A much needed reference aid for the academic and national defense communities, this book provides a framework for the historical and comparative study of the military culture of Arab society. In sections considering warfare in Arab traditions, military roles in medieval Islam, and Arab armies in the modern age, each chapter's bibliography is preceded by a background essay, designed to assist researchers who are unfamiliar with the general outline of Arab history or the thematic bent of Arabic historiography. The work also includes a glossary and tables of Islamic dynasties.

Written...

Making official history from all over the world accessible, this volume and its companion complement and bring Robin Higham's 1970 classic work, "Official Histories," up to date. Each chapter, written by the staff of the relevant historical office, gives both historiographical background and information on the volumes published by that office. Covering the Western Hemisphere and the Pacific Rim, this volume provides a plethora of information, as does the companion volume on Europe, Russia, Africa, the Middle East, and India

Buried in official history volumes is a lot of fine and useful...

This book provides students, faculty, and general readers with specific information and insights into the ways in which official military history has been written and why. Coverage is international in scope. The volume serves as an introduction to two forthcoming books: "Official Military Histories Since 1967: Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and India" and "Official Military Histories Since 1967: The Western Hemisphere and the Pacific Rim." Together, the three books will provide the only comprehensive source of information on historical offices and official histories since Robin Higham's...

On October 28, 1940, the Italian army under Benito Mussolini invaded Greece. The British had insisted on guaranteeing Greek and Turkish neutrality, despite the fact that Greece was never more than a limited campaign in an unlimited war as far as they were concerned. The British, however, were never quite sure that Greece was not their last foothold in Europe, and they harbored dreams of holding on to this last bastion of civilization and of protecting it with a diplomatic and military alliance -- a Balkan bloc. These dreams bore little relation to military and economic realities, and so...

Gaining an understanding of China's long and sometimes bloody history can help to shed light on China's ascent to global power. Many of China's imperial dynasties were established as the result of battle, from the chariot warfare of ancient times to the battles of the Guomindang (KMT) and Communist regimes of the twentieth century. China's ability to sustain complex warfare on a very large scale was not emulated in other parts of the world until the Industrial Age, despite the fact that the country is only now rising to economic dominance.

In A Military History of China,...

Since the publication of the first edition of Why Air Forces Fail, the debate over airpower's role in military operations has only intensified. Here, eminent historians Robin Higham and Stephen J. Harris assemble a team of experts to add essential new details to their cautionary tale for current practitioners of aerial warfare. Together, the contributors examine the complex, often deep-seated, reasons for the catastrophic failures of the Russian, Polish, French, British, Italian, German, Argentine, and American air services. Complemented by reading lists and suggestions for further...