“The War Chronicles: From Chariots to Flintlocks”, by Joseph Cummins

 

400 pages, Crestline Books, ISBN-13: 978-0785836667

The War Chronicles: From Chariots to Flintlocks by Joseph Cummins is part one of a two-part anthology about the history of war (the review for part two will be published on April 7^th). What the author does, essentially, is summarize twenty-two influential wars between 500 BC and 1783 AD and how they reshaped human history, focusing each time one or two of the more famous battles from each. Each war gets its own chapter, at roughly 20 pages apiece, give or take. Like the second volume in this two-part study, From Chariots to Flintlocks is best suited for beginners in military history or, perhaps, wannabe military historians who would like a quick-reference guide with which to look-up important facts and figures. To better facilitate this ease of use, the table of contents for volume one is confined to one page, the prose is clear (though fairly basic), the text is supplemented with many relevant pictures and, at 400 pages, is extensive enough to cover its stated timeframe fully, if briefly. From Chariots to Flintlocks is rather like a textbook in that it is organized, like volume two, into a series of regular features:

• Overview: a two page introduction to the war under discussion which includes a summary, abstract, chronology, vital stat box and often a dramatic painting;
• Chronicle: a two page short history of the war under discussion, a discussion that serves to anticipate much of the still-brief text that is to follow;
• Turning Point: the dramatic recounting of the pivotal battle in the war, each about eight pages long, which is also accompanied by the most dramatic of paintings;
• Commanders: short biographies of the most significant commanders of the war, typically a single one from each of the major antagonists;
• Dossier: a kind of miscellany that summarizes other aspects of the war, such as secondary battles, famous tactics, force composition, hardware, dramatic cultural traits and the like;

But it must be stressed that From Chariots to Flintlocks – like its companion work From Flintlocks to Machine Guns – is but an introductory work to 2+ millennia of warfare. It is wide ranging, clearly written and well-illustrated, primarily with reproductions of paintings and sculptures; each template is a summary of the conflict followed by a series of short articles on notable battles, commanders, tactical developments and other pertinent matters. As an example, the chapter on the Thirty Years’ War opens with four pages on the origins and highlights of the war, followed by discussions of the Battle of Breitenfeld, Albrecht von Wallenstein, Gustavus Adolphus, mercenary armies, advances in weaponry, the Holy Roman Empire, the Defenestration of Prague and the incident that inspired Bertolt Brecht’s play, Mother Courage and Her Children. In all, this most awful war gets some 14 pages of text, enough for a first acquaintance but obviously not a great deal more. The subtitle’s promise of “new perspectives” is largely unmet, though that may be a virtue in an introductory survey. The War Chronicles: From Chariots to Flintlocks, like its companion volume, is an attractive and, for the right audience, useful introduction to military history.