Railroads and Rifles is a lucid and deeply researched account of the interaction of three key factors in the unification of Germany - the growth of the railways and their relationship with war, and the development of the breech-loading rifle and Krupp"s rifled cannon. When this book first appeared almost forty years ago, a gulf had developed between the study of war making in its operational contexts, and war"s wider aspects. Social, economic, cultural, political issues were the themes of a "new military history" that at times excluded combat as a matter of principle. Railroads and Rifles was intended to reassert the synergies between war at its sharp end and war as it impacted the societies that armed forces reflected and represented. The ideas it introduces, the questions it raises, remain vital in a new century. The original edition, keenly sought by scholars and researchers, has been out of print and hard-to-find for many years. This edition is much more than a straight reprint, featuring a thorough new introduction by the author and new maps.