Excerpts on War
All works cited in this section can be found on the Works Cited page. Also read my Book Recommendations.
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- 3000 Years of Combat with Sword and Shield
- About European Shields
- 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
- 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 Requires Trained Veterans to Win a Skirmish
- Apex of Western Cavalry
- Archer-Pair in Assyrian and Persian Warfare
- Armor Was Designed for Protection Against Glancing Blows
- Armor and Swords Did Not Change Overnight
- 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
- Battle-Hardened But Still a Squire
- Battles Were Fought by Mutual Consent
- Before the Fencing Master
- Birth of Cavalry
- The Bow Was the Chief Weapon in Japanese Warfare
- Bronze Age Greek Art of War
- Bronze: the Plastic of Its Age
- Byzantine Cavalry
- Capacities of Commanders
- Captains Held Enormous Power Over Their Companies
- Cavalry Is an Expensive Military System
- Cavalry Replaces Chariots in Chinese Art of War
- Chariot Tactics
- 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
- The Cost To Be a Knight
- Courage, Not Manners, Was the Hallmark of a Gentleman
- Covering a Withdrawal
- Cuirass Versus Lamellar Armor
- Deception in War
- Decline of Cavalry in Western Europe
- The Despised Foot Soldier
- Disease, the Wild Card of History
- 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
- Equipment of an Aristocratic Soldier
- Fame Was More Important Than Life
- Few Deaths While Combat Remained Undecided
- Few Pitched Battles But Many Sieges
- The Fickle Deity, Pan
- 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
- 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
- Horsemanship: Prerequisite for a Military Career
- 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
- A Khyber Knife
- King’s Armiger
- Life-giving Swords
- Looking At The Enemy
- Material Cost Versus Psychological Benefit of Sieges
- Medieval Battlefield Medicine Was Not Primitive
- 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
- No Last-Minute Maneuvers
- No Match for a Well-Trained Aristocrat
- No Rules In Mortal Combat
- Not All Recruits Were Base-born: the Gentleman-rankers
- Not Quite a Chessboard: the Plain as Battlefield
- Not a General’s Affair
- On Dragoons
- Origin of the Rank and Grades of General
- Origins of European Army Ranks
- Outpouring from the Steppe
- Parthian Cavalry
- Poetry and War are Fame Businesses
- Prepared to Die But Not to Kill
- The Principles of War
- 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
- Redefinition of Courage
- Regimental Proprietary System
- Religious Rituals of War
- The Riddle of Steel
- Romans Made War As Much Business As Art
- A Ruthless Model
- 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
- Soldiers of Greece and Rome
- Stacking the Odds in Your Favor
- Standard Battle Array of Ancient Armies
- Steppe Ponies, Not Horses
- Stone Age of Command
- 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
- There Are Nine Types of Generals
- There Is No Pain
- 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
- Transformation of the Hoplite Phalanx
- Unarmed Combat in Full Armor
- A Vast Encampment
- Versatility of the Napoleonic Army Corps
- 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 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
