ABSTRACT
The theme of this book is that of variety in circumstances and diversity in responses, with this multiplicity encompassing social-political contexts, military tasks and methods of war-making. This entails downgrading the centrality of technology and replacing the conventional Whiggish and teleological conceptual framework for military history with an emphasis on tasks and change as problems to overcome. Strategic culture is a helpful concept because to understand the military preparations and warfare of the period, it is necessary to appreciate the great diversity in international power politics and geography.
