This book studies the battles of Gustavus, Charles II, Louis XIV, Marlborough, Nelson, Napoleon and Wellington during the period between 1631 and 1815.

The return of the legions : Gustavus Adolphus and Breitenfeld -- The limits of the new legions : Lützen and after -- Under the lily banners : Rocroi -- The army of the Sun King -- Marlborough's battles : Blenheim, Ramillies, Oudenarde, and Malplaquet -- The emergence of the great powers of Eastern Europe -- The rise of naval power -- The battles of Frederick the Great -- The French and British armed forces from the Rhine to the St. Lawrence -- Toward wars of nations : the war of American independence -- Prelude to revolution -- The French Revolution : transformation and continuity in war -- Sea power and empire -- The climax of Napoleonic war : to Austerlitz and Jena-Auerstädt -- The gradual eclipse of the battle of annihilation : the rise of the war of attrition -- Campaigns of exhaustion and attrition -- The resurgence of military professionalism -- The downfall of genius -- The end of an age : Waterloo -- On the future of war.