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Routledge Library Editions: Historical Security


About the Series

This 12-volume set contains titles originally published between 1957 and 1992. International in scope, the set looks at security and military history covering several battles, particularly the first and second world wars. Highlighting the difference between theory and practice, it also explores the people involved in the policy making and strategy of war, and the leaders tasked with carrying those decisions out.

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Decision by Default Peacetime Conscription and British Defence 1919–39

Decision by Default: Peacetime Conscription and British Defence 1919–39

1st Edition

By Peter Dennis
March 31, 2023

Britain’s vast losses of men in the first world war produced a revulsion against conscription. Originally published in 1972, Peter Dennis here describes how conscription was introduced once more in 1939, when pressure from within Britain and from France forced the British Government to reverse its ...

Douglas Haig, 1861–1928

Douglas Haig, 1861–1928

1st Edition

By Gerard J. De Groot
March 31, 2023

For seventy years Douglas Haig had been portrayed on the one hand as the ‘Butcher of the Somme’ – inept, insensitive and archaic; and on the other as the ‘Saviour of Britain’ – noble, unselfish and heroic. This polarised, strident and ultimately inconclusive argument had resulted in Haig becoming ...

Effects of Chemical Warfare A Selective Review and Bibliography of British State Papers

Effects of Chemical Warfare: A Selective Review and Bibliography of British State Papers

1st Edition

By Andy Thomas, Sipri
March 31, 2023

Originally published in 1985, this book is the result of an exploration of the state papers of the United Kingdom undertaken with the aim of discovering information about the past use of chemical warfare. This information may serve as a point of historical reference in speculation upon the possible...

High Command Australia's Struggle for an Independent War Strategy, 1939–1945

High Command: Australia's Struggle for an Independent War Strategy, 1939–1945

1st Edition

By David Horner
March 31, 2023

Since it was first published in 1982, High Command had become the standard reference for anyone interested in Australia’s participation in the Second World War, this edition was originally published in 1992. The 50th anniversary of battles such as Singapore, Coral Sea and Kokoda in 1942 re-awakened...

Saratoga The Decisive Battle

Saratoga: The Decisive Battle

1st Edition

By Rupert Furneaux
March 31, 2023

The Grand Strategy, the imaginative plan to divide the rebellious American colonies, ended in disaster. On October 17, 1777, General Sir John Burgoyne, alone, unaided and stranded in the American wilderness, capitulated with his army at Saratoga in upper New York State. It was the ‘turning point’ ...

Strategy Without Slide-Rule British Air Strategy 1914–1939

Strategy Without Slide-Rule: British Air Strategy 1914–1939

1st Edition

By Barry D. Powers
March 31, 2023

The early history of British aerial defence development is one of misdirection and delusion. The misdirection, judging by the criteria of successful aerial defence in World War II, was primarily in the downgrading of home defence measures including the fighter plane. The delusion, again judging by ...

Studies in Secret Diplomacy During the First World War

Studies in Secret Diplomacy: During the First World War

1st Edition

By W. W. Gottlieb
March 31, 2023

Originally published in 1957, the original blurb reads: ‘From these studies of the secret diplomacy surrounding the entry of Turkey and Italy into the First World War, emerges a picture of the complex machinery behind the obvious wheels of international politics. The activities of statesmen and ...

Swords and Covenants Essays in Honour of the Centennial of the Royal Military College of Canada 1876–1976

Swords and Covenants: Essays in Honour of the Centennial of the Royal Military College of Canada 1876–1976

1st Edition

Edited By Adrian Preston, Peter Dennis
March 31, 2023

Originally published in 1976, this book honours the centenary of The Royal Military College of Canada, 1876-1976. It comprises nine essays written by military historians who have been or still are in some way, as staff and students, connected with RMC since 1948. The essays range in time from the ...

The Birth of Independent Air Power British Air Policy in the First World War

The Birth of Independent Air Power: British Air Policy in the First World War

1st Edition

By Malcolm Cooper
March 31, 2023

In forming the Royal Air Force on 1 April 1918, Britain created the world’s first independent air service. Britain entered the First World War with less than 200 ill-assorted flying machines divided between the army and the navy, but by the end of the war the RAF mustered almost 300,000 personnel ...

The Commanders Australian Military Leadership in the Twentieth Century

The Commanders: Australian Military Leadership in the Twentieth Century

1st Edition

Edited By D. M. Horner
March 31, 2023

Originally published in 1984, this book tells the story of sixteen of Australia’s most eminent military men, as they performed under the stress of strategy-making and in the heat of battle. In scrutinising critical periods in the careers of such men as Brudenell White, Chauvel, Monash, Gordon ...

War and State Making The Shaping of the Global Powers

War and State Making: The Shaping of the Global Powers

1st Edition

By Karen A. Rasler, William R. Thompson
March 31, 2023

Originally published in 1989, this is an empirical study of the impact of global war on the expansion and shaping of nation-states. Individual chapters examine the effects of such wars, and the preparation for them, on debt financing, expansion, military spending, welfare spending, GNP and domestic...

Warfare in the Twentieth Century Theory and Practice

Warfare in the Twentieth Century: Theory and Practice

1st Edition

Edited By Colin McInnes, G. D. Sheffield
March 31, 2023

The twentieth century was dominated by war and by preparations for war in a way that is unparalleled in history. Originally published in 1988, this textbook highlights key themes of warfare throughout the world and emphasizes the gulf between the theory of war and its practice. The contributors are...

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