New, updated, and revised to include new discoveries about the use of weapons in ancient China, upheavals in Lebanon, the winding down of the Soviet-Afghanistan war, the invasions of Grenada and Panama by U.S. forces, the war in the Persian Gulf, and the collapse of the Soviet and Eastern European Communist governments.

"First edition"--T.p. verso. "First edition"--Title page verso. Includes indexes.

The dawn of military history : to 600 B.C. --War becomes an ar t: 600-400 B.C. -- The era of the giants : 400-200 B.C. -- The rise of great empires in East and West : 200-1 B.C. -- The Pax Romana : A.D. 1-200 -- The decline of Rome and the rise of cavalry : 200-400 -- The opening of the Middle Ages : 400-600 -- The rise and containment of Islam : 600-800 -- The Dark Ages: battle-ax and mace : 800-1000 -- The return of skill to warfare : 1000-1200 -- The age of the Mongols : 1200-1400 -- The end of the Middle Ages : 1400-1500 -- Spanish square and ship-of-the-line : 1500-1600 -- The beginning of modern warfare : 1600-1700 -- The military supremacy of Europe : 1700-1750 -- The dominance of maneuver on land and sea : 1750-1800 -- The era of Napoleon : 1800-1850 -- The emergence of the professional : 1850-1900 -- World War I and the era of total war : 1900-1925 -- World War II and the dawn of the nuclear age : 1925-1945 -- Superpowers in the nuclear age : 1945-1975 -- Dominance of technology : 1975-1990.