Revolutionary Armies In The Modern Era

Revolutionary armies in the modern era are studied in this book. The author looks at the New Model Army of the 1640s, the American War of Independence, The French Revolution, The Zulu-Boer War, the SS Waffen and the Viet-Cong. He examines the images connected with these armies, both historical and recent, and assesses these images in their socio-political and nationalist contexts. This book is informative and interesting and would be a good read for freshman students studying the wider political events of the period.

This volume presents a re-evaluation of: the standard view of revolutionary armies: the range of attitudes towards the role of heroic individuals; the formation and leadership of armies; and the differences and similarities between such armies. Beginning with an exploration of the New Model Army of the 1640s, a force whose name itself seems to denote its revolutionary credentials, the author presents ten case studies from around the globe, including the American War of Independence, The French Revolution, The Zulu-Boer War, the SS Waffen and the Viet-Cong. Through a detailed analysis of source material, he examines the images connected with these armies, both historical and recent, and assesses these images in their socio-political and nationalist contexts. Review: ... a fascinating new book... This book is definitely worth reading. - Paper Wars ... attractively written, and the analysis is a useful corrective to widely prevalent crude generalizations that are often the standard fare for undergraduates and casual consumers of military history. - Journal of Modern History This volume is informative and interesting.... - The Historian The individual chapters of this book are exactly the sort of thing that should be on the reading list of freshman students - or others like them - studying the wider political events of the period, who need to know about the military realities which accompanied the rhetoric of the time and later. - Military History, Jan 1999