From Spear to Flintlock: A History of War in Europe and the Middle East to the French Revolution - Hardcover

by Frederic J. Baumgartner (Author)

This is a fast-paced survey of the history of war in the Eurasian world from classical Greece to the French Revolution. Defining the period as the era of pre-industrial warfare, Frederic Baumgartner describes the broad differences, as well as the similarities, in the armies through those 2,000 years. He suggests that the Greek hoplite, the Roman legionary, the nomadic horse archer, the medieval knight, the Swiss pikeman, the early musketeer, and other military types have more in common with each other than with the soldier of the twentieth century. Although he concentrates on the wars and military systems of western Europe, Baumgartner devotes considerable attention to those societies that had a significant impact on European warfare. The Byzantine Empire, the Arabs, the Central Asian nomads, and the Ottoman Turks are examined as are the countries of eastern Europe. Naval history is well integrated into the work with special attention given to galley warfare in the Mediterranean between Christendom and Islam. Fortification and siegecraft are also discussed extensively.

Author Biography

FREDERIC J. BAUMGARTNER is Professor of History at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia. He is the author of Henry II King of France, Change and Continuity in the French Episcopate, and Radical Reactionaries. He has contributed articles to Sixteenth Century Journal, Journal for the History of Astronomy, and Annals of Science.