This fresh and challenging inquiry into human societies takes a deep look at the effects and roles of war. As the most complex of all human endeavors, warfare - from ancient to modern - has spurred the growth of essential new technologies; demanded the adoption of complex economic systems; shaped the ideology and culture of nations; promoted developments in art and literature; and spread faith across the globe. Over the course of 48 highly provocative lectures, Professor Roth explores armed conflict across five continents. Far from a traditional approach to military events, this panoramic series is not the history of battles or military campaigns, but the story of the intimate interconnections of war with human cultures and societies and how these connections have shaped history. You'll study the complex effects of culture, economics, politics, and religion on war - and war's influences on them. In this context, you chart the colorful history of the practice and methodology of warfare. Among many other things, you'll learn about the development and evolution of history-making military weapons such as bows, horses, swords, and gunpowder; the interface of warfare with religion, which has bred some of the most unusual and poignant conflicts in history; the 17th-century European nation-state, where militaries were "nationalized" into central governments and military service was imbued with ideology of citizenship and loyalty to state; the crucial military underpinnings of nationalism, Communism, Fascism, and other political movements from the modern era. Probe these pivotal and revealing features of history and deepen your understanding of our extraordinary, evolving world. All Lectures: 1. What Is War? 2. The Historiography of War 3. The Stone Age War 4. Peace, War, and Civilization 5. The Chariot Revolution 6. The Sword Revolution 7. Steppes, Standing Armies, and Silver Trade 8. Pirates and Hoplites 9. Great Empires of West and East 10. War and the Rise of Religion 11. The Greek Way of War 12. An Age of War throughout the Core 13. New Empires and an Armed Peace 14. Monotheisms and Militaries 15. Barbarians and the Fall of Three Empires 16. Conquest Links the Core 17. The Middle Ages and a Common Way of War 18. Armored Horsemen and Global Feudalization 19. Crusade, Jihad, and Dharma Yuddha 20. The Mongols Conquer a World 21. The Business of War in Medieval Europe 22. The Gunpowder Revolution 23. War at the Margins 24. A World Apart - War in the Americas 25. Renaissance and Military Revolution 26. Conquest and Colonies 27. The Gunpowder Empires 28. More Holy Wars 29. The Rise of the Regiment 30. The Wooden World 31. The Global War to Control Trade 32. Warfare and the Nation-State 33. War and the Making of the Americas 34. War and the Unmaking of Africa and Asia 35. The Industrialization of War 36. The Nationalization of War 37. Race and Class at War 38. Imperialism and the Triumph of the West 39. The 19th-Century Culture of War 40. A Common Way of War - The 20th Century 41. War and 20th-Century Ideology 42. War and the Persistence of Nationalism 43. Economies and Economics at War 44. Culture and War in the 20th Century 45. The Weaponization of Information 46. Guerrilla War and Terrorism 47. The Struggle for Peace and Justice 48. Warfare at the Turn of a New Century