Summary

The Reference Guide to the Major Wars and Conflicts in History set covers some 2,000 wars from prehistory to the present. Entries describe not only the military aspect of war but also the social and political context in which the wars occurred, providing readers and researchers with the important facts as well as the historical background for each war. Each title in the set focuses on one historic era, beginning with an introduction that outlines warfare in the respective time period and ending with a select bibliography and a chronology. Within each title, entries are arranged in alphabetical order.

Each entry begins with an at-a-glance look at the war in question, including a statement of the causes of the war; the date of its declaration, if any; the numbers of those under arms and the casualties they suffered; a summary of the outcome(s); and the names and dates of the treaties or documents ending the conflict. Following this, a narrative discussion of the war examines its social context, major battles and events, and broader significance in cultural and historical terms. Suggestions for further reading follow each entry, providing easy access to more detailed information.

Wars in the Contemporary World (1950 to Present) covers wars from the Korean War (1950–1953) to ongoing wars in Syria, the Ukraine, and Libya, among others. The destructive disaster of the two world wars fought in the early part of the 20th century precipitated the decline of European colonial and quasi-colonial hegemony in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, and rebellions against colonial powers erupted across these regions. The two superpowers that emerged from World War II, the United States and Soviet Union, entered a cold war that was characterized by a nuclear arms race, yet it was fought with conventional weapons in numerous regional proxy wars. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1989, a new multipolar or nonpolar world order began to emerge in which nonstate actors played an increasing role in warfare.

Entries include:

• Algerian War of Independence (1954–1962)
• Argentine "Dirty War" (1969–1983)
• Boko Haram insurgent war (2009–ongoing)
• Congolese Civil War (1960–1968)
• Cuban Revolution (1956–1959)
• Indonesian Wars (1957–1962)
• ISIS insurgency (2006–ongoing)
• Korean War (1950–1953)
• Mau Mau Uprising (1952–1956)
• Mexican Drug War (2000–ongoing)
• Persian Gulf War (1990–1991)
• Ruandan (Rwandan) Civil War (1959–1961)
• Syrian Civil War (2011–ongoing)
• Tunisian Revolution (2010–2011)
• Ukrainian Revolution (2014)
• Vietnam War (1956–1975)
• War in Bosnia (1992–1995)
• Yemeni Revolution (2011–2012)

Specifications

eBook

About the Author(s)

Charles Phillips is managing editor of the scholarly quarterly American Journal of Play, a novelist, and a short-story writer. He has also edited, written, and produced many works of nonfiction. Author for several years of the "Day to Remember" column for American History Magazine, Phillips has been editor-in-chief of a number of multivolume historical and reference works, including Encyclopedia of the American West, Encyclopedia of Historical Treaties, and Time-Life Books' 14-volume 40th-anniversary edition of Shelby Foote's The Civil War, A Narrative, as well as editor for such publications as The Washington Star, History News, Higher Education and National Affairs, and Congressional Quarterly. He co-wrote and produced Count Me In, a feature-length video on Doolittle's Raid over Tokyo in World War II that aired on PBS and won an award for historical videos from the American Association of Museums.

Alan Axelrod, Ph.D., has authored or coauthored some 140 books, including the Encyclopedia of the American West, The Macmillan Dictionary of Military Biography, Dictators and Tyrants, Encyclopedia of Historical Treaties and Alliances, Mercenaries: A Guide to Private Armies and Private Military Companies, A Political History of America's Wars, Encyclopedia of World War II, Encyclopedia of the United States Armed Forces, and America's Wars.