In many ways, downplaying the importance of technology leads naturally to a greater appreciation of the importance of political tasking, because it reveals that military history, contrary to popular assumptions regarding the single-mindedness of military endeavors, is characterized by conflicting goals or tasks, and that the particular strategies and technologies developed and deployed by militaries represent not so much the Darwinian evolution of capability in response to particular problems, but rather the nuanced and often contradictory influences of differing political interests. Despite perpetuating some of the underlying problems inherent in all extant military history, Jeremy Black's Rethinking Military History nevertheless provides useful insight into some of the major issues facing military historiography. Furthermore, even the critical omissions discussed above point the way towards a more robust criticism of military history, because they highlight the influence of military organization, practice, and discourse on military history itself. Thus, one may consider Black's book an important contribution to both military history and historical scholarship in general, because its shortcomings only serve to highlight the importance of continued self-reflection and examination on the part of military historians, and ts contributions cut straight to the heart of those issues which have kept military...

"Determinisms and Other Issues." The Journal of Military History 68, no. 4
(2004): 1217-32.

Black, Jeremy. Rethinking Military History. New York: Routledge, 2004.

Black, Jeremy. "Victory in War: Foundations of Modern Military Policy." The Journal of Military History 71, no. 3 (2007): 983-4.

Grau, Lester W. "War since 1990." The Journal of Military History 73, no. 3 (2009): 1026-7.

Lynn, John a. "Breaching the Walls of Academe: The Purposes, Problems, and Prospects of Military History." Academic Questions 21, no. 1 (2008): 18-36.

Reid, Brian Holden. "Michael Howard and the Evolution of Modern War Studies." The Journal

of Military History 73, no. 3 (2009): 869-904.

Jeremy Black, Rethinking Military History (New York: Routledge, 2004) ix.

Black, Rethinking Military History, ix.

Black, Rethinking Military History, ix.

Black, Rethinking Military History, 73.

Jeremy Black, "Victory in War: Foundations of Modern Military Policy," the Journal of Military History 71, no. 3 (2007).

Brian Holden Reid, "Michael Howard and the Evolution of Modern War Studies," the Journal of Military History 73, no. 3 (2009): 903.

Black, Rethinking Military History, 22.

Black, Rethinking Military History, 22.

Black, Rethinking Military History, 2.

John a. Lynn, "Breaching the Walls of Academe: The Purposes, Problems, and Prospects of Military History," Academic Questions 21, no. 1 (2008): 18.

Lester W. Grau, "War since 1990," the Journal of Military History 73, no. 3 (2009): 1026.

Black, Rethinking Military History, 30.

Jeremy Black, "Determinisms and Other Issues," the Journal of Military History 68, no. 4 (2004): 1217.