Mercenaries

Mercenaries have been active in battle from the beginning of military history and as private armies and military support firms they are a major component of warfare today.  Security military advice training logistics support policing technological expertise intelligence transportation—all are outsourced to a greater or lesser degree in the U.S. military.  However privatization is not a uniquely American phenomenon.  Countries as diverse as Saudi Arabia and Australia rely on privatization in one form or another.  Historically heads of state politicians and other administrators have justified use of mercenaries on the basis of their effectiveness and cost-savings.  These reasons and others continue to serve as rationales for use of private military companies in military strategy.  <br /><br /><strong>Mercenaries: A Guide to Private Armies and Private Military Companies</strong> provides a comprehensive survey and guide to mercenary forces entrepreneurs and corporations active on the international military scene today including a concise history of mercenaries and private armies on land sea and in the air.  Narrative chapters are amply supplemented by sidebars including biographies of major figures key statistics historical and current documents contracts and legislation on private armies and outsourced military services.  Each chapter includes a bibliography of books journal articles and web sites and a general bibliography concludes the entire work.