Querengässer, Alexander Infantry

A Global History

The history of warfare began with the development of organised forces fighting on foot, which were later referred to as infantry. It was the Roman legions that conquered a mighty empire in the Mediterranean, and the divisions of Napoleon's Grande Armée which secured French rule over Europe. Ultimately, it took the "poor bloody infantry" of the combined American, British and Soviet armies to rid the same continent of the scourge of Nazism. New weapons may alter the tactics applied in warfare, they can increase the impact of infantry, or impede its use on the battlefield. While artillery may conquer, infantry holds, a notion which was not lost on the men fighting the First World War. It is only the areas thus occupied that can serve as pledges in a future peace agreement.
The present new volume provides a concise history of infantry from ancient times to the present, analysing equipment, tactics and employment in battle. While revolutionary impact has frequently been attached to new technological developments such as artillery, tanks, planes and, lately, drones, infantry has always proved a constant and often enough decisive factor in war. The inherent tactical potential of new weapons will always provide new opportunities and threats, but infantry will continue to prevail.