Author: Jrt Wood
Publisher: Trafford Publishing
ISBN: 1466934085
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 541
Book Description
'So Far and No Further!' Rhodesia's Bid for Independence during the Retreat from Empire 1959-1965 Ian Smith's unilateral declaration of independence for Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) on 11 November 1965 was seen by many as the act of a rebellious white minority seeking to preserve their privileged position in defiance of Britain's determination to shed her Empire and introduce rule by the African majority as soon as possible. However, the drama of UDI has long overshadowed and oversimplified the complexities of the preceding years. In this account of that time, based on sole access to the hitherto closed papers of Ian Douglas Smith and Sir Roy Welensky, as well as extensive research at London's Public Record Office, and in government and private collections elsewhere, Dr J.R.T. Wood chronicles the collision course on which Britain and Rhodesia were set after 1959, complementing his study of the fate of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland in his definitive 'The Welensky Papers: A History of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland 1953-1963'. Britain, Wood shows, was intent on shedding her Empire as quickly as possible against a backdrop of the Cold War and the rise of Chinese- and Soviet-sponsored African nationalism. She delivered some 600 one man, one vote constitutions to her fledgling nations and had no intention of granting Rhodesia independence on different terms. Unlike Britain's other African possessions, however, Rhodesia had enjoyed self-governance since 1923. The largely white Rhodesian electorate, wary of the consequences of premature and ill-prepared majority rule, sought instead dominion status akin to that of Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Their intention was gradually to pave the way for majority rule: since 1923, Rhodesia's electoral qualifications had excluded race. It was always understood that the African majority would acquire power; the concern was the speed and smoothness of that acquisition. Culminating in those dramatic days of November 1965 when Ian Smith concluded in the face of resolute British stonewalling that he had no alternative but UDI, this unique account is the first in a series which chronicles the course of events that ultimately led to Robert Mugabe's accession to power in 1980, and all that entailed.
So Far and No Further!
Author: J.R.T. Wood
Publisher: Trafford Publishing
ISBN: 1466934077
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 541
Book Description
'So Far and No Further!' Rhodesia's Bid for Independence during the Retreat from Empire 1959-1965 Ian Smith's unilateral declaration of independence for Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) on 11 November 1965 was seen by many as the act of a rebellious white minority seeking to preserve their privileged position in defiance of Britain's determination to shed her Empire and introduce rule by the African majority as soon as possible. However, the drama of UDI has long overshadowed and oversimplified the complexities of the preceding years. In this account of that time, based on sole access to the hitherto closed papers of Ian Douglas Smith and Sir Roy Welensky, as well as extensive research at London's Public Record Office, and in government and private collections elsewhere, Dr J.R.T. Wood chronicles the collision course on which Britain and Rhodesia were set after 1959, complementing his study of the fate of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland in his definitive 'The Welensky Papers: A History of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland 1953-1963'. Britain, Wood shows, was intent on shedding her Empire as quickly as possible against a backdrop of the Cold War and the rise of Chinese- and Soviet-sponsored African nationalism. She delivered some 600 one man, one vote constitutions to her fledgling nations and had no intention of granting Rhodesia independence on different terms. Unlike Britain's other African possessions, however, Rhodesia had enjoyed self-governance since 1923. The largely white Rhodesian electorate, wary of the consequences of premature and ill-prepared majority rule, sought instead dominion status akin to that of Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Their intention was gradually to pave the way for majority rule: since 1923, Rhodesia's electoral qualifications had excluded race. It was always understood that the African majority would acquire power; the concern was the speed and smoothness of that acquisition. Culminating in those dramatic days of November 1965 when Ian Smith concluded in the face of resolute British stonewalling that he had no alternative but UDI, this unique account is the first in a series which chronicles the course of events that ultimately led to Robert Mugabe's accession to power in 1980, and all that entailed.
Publisher: Trafford Publishing
ISBN: 1466934077
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 541
Book Description
'So Far and No Further!' Rhodesia's Bid for Independence during the Retreat from Empire 1959-1965 Ian Smith's unilateral declaration of independence for Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) on 11 November 1965 was seen by many as the act of a rebellious white minority seeking to preserve their privileged position in defiance of Britain's determination to shed her Empire and introduce rule by the African majority as soon as possible. However, the drama of UDI has long overshadowed and oversimplified the complexities of the preceding years. In this account of that time, based on sole access to the hitherto closed papers of Ian Douglas Smith and Sir Roy Welensky, as well as extensive research at London's Public Record Office, and in government and private collections elsewhere, Dr J.R.T. Wood chronicles the collision course on which Britain and Rhodesia were set after 1959, complementing his study of the fate of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland in his definitive 'The Welensky Papers: A History of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland 1953-1963'. Britain, Wood shows, was intent on shedding her Empire as quickly as possible against a backdrop of the Cold War and the rise of Chinese- and Soviet-sponsored African nationalism. She delivered some 600 one man, one vote constitutions to her fledgling nations and had no intention of granting Rhodesia independence on different terms. Unlike Britain's other African possessions, however, Rhodesia had enjoyed self-governance since 1923. The largely white Rhodesian electorate, wary of the consequences of premature and ill-prepared majority rule, sought instead dominion status akin to that of Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Their intention was gradually to pave the way for majority rule: since 1923, Rhodesia's electoral qualifications had excluded race. It was always understood that the African majority would acquire power; the concern was the speed and smoothness of that acquisition. Culminating in those dramatic days of November 1965 when Ian Smith concluded in the face of resolute British stonewalling that he had no alternative but UDI, this unique account is the first in a series which chronicles the course of events that ultimately led to Robert Mugabe's accession to power in 1980, and all that entailed.
So Far and No Further!
Author: J. R. T. Wood
Publisher: Trafford Publishing
ISBN: 9781412049528
Category : British
Languages : en
Pages : 533
Book Description
This definitive account traces Rhodesia's attempt to secure independence during the retreat from Empire after 1959. Based on unique research, it reveals why Rhodesia defied the world from 1965.
Publisher: Trafford Publishing
ISBN: 9781412049528
Category : British
Languages : en
Pages : 533
Book Description
This definitive account traces Rhodesia's attempt to secure independence during the retreat from Empire after 1959. Based on unique research, it reveals why Rhodesia defied the world from 1965.
The Empire Project
Author: John Darwin
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139482149
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 815
Book Description
The British Empire, wrote Adam Smith, 'has hitherto been not an empire, but the project of an empire' and John Darwin offers a magisterial global history of the rise and fall of that great imperial project. The British Empire, he argues, was much more than a group of colonies ruled over by a scattering of British expatriates until eventual independence. It was, above all, a global phenomenon. Its power derived rather less from the assertion of imperial authority than from the fusing together of three different kinds of empire: the settler empire of the 'white dominions'; the commercial empire of the City of London; and 'Greater India' which contributed markets, manpower and military muscle. This unprecedented history charts how this intricate imperial web was first strengthened, then weakened and finally severed on the rollercoaster of global economic, political and geostrategic upheaval on which it rode from beginning to end.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139482149
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 815
Book Description
The British Empire, wrote Adam Smith, 'has hitherto been not an empire, but the project of an empire' and John Darwin offers a magisterial global history of the rise and fall of that great imperial project. The British Empire, he argues, was much more than a group of colonies ruled over by a scattering of British expatriates until eventual independence. It was, above all, a global phenomenon. Its power derived rather less from the assertion of imperial authority than from the fusing together of three different kinds of empire: the settler empire of the 'white dominions'; the commercial empire of the City of London; and 'Greater India' which contributed markets, manpower and military muscle. This unprecedented history charts how this intricate imperial web was first strengthened, then weakened and finally severed on the rollercoaster of global economic, political and geostrategic upheaval on which it rode from beginning to end.
Gendering the Settler State
Author: Kate Law
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317425367
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 195
Book Description
White women cut an ambivalent figure in the transnational history of the British Empire. They tend to be remembered as malicious harridans personifying the worst excesses of colonialism, as vacuous fusspots, whose lives were punctuated by a series of frivolous pastimes, or as casualties of patriarchy, constrained by male actions and gendered ideologies. This book, which places itself amongst other "new imperial histories", argues that the reality of the situation, is of course, much more intricate and complex. Focusing on post-war colonial Rhodesia, Gendering the Settler State provides a fine-grained analysis of the role(s) of white women in the colonial enterprise, arguing that they held ambiguous and inconsistent views on a variety of issues including liberalism, gender, race and colonialism.
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317425367
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 195
Book Description
White women cut an ambivalent figure in the transnational history of the British Empire. They tend to be remembered as malicious harridans personifying the worst excesses of colonialism, as vacuous fusspots, whose lives were punctuated by a series of frivolous pastimes, or as casualties of patriarchy, constrained by male actions and gendered ideologies. This book, which places itself amongst other "new imperial histories", argues that the reality of the situation, is of course, much more intricate and complex. Focusing on post-war colonial Rhodesia, Gendering the Settler State provides a fine-grained analysis of the role(s) of white women in the colonial enterprise, arguing that they held ambiguous and inconsistent views on a variety of issues including liberalism, gender, race and colonialism.
The White Redoubt, the Great Powers and the Struggle for Southern Africa, 1960–1980
Author: Filipe Ribeiro de Meneses
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1137447583
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 418
Book Description
This work examines the attempt by the governments of Portugal, Rhodesia and South Africa to defy the drive for African independence in the 1960s and 70s, and the international community’s response. From 1961 to 1974, Portugal, Rhodesia and South Africa collaborated in the attempt to preserve white minority rule in their respective territories. Hard-pressed by African nationalists, recently decolonized states, and many of the world’s Great Powers, they supported each other economically, politically and militarily, turning southern Africa into a major diplomatic concern which defied Cold War logic. This book examines how this collaboration came about and how the international community responded to it, paying close attention to the evolving situation in each country. The Portuguese Revolution of April 1974 undid this ‘white redoubt’, and the diplomatic policy subsequently adopted by apartheid South Africa – détente – led it to sacrifice Rhodesia in return for the illusion of permanent safety. A true work of transnational history, this book is based on the archival material of eight different countries, yet it serves as well as an introduction to the politics of southern Africa during the late colonial era.
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1137447583
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 418
Book Description
This work examines the attempt by the governments of Portugal, Rhodesia and South Africa to defy the drive for African independence in the 1960s and 70s, and the international community’s response. From 1961 to 1974, Portugal, Rhodesia and South Africa collaborated in the attempt to preserve white minority rule in their respective territories. Hard-pressed by African nationalists, recently decolonized states, and many of the world’s Great Powers, they supported each other economically, politically and militarily, turning southern Africa into a major diplomatic concern which defied Cold War logic. This book examines how this collaboration came about and how the international community responded to it, paying close attention to the evolving situation in each country. The Portuguese Revolution of April 1974 undid this ‘white redoubt’, and the diplomatic policy subsequently adopted by apartheid South Africa – détente – led it to sacrifice Rhodesia in return for the illusion of permanent safety. A true work of transnational history, this book is based on the archival material of eight different countries, yet it serves as well as an introduction to the politics of southern Africa during the late colonial era.
The Politics of Race in Britain and South Africa
Author: Elizabeth Williams
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 0857739514
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 428
Book Description
The postwar government of South Africa, led by H.F. Verwoerd, implemented wide-ranging racial segregation laws, beginning the open policy of apartheid in one of Africa's most prosperous and internationally influential states. During the apartheid era, the British government faced an uneasy dilemma: while repudiating apartheid laws it maintained an ambiguous stance towards the South African government. As black South Africans were reduced to the status of non-citizens after the 1970 Citizenship Act, increasing numbers of exiles and fugitives were finding refuge in Britain, which was now home to a growing anti-apartheid protest movement. This is the first book to examine the British support for the anti-apartheid movement among its own black communities. Elizabeth Williams highlights the connection between domestic anti-racism struggles and the struggle in South Africa, showing how black Britons who were themselves fighting racism in British society identified and expressed solidarity with black South Africans during the Apartheid years. Williams further assesses the way in which Black communities in Britain viewed Margaret Thatcher's support of South Africa despite the international call for sanctions. Featuring the work of acclaimed documentary photographer and civil rights activist Vanley Burke, this will be an essential book for students and scholars of race, British history, international relations, post-colonial studies and South African history.
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 0857739514
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 428
Book Description
The postwar government of South Africa, led by H.F. Verwoerd, implemented wide-ranging racial segregation laws, beginning the open policy of apartheid in one of Africa's most prosperous and internationally influential states. During the apartheid era, the British government faced an uneasy dilemma: while repudiating apartheid laws it maintained an ambiguous stance towards the South African government. As black South Africans were reduced to the status of non-citizens after the 1970 Citizenship Act, increasing numbers of exiles and fugitives were finding refuge in Britain, which was now home to a growing anti-apartheid protest movement. This is the first book to examine the British support for the anti-apartheid movement among its own black communities. Elizabeth Williams highlights the connection between domestic anti-racism struggles and the struggle in South Africa, showing how black Britons who were themselves fighting racism in British society identified and expressed solidarity with black South Africans during the Apartheid years. Williams further assesses the way in which Black communities in Britain viewed Margaret Thatcher's support of South Africa despite the international call for sanctions. Featuring the work of acclaimed documentary photographer and civil rights activist Vanley Burke, this will be an essential book for students and scholars of race, British history, international relations, post-colonial studies and South African history.
Historical Dictionary of the British Empire
Author: Kenneth J. Panton
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 0810875241
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 767
Book Description
For much of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Britain was the dominant world power, its strength based in large part on its command of an Empire that, in the years immediately after World War I, encompassed almost one-quarter of the earth’s land surface and one-fifth of its population. Writers boasted that the sun never set on British possessions, which provided raw materials that, processed in British factories, could be re-exported as manufactured products to expanding colonial markets. The commercial and political might was not based on any grand strategic plan of territorial acquisition, however. The Empire grew piecemeal, shaped by the diplomatic, economic, and military circumstances of the times, and its speedy dismemberment in the mid-twentieth century was, similarly, a reaction to the realities of geopolitics in post-World War II conditions. Today the Empire has gone but it has left a legacy that remains of great significance in the modern world. The Historical Dictionary of the British Empire covers its history through a chronology, an introductory essay, appendixes, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 700 cross-referenced entries on important personalities, politics, economy, foreign relations, religion, and culture. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Britain.
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 0810875241
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 767
Book Description
For much of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Britain was the dominant world power, its strength based in large part on its command of an Empire that, in the years immediately after World War I, encompassed almost one-quarter of the earth’s land surface and one-fifth of its population. Writers boasted that the sun never set on British possessions, which provided raw materials that, processed in British factories, could be re-exported as manufactured products to expanding colonial markets. The commercial and political might was not based on any grand strategic plan of territorial acquisition, however. The Empire grew piecemeal, shaped by the diplomatic, economic, and military circumstances of the times, and its speedy dismemberment in the mid-twentieth century was, similarly, a reaction to the realities of geopolitics in post-World War II conditions. Today the Empire has gone but it has left a legacy that remains of great significance in the modern world. The Historical Dictionary of the British Empire covers its history through a chronology, an introductory essay, appendixes, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 700 cross-referenced entries on important personalities, politics, economy, foreign relations, religion, and culture. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Britain.
Cold War in Southern Africa
Author: Sue Onslow
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135219338
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 266
Book Description
This edited volume examines the complexities of the Cold War in Southern Africa and uses a range of archives to develop a more detailed understanding of the impact of the Cold War environment upon the processes of political change. In the aftermath of European decolonization, the struggle between white minority governments and black liberation movements encouraged both sides to appeal for external support from the two superpower blocs. Cold War in Southern Africa highlights the importance of the global ideological environment on the perceptions and consequent behaviour of the white minority regimes, the Black Nationalist movements, and the newly independent African nationalist governments. Together, they underline the variety of archival sources on the history of Southern Africa in the Cold War and its growing importance in Cold War Studies. This volume brings together a series of essays by leading scholars based on a wide range of sources in the United States, Russia, Cuba, Britain, Zambia and South Africa. By focussing on a range of independent actors, these essays highlight the complexity of the conflict in Southern Africa: a battle of power blocs, of systems and ideas, which intersected with notions and practices of race and class This book will appeal to students of cold war studies, US foreign policy, African politics and International History. Sue Onslow has taught at the London School of Economics since 1994. She is currently a Cold War Studies Fellow in the Cold War Studies Centre/IDEAS
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135219338
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 266
Book Description
This edited volume examines the complexities of the Cold War in Southern Africa and uses a range of archives to develop a more detailed understanding of the impact of the Cold War environment upon the processes of political change. In the aftermath of European decolonization, the struggle between white minority governments and black liberation movements encouraged both sides to appeal for external support from the two superpower blocs. Cold War in Southern Africa highlights the importance of the global ideological environment on the perceptions and consequent behaviour of the white minority regimes, the Black Nationalist movements, and the newly independent African nationalist governments. Together, they underline the variety of archival sources on the history of Southern Africa in the Cold War and its growing importance in Cold War Studies. This volume brings together a series of essays by leading scholars based on a wide range of sources in the United States, Russia, Cuba, Britain, Zambia and South Africa. By focussing on a range of independent actors, these essays highlight the complexity of the conflict in Southern Africa: a battle of power blocs, of systems and ideas, which intersected with notions and practices of race and class This book will appeal to students of cold war studies, US foreign policy, African politics and International History. Sue Onslow has taught at the London School of Economics since 1994. She is currently a Cold War Studies Fellow in the Cold War Studies Centre/IDEAS
Who Killed Hammarskjold?
Author: Susan Williams
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190257636
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 372
Book Description
One of the outstanding mysteries of the twentieth century, and one with huge political resonance, is the death of Dag Hammarskjold and his UN team in a plane crash in central Africa in 1961. Just minutes after midnight, his aircraft plunged into thick forest in the British colony of Northern Rhodesia (Zambia), abruptly ending his mission to bring peace to the Congo. Across the world, many suspected sabotage, accusing the multi-nationals and the governments of Britain, Belgium, the USA and South Africa of involvement in the disaster. These suspicions have never gone away. British High Commissioner Lord Alport was waiting at the airport when the aircraft crashed nearby. He bizarrely insisted to the airport management that Hammarskjold had flown elsewhere - even though his aircraft was reported overhead. This postponed a search for so long that the wreckage of the plane was not found for fifteen hours. White mercenaries were at the airport that night too, including the South African pilot Jerry Puren, whose bombing of Congolese villages led, in his own words, to 'flaming huts ...destruction and death'. These soldiers of fortune were backed by Sir Roy Welensky, Prime Minister of the Rhodesian Federation, who was ready to stop at nothing to maintain white rule and thought the United Nations was synonymous with the Nazis. The Rhodesian government conducted an official inquiry, which blamed pilot error. But as this book will show, it was a massive cover-up that suppressed and dismissed a mass of crucial evidence, especially that of African eye-witnesses. A subsequent UN inquiry was unable to rule out foul play - but had no access to the evidence to show how and why. Now, for the first time, this story can be told. Who Killed Hammarskjold follows the author on her intriguing and often frightening journey of research to Zambia, South Africa, the USA, Sweden, Norway, Britain, France and Belgium, where she unearthed a mass of new and hitherto secret documentary and photographic evidence. At the heart of this book is Hammarskjold himself - a courageous and complex idealist, who sought to shield the newly-independent nations of the world from the predatory instincts of the Great Powers. It reveals that the conflict in the Congo was driven not so much by internal divisions, as by the Cold War and by the West's determination to keep real power from the hands of the post-colonial governments of Africa. It shows, too, that the British settlers of Rhodesia would maintain white minority rule at all costs.
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190257636
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 372
Book Description
One of the outstanding mysteries of the twentieth century, and one with huge political resonance, is the death of Dag Hammarskjold and his UN team in a plane crash in central Africa in 1961. Just minutes after midnight, his aircraft plunged into thick forest in the British colony of Northern Rhodesia (Zambia), abruptly ending his mission to bring peace to the Congo. Across the world, many suspected sabotage, accusing the multi-nationals and the governments of Britain, Belgium, the USA and South Africa of involvement in the disaster. These suspicions have never gone away. British High Commissioner Lord Alport was waiting at the airport when the aircraft crashed nearby. He bizarrely insisted to the airport management that Hammarskjold had flown elsewhere - even though his aircraft was reported overhead. This postponed a search for so long that the wreckage of the plane was not found for fifteen hours. White mercenaries were at the airport that night too, including the South African pilot Jerry Puren, whose bombing of Congolese villages led, in his own words, to 'flaming huts ...destruction and death'. These soldiers of fortune were backed by Sir Roy Welensky, Prime Minister of the Rhodesian Federation, who was ready to stop at nothing to maintain white rule and thought the United Nations was synonymous with the Nazis. The Rhodesian government conducted an official inquiry, which blamed pilot error. But as this book will show, it was a massive cover-up that suppressed and dismissed a mass of crucial evidence, especially that of African eye-witnesses. A subsequent UN inquiry was unable to rule out foul play - but had no access to the evidence to show how and why. Now, for the first time, this story can be told. Who Killed Hammarskjold follows the author on her intriguing and often frightening journey of research to Zambia, South Africa, the USA, Sweden, Norway, Britain, France and Belgium, where she unearthed a mass of new and hitherto secret documentary and photographic evidence. At the heart of this book is Hammarskjold himself - a courageous and complex idealist, who sought to shield the newly-independent nations of the world from the predatory instincts of the Great Powers. It reveals that the conflict in the Congo was driven not so much by internal divisions, as by the Cold War and by the West's determination to keep real power from the hands of the post-colonial governments of Africa. It shows, too, that the British settlers of Rhodesia would maintain white minority rule at all costs.
The Roots and Consequences of 20th-Century Warfare
Author: Spencer C. Tucker
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 558
Book Description
This unique reference book introduces readers to the causes and effects of the 20th century's most significant conflicts—and explains how the impact of these conflicts still resonates today. The Roots and Consequences of 20th-Century Warfare: Conflicts That Shaped the Modern World introduces students to the causes and effects of the 20th century's most significant conflicts. Covering conflicts that occurred in all regions of the world, readers will gain knowledge on the causes and consequences of each conflict and become familiar with the historical context needed to understand the roots and consequences of these seminal events. The text also identifies key opponents in each conflict and illuminates the reasons why each country or group decided to fight, the scope of their involvement in the war, and the impact of the war. Reference entries on key battles are presented in chronological order, supplying engaging details on the events and people who shaped each war. The book also supplies maps of the key battles to illuminate the strategic movements of both sides of the conflict. A lengthy bibliography offers a wealth of options to readers seeking more sources of information on any of the conflicts.
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 558
Book Description
This unique reference book introduces readers to the causes and effects of the 20th century's most significant conflicts—and explains how the impact of these conflicts still resonates today. The Roots and Consequences of 20th-Century Warfare: Conflicts That Shaped the Modern World introduces students to the causes and effects of the 20th century's most significant conflicts. Covering conflicts that occurred in all regions of the world, readers will gain knowledge on the causes and consequences of each conflict and become familiar with the historical context needed to understand the roots and consequences of these seminal events. The text also identifies key opponents in each conflict and illuminates the reasons why each country or group decided to fight, the scope of their involvement in the war, and the impact of the war. Reference entries on key battles are presented in chronological order, supplying engaging details on the events and people who shaped each war. The book also supplies maps of the key battles to illuminate the strategic movements of both sides of the conflict. A lengthy bibliography offers a wealth of options to readers seeking more sources of information on any of the conflicts.