This book, first published in 1973, examines seven revolutionary armies ranging from Cromwell’s New Model Army to the Red Army of Mao Zedong. In each case it examines the mobilisation and organisation of the army, and the need to balance political ideals and aspirations with military cohesion and discipline, and social stability. This book is an outstanding example of a study of the relationship between the military and society, and shows that no revolution can succeed without an organised army and that few such armies can tolerate for long the ideology that created them.
1. Introduction 2. The English Civil War 1642–9 3. The American War of Independence 1775–83 4. The French Revolution 1789–94 5. The Prussian Army Reforms 1806–15 6. The Franco–Prussian War and the Paris Commune 1870–71 7. The Russian Civil War 1917–20 8. The Chinese Civil War 1926–49 9. Conclusion
Biography
John Ellis
