Værket er opdelt i 7 afsnit omhandlende den militære geografi under de store krige i perioden 1494-1559 samt strategi og taktik. Afsnit to omhandler de store slag under de Italienske krige med en vurdering af den taktiske betydning. Afsnit III omhandler perioden 1527-59, afsnit IV den Engelske militærhistorie under Tudors, afsnit V religionskrigene i Frankrig i perioden 1562-98. Bog VI beskæftiger sig med Holland og den Hollanske uafhængighedskrig 1568-1609 og endelig handler afsnit VII om det Tyrkiske angreb på kristendommen i perioden 1520-1606.

In the beginning of the time period concerned, we are still in the Middle Ages – Flodden Field or Novara might almost have been fought in the fifteenth century. At the end a formal battle like Nieuport might almost have been fought in the Thirty Years War. This volume is the result of an attempt to sum up the fundamental alterations in the Art of War between 1494 and 1600, and is intended to serve as an outline of military theory and practice between those dates.

The appearance of the crossbow on the European battle field in A.D. 1100 as the weapon of choice for shooting down knights threatened the status quo of medieval chivalric fighting techniques. By 1139 the Church had intervened, outlawing the use of the crossbow among Christians. With this edict, arms control was born. As Robert L. O'Connell reveals in this vividly written history of weapons in Western culture, that first attempt at an arms control measure characterizes the complex and often paradoxical relationship between men and arms throughout the centuries. In a sweeping narrative that ranges from prehistoric times to the nuclear age, O'Connell demonstrates how social and economic conditions determine the types of weapons and the tactics used in warfare and how, in turn, innovations in weapons technology often undercut social values. He describes, for instance, how the invention of the gun required a redefinition of courage from aggressive ferocity to calmness under fire; and how the machine gun in World War I so overthrew traditional notions of combat that Lord Kitchener exclaimed, "This isn't war!" The technology unleashed during the Great War radically altered our perceptions of ourselves, as these new weapons made human qualities almost irrelevant in combat. With the invention of the atomic bomb, humanity itself became subservient to the weapons it had produced. Of Arms and Men brilliantly integrates the evolution of politics, weapons, strategy, and tactics into a coherent narrative, one spiced with striking portraits of men in combat and penetrating insights into why men go to war.