Understanding Modern Warfare

A major study of the theory and practice of warfare in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Using relevant examples from recent history, this book provides a complete introduction to the issues, ideas, concepts, context and vocabulary of modern warfare. The expert team of authors explore the conduct of war across land, sea, air and space in addition to addressing key issues relating to contemporary strategy, weapons of mass destruction and irregular warfare, including insurgency, terrorism and civil war. They provide an incisive and structured grounding in military theory and argue for the importance of understanding warfare within the joint (inter-service) context and as an evolutionary rather than a revolutionary phenomenon. By providing the tools required to truly understand contemporary military doctrine this accessible survey will be an invaluable resource for any student of military history or international relations as well as for military professionals.

Table of Contents:
Introduction; 1. Strategy; 2. Land warfare; 3. Naval warfare; 4. Air and space warfare; 5. Irregular warfare; 6. Weapons of mass destruction.

About the Author :
David Jordan is a Senior Lecturer in the Defence Studies Department, King's College London, at the Joint Services Command and Staff College, Shrivenham. His previous publications include Battle of the Bulge (2003) and The Fall of Hitler's Reich: Germany's Defeat in Europe, 1943-45 (2004). James D. Kiras is Associate Professor at the School of Advanced Air and Space Studies, Air University, United States Air Force. He is the author of Special Operations and Strategy: From World War II to the War on Terrorism (2006) and was awarded The Air Education Training Command civilian 'Educator of the Year'award for 2006-2007. David J. Lonsdale is a Lecturer in Strategic Studies at the University of Hull. His publications include The Nature of War in the Information Age: Clausewitzian Future (2004) and Alexander the Great: Lessons in Strategy (2007). Ian Speller is a Lecturer in the Department of History at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth. He also lectures in defence studies at the Irish Defence Forces Military College and in maritime strategy at the UK Defence Academy and at the National Maritime College of Ireland. He is the author of The Role of Amphibious Warfare in British Defence Policy, 1945-56 (2001) and the editor of The Royal Navy and Maritime Power in the Twentieth Century (2005). Christopher Tuck is a Lecturer in the Defence Studies Department, King's College London, based at the Joint Services Command and Staff College, Shrivenham. He co-authored, with Ian Speller, Amphibious Warfare: The Theory and Practice of Amphibious Warfare in the Twentieth Century (2001). C. Dale Walton is a Lecturer in International Relations and Strategic Studies at the University of Reading. Among his publications are The Myth of Inevitable US Defeat in Vietnam (2002) and Geopolitics and the Great Powers in the Twenty-First Century (2007).

Review :
'Such a clear and readable exposition of the multifaceted aspects of warfare is long overdue. It is invaluable, not only as an aid to comprehending warfare as it is conducted now, and why, but also how we arrived here, and where we might be going. Anyone connected with the business of defence and war fighting, be they: scholar, warrior, commentator, or politician, would profit by reading and absorbing what the authors have to say.' Major General Julian Thompson CB OBE 'An accessible, yet sophisticated introduction to the theory and practice of modern warfare. Warfare has since the end of the Cold War been undergoing sustained, rapid non-linear change. Yet Understanding Modern Warfare successfully captures and explains the character and the complexity of warfare in the 21st Century. Readers, whether undergraduate or graduate students, civilian or military, will welcome the clarity of the text and its richness, and will be rewarded by a thorough grounding in a difficult subject.' Terry Terriff, Arthur Child Foundation Chair of Strategic Studies, University of Calgary 'The authors have provided an impressive and useful study of modern war which places their subject firmly within a coherent framework of strategy and the realities of modern military operations. In every respect this is a major contribution to the libraries of both the amateur as well as the professional student of modern warfare.' Williamson Murray, Institute for Defense Analysis