A sweeping, epic history that ranges from the defeat of the Spanish Armada to the War on Terrorism, War Made New is a provocative new vision of the rise of the modern world through the lens of warfare. Acclaimed author Max Boot explores how innovations in weaponry and tactics have not only transformed how wars are fought and won but also have shaped the course of human events, from the formation of the first modern states, to the collapse of the Soviet Union, to the coming of al Qaeda.

Boot argues that the past five centuries of history have been marked not by gradual change in how we fight but instead by revolutions in military technology and that the nations who have successfully mastered these revolutions have redrawn the map of the world. In the Gunpowder Age, he argues that firearm technology shattered the ritualized combat of the Middle Ages and led to the rise of the Western powers. Exploring the Industrial Revolution, Boot discusses how breakthrough inventions such as the steam engine led to a rapid mechanization of fighting technology in the mid-nineteenth century and to terrifying new levels of bloodshed. For the Second Industrial Revolution, Boot focuses on how the oil-driven combustion engine and the advent of combat aviation culminated in the battlefield breakthroughs of World War II, which resulted in global superpowers. War Made New concludes with the ongoing Information Revolution, describing how the use of precision-guided missiles along with stealth planes and cruise missiles has granted the United States a critical advantage over enemies in Iraq and Afghanistan.

A stirring blend of narrative history and long-sighted analysis, War Made New will forever change our understanding of the forces shaping human civilization.