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The Military Enlightenment
War and Culture in the French Empire from Louis XIV to Napoleon
Christy L. Pichichero (Author)
9781501709296
Hardback, published 15 November 2017
318 pages, 16 b&w halftones, 2 maps - 16 Halftones, black and white - 2 Maps
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.8 cm, 0.454 kg
Pichichero's fascinating book surveys efforts to create a more rational, humane system of military discipline, to articulate rules of war to protect wounded soldiers and noncombatants, and to regenerate French society through the promotion of the virtues of heroism and patriotism through all strata of society. Christy Pichichero's work significantly changes our understanding of the French Enlightenment's relationship with war. Pichichero traces the fervent debates in French society about how best to wage war during the eighteenth century. The Military Enlightenment is a tour de force and deserves a broad readership. Provide[s] fascinating new perspectives on the cultural history of war in the early modern period. Military historians will benefit from Pichichero's detailed and original analysis of the development of eighteenth-century military culture. Scholars of the Enlightenment will find here vital new perspective on the real-world impact of Enlightenment thought through the medium of the army. The Military Enlightenment is a valuable addition to the historiography of the Enlightenment. Pichichero builds on previous works... that argue, similarly, for locating military theory and philosophy within the Enlightenment.... In casting such a wide net, Pichichero effectively proves her thesis, and her work is highly recommended. Superbly researched, energetically argued, and extremely well written account.... One ends by admiring the quality and breadth of Pichichero's research, which has triumphantly placed the conduct of war squarely within the domain of the Enlightenment, and indeed turned 'military enlightenment' from an oxymoron into a truism. The author invites a fine reflection on the search for humanism at war and on the excesses of military justifications based on supposed humanism in recent conflicts. Pichichero is to be complimented for her industry and her subtle insightful analysis. She has produced a nuanced work of military, intellectual and cultural history. In a sweeping narrative, underpinned by broad and deep primary sources... Pichichero traces the fervent debates in French society about how best to wage war during the eighteenth century. She more than succeeds in her goal, illustrating in five well-structured chapters how important military thought was to the French Enlightenment writ large.
The Military Enlightenment brings to light a radically new narrative both on the Enlightenment and the French armed forces from Louis XIV to Napoleon. Christy Pichichero makes a striking discovery: the Geneva Conventions, post-traumatic stress disorder, the military "band of brothers," and soldierly heroism all found their antecedents in the eighteenth-century French armed forces. Readers of The Military Enlightenment will be startled to learn of the many ways in which French military officers, administrators, and medical personnel advanced ideas of human and political rights, military psychology, and social justice.
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. The French Military Enlightenment
2. Before Fraternity
3. Humanity in War
4. A Nation of Warriors
5. The Dialectic of Military Enlightenment
Epilogue
Notes
Index