Since war is among the oldest of human activities – long antedating the invention of writing – presumably the earliest attempts to record it took the form of poems or songs that were performed on suitable occasions. However revealing or inspiring, poems are no substitute for military theory and written history. The Encyclopedia of Warfare concentrates on a systematic listing of all wars, offering an understanding in the nature of the ways in which they were fought and presenting the reader with a survey of the development of military thought and actions. Over 1000 pages long, the encyclopedia will list every major recorded war since earliest times up to the present day. Within the war narrative, where appropriate, there will be descriptions of its campaigns, broken down into battles and sieges. All this will be easily accessed via an extensive index. Including over 600 full colour maps, created specifically for this volume, The Encyclopedia of Warfare is written in a style accessible to the student and general enthusiast alike, and reflecting the latest thought in military history.