The Laws of War
Constraints on Warfare in the Western World
Published on 27. February 1997
Book
Paperback/Softback
312 pages
978-0-300-07062-0 (ISBN)
Description
This book explores not only the formal constraints on the conduct of war throughout Western history but also the unwritten conventions about what is permissible in the course of military operations. Ranging from classical antiquity to the present, eminent historians discuss the legal and cultural regulation of violence in such areas as belligerent rights, the treatment of prisoners and civilians, the observing of truces and immunities, the use of particular weapons, siege warfare, codes of honor, and war crimes.
The book begins with a general overview of the subject by Michael Howard. The contributors then discuss the formal and informal constraints on conducting war as they existed in classical antiquity, the age of chivalry, early modern Europe, colonial America, and the age of Napoleon. They also examine how these constraints have been applied to wars at sea, on land, and in the air, planning for nuclear war, and national liberation struggles, in which one of the participants is not an organized state. The book concludes with reflections by Paul Kennedy and George Andreopoulos on the main challenges facing the quest for humanitarian norms in warfare in the future.
The book begins with a general overview of the subject by Michael Howard. The contributors then discuss the formal and informal constraints on conducting war as they existed in classical antiquity, the age of chivalry, early modern Europe, colonial America, and the age of Napoleon. They also examine how these constraints have been applied to wars at sea, on land, and in the air, planning for nuclear war, and national liberation struggles, in which one of the participants is not an organized state. The book concludes with reflections by Paul Kennedy and George Andreopoulos on the main challenges facing the quest for humanitarian norms in warfare in the future.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 156 mm
Weight
544 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-300-07062-0 (9780300070620)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Sir Michael Howard is Regius Professor of Modern History Emeritus, Oxford, and Robert A. Lovett Professor of Military and Naval History Emeritus, Yale University. George J. Andreopoulos is lecturer in history at Yale University and former associate director of Yale's Orville Schell Center for International Human Rights. Mark R. Shulman is lecturer in history at Yale University.
Content
Constraints on warfare, Michael Howard; classical Greek times, Josiah Ober; the age of chivalry, Robert C. Stacey; early modern Europe, Geoffrey Parker; colonial America, Harold E. Selesky; the age of Napoleon, Gunther Rosenberg; maritime conflict, John B. Hattendorf; land warfare - from Hague to Nuremberg, Adam Roberts; air power, Tami Davis Biddle; nuclear war planning, David Alan Rosenberg; the age of national liberation movements, George J. Andreopoulos; the laws of war - some concluding reflections, Paul Kennedy and G.J. Andreopoulos.