Commemorating 60 years of War Studies at King’s College London, this incisive and adroitly crafted book acts as a comprehensive introduction to the multidisciplinary field of war, conflict and security. Adopting a global approach, it adeptly navigates a broad spectrum of themes and theoretical perspectives which lie at the heart of this important area of study.

Introducing students to the scientific study of peace and war, this exciting new reader provides an overview of important and current scholarship in this dynamic area of study. Focusing on the factors that shape relationships between countries and that make war or peace more likely, this collection of articles by top scholars explores such key topics as dangerous dyads, alliances, territorial disputes, rivalry, arms races, democratic peace, trade, international organizations, territorial peace, and nuclear weapons. Each article is followed by the editors’ commentary: a "Major Contributions" section highlights the article’s theoretical advances and relates each study to the broader literature, while a "Methodological Notes" section carefully walks students through the techniques used in the analysis. Methodological topics include research design, percentages, probabilities, odds ratios, statistical significance, levels of analysis, selection bias, logit, duration models, and game theory models.

Handbook of War Studies III is a follow-up to Handbook of War Studies I (1993) and II (2000). This new volume collects original work from leading international relations scholars on domestic strife, ethnic conflict, genocide, and other timely topics. Special attention is given to civil war, which has become one of the dominant forms---if not the dominant form---of conflict in the world today. Contributors: Bruce Bueno de Mesquita, New York University, and Hoover Institution, Stanford University Nils Petter Gleditsch, International Peace Research Institute, Oslo (PRIO), and Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim Håvard Hegre, University of Oslo, and International Peace Research Institute, Oslo (PRIO) Erin K. Jenne, Central European University, Budapest Mark Irving Lichbach, University of Maryland Roy Licklider, Rutgers University, New Brunswick T. David Mason, University of North Texas Rose McDermott, Cornell University Stephen Saideman, McGill University Håvard Strand, International Peace Research Institute, Oslo (PRIO) Monica Duffy Toft, Harvard University Manus I. Midlarsky is the Moses and Annuta Back Professor of International Peace and Conflict Resolution at Rutgers University, New Brunswick. He is the founding past president of the Conflict Processes Section of the American Political Science Association and a past vice president of the International Studies Association.

Chapter Introduction: Strategic history -- chapter 1 Themes and contexts of strategic history -- chapter 2 Carl von Clausewitz and the theory of war -- chapter 3 From limited war to national war: The French Revolution and the Napoleonic way of war -- chapter 4 The nineteenth century, I: A strategic view -- chapter 5 The nineteenth century, II: Technology, warfare and international order -- chapter 6 World War I, I: Controversies -- chapter 7 World War I, II: Modern warfare -- chapter 8 The twenty-year armistice, 1919-39 -- chapter 9 The mechanization of war -- chapter 10 World War II in Europe, I: The structure and course of total war -- chapter 11 World War II in Europe, II: Understanding the war -- chapter 12 World War II in Asia-Pacific, I: Japan and the politics of empire -- chapter 13 World War II in Asia-Pacific, II: Strategy and warfare -- chapter 14 The Cold War, I: Politics and ideology -- chapter 15 The Cold War, II: The nuclear revolution -- chapter 16 War and peace after the Cold War: An interwar decade -- chapter 17 9/11 and the age of terror -- chapter 18 Irregular warfare: Guerrillas, insurgents and terrorists -- chapter 19 War, peace and international order -- chapter 20 Conclusion: Must future strategic history resemble the past?.

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This reader provides authoritative and thought-provoking pieces of War Studies scholarship in an accessible form. Covering a wide spectrum of topics, including strategy (Colin S. Gray), 'Shell-Shock and the Cultural History of the Great War' (Jay Winter) and Coalition Warfare (Holger H. Herwig), this book purposefully ranges across military history, international relations and contemporary security to capture the multidisciplinary nature of the subject. Gary Sheffield also provides an introduction to the Reader and to War Studies, explaining the growth and development of this dynamic field of study.

Beginning with the chapters on warfare in the first three volumes of the New Cambridge Modern History, Sir John Hale's writings on the subject present an original and rich assessment of war's place in Renaissance life and thought. The first section of this collection constitutes a major contribution to the study of Renaissance fortifications, their design, planning and execution, and their political as well as their military significance. The second deals with the recruitment and training of officers and men. In the third, contemporary reactions to war are analysed in a variety of social and intellectual contexts. The archival and literary sources drawn on are primarily Italian, in the second place English, but the imaginative scene is that of western Europe as a whole.