Castles, Battles, and Bombs: How Economics Explains Military HistoryUniversity of Chicago Press, 2008 M11 15 - 424 pages Castles, Battles, and Bombs reconsiders key episodes of military history from the point of view of economics—with dramatically insightful results. For example, when looked at as a question of sheer cost, the building of castles in the High Middle Ages seems almost inevitable: though stunningly expensive, a strong castle was far cheaper to maintain than a standing army. The authors also reexamine the strategic bombing of Germany in World War II and provide new insights into France’s decision to develop nuclear weapons. Drawing on these examples and more, Brauer and Van Tuyll suggest lessons for today’s military, from counterterrorist strategy and military manpower planning to the use of private military companies in Afghanistan and Iraq.
"In bringing economics into assessments of military history, [the authors] also bring illumination. . . . [The authors] turn their interdisciplinary lens on the mercenary arrangements of Renaissance Italy; the wars of Marlborough, Frederick the Great, and Napoleon; Grant's campaigns in the Civil War; and the strategic bombings of World War II. The results are invariably stimulating."—Martin Walker, Wilson Quarterly
"This study is serious, creative, important. As an economist I am happy to see economics so professionally applied to illuminate major decisions in the history of warfare."—Thomas C. Schelling, Winner of the 2005 Nobel Prize in Economics |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 90
... Decision to Offer Battle 119 Expected Marginal Costs and Benefits of Battle 122 The 1600s: Gustavus Adolphus and Raimondo de Montecuccoli 127 The 1700s: Marlborough, de Saxe, and Frederick the Great 137 Napoleonic Warfare 147 The Age of ...
... decision making in the Enlightenment years, “information warfare” in the American Civil War, the strategic bombing of Germany in World War II, or France's decision to develop atomic weaponry during the early Cold War years. To ...
... decision making, namely, the decision to offer or decline battle, especially as decision making is a prominent feature of the economic analysis of behavior. The taking of this decision was a markedly prominent affair during the entire ...
... decision making in war. Moltke and his fellow generals might have appreciated this. The German General Staff was renowned for its methodical study of warfare, which explains Germany's astonishing success at waging (if not winning) war ...
... decision to first take on France was by itself sensible enough as France was militarily a more powerful enemy than Russia. Before Schlieffen, Germany had planned the next war in precisely the opposite direction. German forces would ...
Contents
1 | |
The High Middle Ages 10001300 The Case of the Medieval Castle and the Opportunity Cost of Warfare | 45 |
The Renaissance 13001600 The Case of the Condottieri and the Military Labor Market | 80 |
The Age of Battle 16181815 The Case of Costs Benefits and the Decision to Offer Battle | 119 |
The Age of Revolution 17891914 The Case of the American Civil War and the Economics of Information Asymmetry | 159 |
The Age of the World Wars 19141945 The Case of Diminishing Marginal Returns to the Strategic Bombing of Germany in World War II | 197 |
Other editions - View all
Castles, Battles, and Bombs: How Economics Explains Military History Jurgen Brauer,Hubert van Tuyll No preview available - 2008 |
Castles, Battles, and Bombs: How Economics Explains Military History Jurgen Brauer,Hubert van Tuyll No preview available - 2008 |