Black, European Warfare, 1600 - 1815

“European Warfare: 1660-1815”

By Jeremy Black

Yale University Press, 1994

The way history is written has changed from propaganda, supporting nationalistic points of view to an attempt of balance with the inclusion of societal and cultural aspects. Military history has also gone through these changes. First writings tell of great men, great battles and great victories. This would evolve into histories written to glorify the nation-state. Now, as with other types of histories, the social and the cultural context must also be included to give an accurate overview of the events. It is this type of history, using social and cultural context that Professor Jeremy Black is writing as he describes the how European’s fought between the years of 1660 and 1815.

A problem that continues to plague histories written in the United States and Europe is that they are “Eurocentric”. In other words everything revolves around Europe, particularly Western Europe, and every other culture or nation-state becomes a footnote to that narrative. Professor Black addresses that problem with the inclusion of not only the Ottoman Turks and the various Indian states but also the much neglected Eastern European states and the Russian empire. The overall theme of his work is not that the Europeans were always better soldiers or had better equipment. On the contrary there were many conflicts where the Ottoman Turks and various Indian principalities had better equipment and experience and would almost routinely defeat European armies. What the author tries to explain is that European forces created the ability to deploy strength effectively. What that means is not only were there advancements in technology, such as better weapons, but also advances in industry, logistics and maritime expertise.

The book is organized chronologically. As stated in the title he discusses European warfare from the middle of the 17th century to the end of the Napoleonic period. Before he discusses that era he gives an overview in the first chapter: “European warfare and its global context”. The importance of the first chapter is important not only in the overview but also the continuing discussion within military historians of the so called “military revolution” of early modern European history. The next chapters discuss the various military conflicts within Europe and other conflicts around the world that involved European forces. The work concludes with a discussion of the social and political context of the time.

Overall this is a very good and scholarly work. It is separate from other military histories that focus on the “great man” of a specific battle or war. It discusses technology but does not get bogged down in the details as other military histories tend to do. It is a work that describes a period of time in a military perspective but also places it in its historical context. It is not a book for a reader of popular history and can be confusing to a student of history. The various names, places and dates of the various conflicts can be confusing to a historian that is knowledgeable of this era. It is an important work in how military history should be studied.