John F. Guilmartin

The Origin and Prevention of Major Wars: Ideology and Conflict: The Wars of the Ottoman Empire, 1453–1606

Ideology and Conflict: The Wars of the Ottoman Empire, 1453-1606 This analysis of the wars of the Ottoman Empire between the mid-fifteenth and early seventeenth centuries tests the proposition that we can enhance our understanding of the origins of war by study of the past. Embedded within the analysis, and integral to it, is a critical examination of the application of historical analogy to current issues of war and peace and of the role which theory plays in the process. The article grew out of the authors observation that contemporary Americans and western Europeans tend to view war as a formally recognized state of conflict between sovereign nations, sharply delineated from peace and prosecuted by major field, naval, and air operations. Two primary English-language dictionary definitions, separated by nearly a half century, reflect both this theory of war and the historical experience of eighteenth-century Europe from which it was drawn:

The Earliest Shipboard Gunpowder Ordnance: An Analysis of Its Technical Parameters and Tactical Capabilities

Few technological developments in the history of warfare have been as portentous as the appearance around the turn of the sixteenth century of effective heavy gunpowder ordnance on shipboard, which began a new era in sea warfare. Employed on Mediterranean war galleys and Portuguese caravels, the weapons marked the solution of a series of daunting technological problems discussed in this article, beginning with the appearance of gunpowder in Europe about 1300. Unlike developments on land, change was at first gradual, but shortly after 1400 the pace of development sharply accelerated to culminate in what may legitimately be termed a revolution in firepower at sea.

The Art of War in the Western World

Covering combat from the slings and arrows of ancient Greece and Macedonia to the ultimate missiles of today, Archer Jones shows that while weaponry might have increased a thousandfold, military tactics have, in some ways, changed very little. The text is illustrated throughout with line drawings of battle manoeuvres, war-engines, and weaponry.