Excerpts on War
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- The “Johns Quarter”
- 3000 Years of Combat with Sword and Shield
- About European Shields
- An Acceptable Balance Between Weapon Weight and Size
- Acquiring Coup d’oeil, the General’s Discerning Glance
- Advantages of Swords Over Pistols in Dueling
- An All-Around Mounted Warrior
- Amir Grades of Rank
- Amputation Threatened Either Death or Lifelong Poverty
- Ancient Fortifications Were Impervious
- Ancient War Was More Civilized
- Anticipating Surprise
- Any Sensei Is a Bit Mercurial at Times
- Any Troops Could Fight a Battle But It Required Trained Veterans to Win a Skirmish
- Apex of Western Cavalry
- Archer-Pair in Assyrian and Persian Warfare
- Armies Are Like Prize Fighters
- Armor Was Designed for Protection Against Glancing Blows
- Armor and Swords Did Not Change Overnight
- An Armored Division Can Have Too Many Tanks
- An Army Open to Talents
- The Art of Axe-fighting
- Art of Japanese Spear Fighting
- An Art of War Was Needed
- Assaulting Cities is the Oldest Expression of Warfare
- Assyria Was Unstrategically Located
- Assyrian Army of the Sargonid Period
- Assyrian Warfare: Iron, Organization, and Espionage
- Assyrians Were Ancient Masters of the Siege
- Assyrians: the Pioneers with Iron
- Backstabbing Assassins, Not Knights of the Air
- Battle Casualties in the Ancient World
- Battle of Leuctra
- The Battle of Sudden Flame
- Battle-Hardened But Still a Squire
- Battles Were Fought by Mutual Consent
- Before the Fencing Master
- A Besieging Army Is Vulnerable to Outside Attack
- Birth of Cavalry
- The Bow Was the Chief Weapon in Japanese Warfare
- Bronze Age Greek Art of War
- Bronze: the Plastic of Its Age
- Buying Arms and Armor on Credit
- Byzantine Cavalry
- Camp Followers and Other Noncombatants
- Capacities of Commanders
- Captains Held Enormous Power Over Their Companies
- Cavalry Is an Expensive Military System
- Cavalry Replaces Chariots in Chinese Art of War
- The Challenge of Making Steel
- Chariot Tactics
- Chess Pieces’ Movements Reflect Their Counterparts in the World of Warfare
- The Combat of the Thirty
- Commercializing Armed Violence
- The Composite Bow Did Have Limitations
- Composite Bows Were Superior But Expensive
- Composite War Bow Was Revolutionary
- Considerable Logistics of Medieval Knights at War
- The Core of Leadership Has Always Been to Set an Example
- The Cost To Be a Knight
- Courage, Not Manners, Was the Hallmark of a Gentleman
- Covering a Withdrawal
- Crossbowmen Were Considered an Elite Corps
- Cuirass Versus Lamellar Armor
- Deception in War
- Decline of Cavalry in Western Europe
- The Despised Foot Soldier
- Disease, the Wild Card of History
- A Dojo Is a Cherished Place of Learning
- Dojo Storming
- The Dominance and the Crease
- Dueling and the God of Peer Opinion
- Dwarves of Belegost
- Early Firearm Tactics: Pike and Arquebus
- Early Iron Age Armies
- Eight Kinds of Decadence in Generalship
- Elephants in War
- End of Medieval Warfare
- Equipment of an Aristocratic Soldier
- Eternal Rules For a Cavalry Charge
- Every Heavy Cavalryman Would Need Several Horses
- Evil Source of Weapons and Shields
- Fame Was More Important Than Life
- Feudal Military Organization Was on the Whole Highly Effective
- Few Deaths While Combat Remained Undecided
- Few Pitched Battles But Many Sieges
- The Fickle Deity, Pan
- Fighting Filled the Noble’s Need of Something To Do
- Fighting on Horseback Did Not Make a Knight Out of a Soldier
- The Finest Judoka in the World
- The First Martial Arts Schools in Japan
- First Principle of War: the Objective
- Five Skills And Four Desires of Generalship
- For Byzantines, Strategy Was All-Important
- From Ghazi to Sipahi
- From Hunters to Warriors
- From Jousting for Glory to Dueling for Honor
- From Mount Olympus to the Himalayas
- Fundamental Importance of Foot Soldiers in Battle
- A Great Name Commands Automatic Respect
- Greek Missile Tactics
- The Greeks Were the Vikings of the Bronze Age
- Guerrilla Warfare Is as Old as Mankind
- Hand-to-Hand Combat Was Rare in Ancient Warfare
- Haragei
- Heavy Infantry With a Vengeance: the Greek Phalanx
- Heroic Honor Trophies in Homeric Greece
- Hoplite Shield Was an Engineering Marvel
- The Horse Is a Fighter
- Horsemanship: Prerequisite for a Military Career
- House of Bow and Arrows
- How Great Generals Win
- Hunnic Bow and Mongolian Release
- Hunting as War Training
- The Iliad Is Not Just a Glorious Poem
- Imagining the Centaur
- In Every Army There is a Mob Waiting to Escape
- In the Martial Arts, Nobody Owes You Anything
- Inner Factors of Bujutsu
- Inside the Greek Phalanx
- Iron Age Logistics
- Japanese Spears: Yari and Naginata
- Japanese Sword Etiquette
- Japanese Versus Chinese Martial Arts Styles
- Javelins versus Chariots
- Kata Are Formal Practice Routines
- A Khyber Knife
- King’s Armiger
- A Knight Might Live Little Better Than His Peasants
- A Knight Would Have a String of Horses
- Laser Rifles Make Very Little Sound
- Life-giving Swords
- Looking At The Enemy
- Manslaughtering Hands
- Material Cost Versus Psychological Benefit of Sieges
- Medieval Battlefield Medicine Was Not Primitive
- Medieval Military Baggage Trains
- Medieval Swords: Slashing Versus Thrusting
- A Melding of Esthetics and Functionality
- Men-at-Arms Would Continue To Fight Despite Wounds
- Militant Clergy
- The Military Genius of Alexander the Great
- Military Incongruities in the Iliad
- Military Systems
- Mission Tactics: Knowing When Not to Obey Orders
- Money and Manpower Wins Wars
- More on Hunting as War Training
- Motte-and-Bailey Castles
- No Combat Style Is Complete
- No Last-Minute Maneuvers
- No Match for a Well-Trained Aristocrat
- No Rules In Mortal Combat
- The Noise Was So Great That You Would Not Have Heard God Thunder
- Not All Recruits Were Base-born: the Gentleman-rankers
- Not Light in Terms of Protection
- Not Quite a Chessboard: the Plain as Battlefield
- Not a General’s Affair
- On City Walls
- On Dragoons
- One Part of Mental Training Is Anticipation
- Origin of the Rank and Grades of General
- Origin of the Regiment and Battalion
- Origins of European Army Ranks
- Outpouring from the Steppe
- Overall Size of Army Companies
- Parthian Cavalry
- Poetry and War are Fame Businesses
- Prepared to Die But Not to Kill
- The Principles of War
- Provisioning a Medieval Army
- The Purpose of War Is a More Perfect Peace
- Quality and Resilience Determined Victory in Ancient Battles
- The Rapier Was the Blade of Choice
- Rarity of the Set-Piece Battle
- A Real Feudal Battle
- Real Martial Arts Aren’t Like That
- Redefinition of Courage
- Regimental Proprietary System
- Religious Rituals of War
- Requesting a Lesson
- Romans Made War As Much Business As Art
- A Ruthless Model
- Samurai As Generic Term
- Samurai Did Not Trust So Much to Their Armor As European Knights Did
- Samurai Mount a Horse From the Right Side
- Self-protection of Body, Mind, and Spirit
- The Shield Is the Earliest Defensive Armor
- Shone Like a River of Steel in the Sun
- Silk Shirts Lessen Arrow Wounds
- Single Richest Prize of His Swashbuckling Career
- Sixteenth-Century Military Medicine
- Soldier Monks of Japanese Temples
- Soldiers of Greece and Rome
- Some of the Champions in the War Tales Are Girls
- Spears, Glaves, and Halberds
- Stacking the Odds in Your Favor
- Standard Battle Array of Ancient Armies
- Steppe Ponies, Not Horses
- Stone Age of Command
- Strategic Planning Changed Overnight
- The Subject of Heroic Poetry is the Hero
- Such A Reputation
- Suffering Can Only Be Told in Detail
- A Sword’s Sole Purpose
- Swords Were Items of Regular Dress
- Swords Were Prized Because They Were Expensive
- Swords are Specialized Instruments for Killing
- Tactical Capabilities of Medieval Weapon Systems
- Ten Uses for Cavalry
- Terrain Appreciation
- Their Own Shinobi
- There Are Nine Types of Generals
- There Is No Pain
- Throat and Groin
- Time Is the Most Neglected Dimension
- To Conquer By Yielding
- To Shed Human Blood and Think Nothing of It
- To Train in the Martial Arts
- Training For the Martial Way of Life Began Early
- Transformation of the Hoplite Phalanx
- True Masters Are Both Brutal and Refined
- True Technique Through True Training
- A Typical Medieval Battle: Loud, Violent, and Disorganized
- Unarmed Combat in Full Armor
- A Vast Encampment
- Versatility of the Napoleonic Army Corps
- War As a Culture-Shaping Force
- War Became an End in Itself: Assyria
- War Stories Always Forgot the Dust
- War Was Made to Pay for Itself Through Pillage
- War’s Appetite for Bronze
- A Warrior Society Does Not Last Long if the Warriors Are Too Eager to Get Killed
- Warrior or Hired Killer?
- Warriors Fought Their First Battles At a Youthful Age
- Warriors for War’s Sake: the Horse Peoples
- Web of Interdependence
- What Really Destroys Armies
- Why Muskets Supplanted Bows
- A Wildly Unstable Environment
- You and Your Enemy
- Zenith of the Castle
