Russell F. Weigley (1930-2004) was Professor of History at Temple University and author of A Great Civil War (winner of the Lincoln Prize); The American Way of War; History of the United States Army; and Eisenhower's Lieutenants: The Campaign of France and Germany, 1944-1945 (all published by IUP). He lived in Philadelphia.

• IntroductionNote on DatesPart One. The Profession of Officership and the Birth of Modern War1. The Return of the Legions: Gustavus Adolphus and Breitenfeld2. The Limits of the New Legions: Lützen and After3. Under the Lily Banners: Rocroi4. The Army of the Sun King5. Marlborough's Battles: Blenheim, Ramillies, Oudenarde, and Malplaquet6. The Emergence of the Great Powers of Eastern Europe7. The Rise of Naval PowerPart Two. The EIghteenth Century: The Classical Epoch of Modern War8. The Battles of Frederick the Great9. The French and British Armed Forces from the Rhine to the St. Lawrence10. Toward Wars of Nations: The War of American Independence11. Prelude to RevolutionPart Three. Thunderstrokes of Battle: The French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars12. The French Revolution: Transformation and Continuity in War13. Sea Power and Empire14. The Climax of Napoleonic War: To Austerlitz and Jena-Auerstädt15. The Gradual Eclipse of the Battle of Annihilation; The Rise of the War of Attrition16. Campaigns of Exhaustion and Attrition17. The Resurgence of Military Professionalism18. The Downfall of Genius19. The End of an Age: Waterloo20. On the Future of WarBibliographical NotesIndex