Professor Black has written an interesting and useful survey of military history. It is not a book for the casual reader but it will make those people with an interest in the study of military history think about that subject. He has a constant theme throughout the book about the Europe-centric nature of military history. This is not the only line of argument that he writes about, although it did seem to be the major recurring point. Professor Black founded his argument on a very good understanding of non-western military history. He did not just use the common examples like the Mongolians or Samurais but looked further afield to back up his arguments.



He started the book with a comprehensive survey of works about military history. I found this chapter to be very critical of a number of other prominent military historians, such as Sir John Keegan. Maybe other readers would view it differently to me but that was the feeling that I finished the chapter with. He is also critical of non-academics who write military history in that they can not devote the resources nor understanding that academics can to research. He examines popular military history and notes the way that sensationalism is used in packaging military history.



He made some very good points about the technology focus of military history where some historians become obsessed with the technology used in conflicts and look no further. The problem with that approach can be that different cultures use technology differently or that the technology was not key to the issue but a focus on technology is blind to those criticisms.



I was a little lost in his chapter that discussed using the theme of military objectives as a way to view and understand military history. I am not sure what this chapter was trying to say as a whole but that may have been me missing the point.



The final three chapters appear to return to a conventional chronological approach to military history but even here Professor Black is making a point. There are few easy and clear chronological lines out there to divide history along. This absence is even clearer when military history is viewed globally and not just from a Western Europe or USA aspect.



The book was often not the easiest book to read but it was full of ideas and views that made me think about the study of military history. It would be hard to write a book about military history and not cause controversy but Professor Black is one writer who can stand behind the impressive amount of work that he has produced on military history to prove that he is no light weight on the subject. I thoroughly recommend the book to anybody who is serious about military history and wants to consider how it should be approached.