War and Technology, A Very Short Introduction By Alex Roland
Excellent book and an excellent series.
Quotations below were a particular interest to me
All notes direct quotations:
⁃ Principles of war…: Objective, offensive, mass, economy of force, maneuver, unity of command, security, surprise, and simplicity
⁃ The Neo-Assyrian empire 911 to 612 BC E was a fully formed militarized state, the first recorded predator state in world history.
⁃ The Greeks and Romans bequeathed to the world a panel play siege engines... All stored and released energy from one of three sources: tension, torsion, and gravity. (Tension and torsion machines, respectively, stretched or twisted organic materials such as rope, wood, or animal hair or sinew.)
⁃ The Romans laid down 55,000 miles of primary and secondary paved roads that circled the Mediterranean and sped the Roman legions to duty assignments around the empire…. A classic dual use technological artifact, the Roman roads served the military and strategic goals of the state, while promoting government, commercial, and personal travel that bound the empire together… not until the German autobahn and the US interstate highway system did any road net work rival that of Rome
⁃ See pages 30 and 31 for discussion of how the stirrup was a key part of making the knight an irresistible force on the battlefield
⁃ The Mongol army, barbarians all, simply outclassed the Europeans in every dimension of warfare. They had their own intelligence service; a sophisticated system of communication; a logistic train that supplemented their modest needs for human and horse food; an experienced light cavalry of mountain warriors who spent their adult lives shooting animals and humans with composite recurve bows from horseback; a doctrine that blended dispersed strategic movement with tactical convergence to meet the enemy; a ruthless, bloodthirsty, and terrifying fighting ethic; and a leadership the traveled with the army and directed it brilliantly.
⁃ pages 36 to 41 for discussion of the gunpowder revolution and the eight ways it changed warfare