Weapons, Warfare, and Military Technology, 3rd Ed.: Vols. 1–3

The new edition of this broad encyclopedia covers many topics, briefly, by design. It updates the 2010 version with an annotated list of war films, expanded lists of military theorists, an updated timeline and bibliography, a refined list of websites, and a new section on war literature that includes fiction, most of it familiar. Essays on ancient and medieval warfare are useful summaries of historical conflicts. The section on cultures and concepts touches on war from several perspectives (e.g., sociological, religious, strategic) and angles. Articles on specific modern weapon systems are nontechnical but designed for readers who already have some knowledge about them; professional military researchers will not learn anything new. “Turning Points” in several of the pieces provide a very brief sense of the development of warfare theory, strategy, and weapons systems. Some of the sections will require referring to other works to learn more about unfamiliar names.