This book looks at how military authority performed a key role in shaping the relationship between the state and its citizens in modern Western societies. Through the careful analysis of significant events and case studies, Oram examines this and other key themes of state formation and citizenship, shedding light on the complex relationship between the political state and the military. He argues that the connection that bound citizen to state was in effect formalised through the military codes under which increasing numbers of the population served throughout the modern era, a connection that took on greater significance throughout the total wars of the 20th century. This book fills an important gap in the literature with a clear, comparative framework that places military law in an international context and as such will be key reading for those interested in military history, international history and war and society.

Gerard Oram is Associate Lecturer in Modern History at the Open University in Wales, UK. He is the author of Military Executions during World War One (2003).