A brilliantly written survey of the changing ways war has been made from the Norse invasions to the present day; its effects on the history of the Continent, and on social and political institutions; and the effect of technological and social change of war itself. 'Though he surveys a thousand years of history, he does so without sinking in a slough of facts and draws a broad outline of developments which will delight the general reader.' A. J. P. Taylor, (Observer)