Plotting Power: Strategy in the Eighteenth Century

An examination of strategy in war and international relations that links military ideas and practice, political concepts, diplomacy, and geopolitics.

Military strategy takes place as much on broad national and international stages as on battlefields. In a brilliant reimagining of the impetus and scope of eighteenth-century warfare, historian Jeremy Black takes us far and wide, from the battlefields and global maneuvers in North America and Europe to the military machinations and plotting of such Asian powers as China, Japan, Burma, Vietnam, and Siam. Europeans coined the term “strategy” only two centuries ago, but strategy as a concept has been practiced globally throughout history. Taking issue with traditional military historians, Black argues persuasively that strategy was as much political as battlefield tactics and that plotting power did not always involve outright warfare but also global considerations of alliance building, trade agreements, and intimidation.

“This is both an overview of eighteenth-century warfare and an interpretation of how war was made; a polemical contribution to a debate on the nature of strategy; and a contribution to global history.” —Alan Forrest, author of Napoleon: Life, Legacy, and Image: A Biography

“A refreshing new look at how meanings behind these terms [strategy and strategic culture] were understood and employed in the eighteenth century. With his vast knowledge and insights of the period, he is able to take us on a wide-ranging exploration that provides stimulating food for thought for historians of all periods.” —Richard Harding, author of The Emergence of Britain’s Global Naval Supremacy: The War of 1739-1748

© 2017 Indiana University Press (eBook): 9780253026798

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eBook: 22 maja 2017