Maps of war : mapping conflict through the centuries / Jeremy Black.

Includes index.

The sixteenth century: first notions of military mapping -- The seventeenth century: mapping for sieges -- The eighteenth century: professional military mapping -- The nineteenth century: mapping in an imperial age -- First World War -- Second World War -- Modern warfare: 1945 to the present day.

"There is little documented mapping of conflict prior to the Renaissance period, but from the seventeenth century onwards, military commanders and strategists began to map the wars in which they were involved and later, to use mapping to plan the progress of a conflict. Using maps produced at the time, this superb new volume covers the history of the mapping of war on land and shows the way in which maps provide a guide to the history of war. Content includes: The beginning of military mapping up to 1600 including the impact of printing and the introduction of gunpowder ; The seventeenth century: how maps were used to illustrate war and the particular significance of maps of fortifications ; The eighteenth century: the growing need for maps on a world scale reflects the spread of European power and of transoceanic conflict between Europeans. This chapter focuses in particular on the American War of Independence ; The nineteenth century: key developments included contour mapping and the spread of military surveying. Subjects include the Napoleonic Wars and the American Civil War ; The First World War: including maps showing trench warfare and aerial reconnnaisance ; the Second World War: including planning maps and propoganda maps ; modern warfare from 1945 to the present day: including special sections on the Vietnam War and the Gulf Wars." -- Inside front cover.