This book of essays is a collective treatment of the problem of the impact of war on economic development in Europe. This subject has been neglected despite the fact that the issues it raises are of direct concern to students of military history, the history of science and technology, the history of education, historical demography, as well as to students of political, social and economic history. The contributors to this volume have drawn on work done in all these fields. Taken together, this study provides the foundation for further comparative work on the effect of war and warfare on economic life. The contributors have approached the problem from two sides. The subject of a number of essays is the ‘internal history’ of armed conflict. These focus on war itself and discuss the mobilization of resources which precedes it and the ways that economic activity and policy are altered by it.