The Cambridge Illustrated Atlas of Warfare: Renaissance to Revolution provides a thorough introduction to the military and naval history of the years 1492 to 1792, covering the period from the European Renaissance to the revolutionary wars of the late eighteenth century. Detailed colour maps, battle plans, and colour and black-and-white illustrations combine with an authoritative text to illuminate developments in warfare on both land and sea. Particular attention is paid to the effects of European military expansion on the rest of the world including the Americas, Africa, Asia, and the Mediterranean. Special feature panels are devoted to key events, to the more complicated and intriguing military confrontations, to individual tacticians and to the key topics such as weapons, battle strategies, the rise of naval warfare, and the composition of armies. The book is written by a leading historian of the early modern period.

Up to World War II and beyond, the British ruled over a vast empire. Modern western attitudes towards the imperial past tend either towards nostalgia for British power or revulsion at what seem to be the abuses of that power. The Cambridge Illustrated History of the British Empire adopts neither of these approaches. It aims to create historical understanding about the British empire on the assumption that such understanding is important for any informed appreciation of the modern world. Through striking illustration and a text written by leading experts, this book examines the experience of colonialism in North America, India, Africa, Australia, and the Caribbean, as well as the impact of the empire on Britain itself. Emphasis is placed on social and cultural history, including slavery, trade, religion, art, and the movement of ideas. How did the British rule their empire? Who benefited economically from the empire? And who lost?