VI, this series of major conflicts (1740-48) involved far more than just the fate of the Habsurgs: soon, Austria, Prussia, France, Britain, Spain, Bavaria, Saxony and the Netherlands were embroiled in their different but interlocking power struggles, with profound long-term signi...