Available From UC Press

While many books examine specific wars, few study the history of war worldwide and from an evolutionary perspective. A Global History of War is one of the first works to focus not on the impact of war on civilizations, but rather on how civilizations impact the art and execution of war. World-renowned scholar Gérard Chaliand concentrates on the peoples and cultures who have determined how war is conducted and reveals the lasting historical consequences of combat, offering a unique picture of the major geopolitical and civilizational clashes that have rocked our common history and made us who we are today. Chaliand’s questions provoke a new understanding of the development of armed conflict. How did the foremost non-European empires rise and fall? What critical role did the nomads of the Eurasian steppes and their descendants play? Chaliand illuminates the military cultures and martial traditions of the great Eurasian empires, including Turkey, China, Iran, and Mongolia. Based on fifteen years of research, this book provides a novel military and strategic perspective on the crises and conflicts that have shaped the current world order.

Gérard Chaliand taught at the École nationale d’administration and the École de guerre in France and is currently a visiting professor at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. His many books include The History of Terrorism (2007), The Art of War in World History (1994), and Guerrilla Strategies (1984), all published by UC Press.

“Chaliand is able to describe the great social and economic forces that lie below the surface as well as to paint subtle psychological portraits of the individuals who shape the direction of events. A Global History of War is history at its finest. It will undoubtedly change the manner by which military historians look at history and how they study it.” —Arnaud Blin, author of Wagram