History of War Art (All 4 Volumes)

The first of Delbrück's four-volume work discusses the art of war from the Greco-Persian Wars to the heyday of Roman martial arts under Caesar. The second volume deals primarily with the early Germans, but also deals with the decline of the Roman military machine, the military organization of the Byzantine Empire, and the origins of feudalism. The third volume is devoted to discussing the decline and even near-disappearance of tactics and strategy in the Middle Ages, and its concluding part shows the revival of tactical forms in the Swiss-Burgundian Wars. The fourth volume discusses the development of tactical methods and strategic thinking all the way to the Napoleonic era. The fundamental purpose of this work is to establish a link between state institutions and strategies and tactics. This book traces the collapse of the Roman military system and the invasion of Germanic peoples. The author discusses the social, political, and military organization of the early Germanic tribes, and compares it with the early Roman legions; discusses how the Romans' tactical strategies changed when the Geths, Vandals, and Burgundians moved to Rome, and how the Romans formed an unstable alliance; and examines the decline of the Roman-Germanic military system and the rise of the feudal system.