Surveys the one hundred most decisive battles in world history from the Battle of Megiddo in 1469 B.C. to Desert Storm, 1991.

Presents the twenty most crucial battles of all time, explaining how each conflict represents a historical epoch that triggered profound transformations and significantly shaped the development of the modern world.

A military intelligence expert examines the most formative battle of World War II. The Battle of Normandy was the greatest offensive campaign the world had ever seen. Millions of soldiers battling for control of Europe were thrust onto the front lines of a massive war unlike any experienced in history. But the greatest of clashes would prove to be the crucible in which the outcome of World War II would be decided. Author John Prados tells the story of how and why the tactics and battle plans of Normandy proved so formative, and reconstructs the climactic Allied Normandy breakout from both sides of the battle lines.

History has tended to measure war's winners and losers in terms of its major engagements, battles in which the result was so clear-cut that they could be considered "decisive." Cannae, Konigsberg, Austerlitz, Midway, Agincourt-all resonate in the literature of war and in our imaginations as tide-turning. But these legendary battles may or may not have determined the final outcome of the wars in which they were fought. Nor has the "genius" of the so-called Great Captains - from Alexander the Great to Frederick the Great and Napoleon - play a major role. Wars are decided in other ways. Cathal J. Nolan's The Allure of Battle systematically and engrossingly examines the great battles, tracing what he calls "short-war thinking," the hope that victory might be swift and wars brief. As he proves persuasively, however, such has almost never been the case. Even the major engagements have mainly contributed to victory or defeat by accelerating the erosion of the other side's defences. Massive conflicts, the so-called "people's wars," beginning with Napoleon and continuing until 1945, have consisted of and been determined by prolonged stalemate and attrition, industrial wars in which the determining factor has been not military but matériel. Nolan's masterful book places battles squarely and mercilessly within the context of the wider conflict in which they took place. In the process it help corrects a distorted view of battle's role in war, replacing popular images of the "battles of annihilation" with somber appreciation of the commitments and human sacrifices made throughout centuries of war particularly among the Great Powers. Accessible, provocative, exhaustive, and illuminating, The Allure of Battle will spark fresh debate about the history and conduct of warfare.

Examining nine landmark battles from ancient to modern times--from Salamis, where outnumbered Greeks devastated the slave army of Xerxes, to Cortes’s conquest of Mexico to the Tet offensive--Victor Davis Hanson explains why the armies of the West have been the most lethal and effective of any fighting forces in the world. Looking beyond popular explanations such as geography or superior technology, Hanson argues that it is in fact Western culture and values–the tradition of dissent, the value placed on inventiveness and adaptation, the concept of citizenship–which have consistently produced superior arms and soldiers. Offering riveting battle narratives and a balanced perspective that avoids simple triumphalism, Carnage and Culture demonstrates how armies cannot be separated from the cultures that produce them and explains why an army produced by a free culture will always have the advantage.

The thirteen colonies may have declared their freedom on July 4, 1776, but the Continental Army had to fight the British for more than six years to win the war of independence. Understanding the flow of battles and the strategy behind the campaigns is essential to making sense of the greater political issues that shaped the new nation. Decisive Battles of the American Revolution remains the best concise history of the war's military action. First published in 1962, historian Joseph B. Mitchell's acclaimed account covers all the battles, sieges, and campaigns from Lexington to the final victory at Yorktown. In clear language, Mitchell describes the progress of the war, analyzes the military tactics of both sides, and brings the reader to the actual scenes of fighting by the use of maps that show the disposition of troops, movement of armies, and the strategy devised by the commanders. These maps, based on modern road maps and newly updated for this edition, not only depict individual battles but also reveal the course of the war simultaneously in the North and the South so that the student of military tactics or the visitor to the battlefields can understand more clearly exactly what happened at a particular engagement. In addition to the updated maps, this new edition now contains current information about American Revolution battlefields and historic sites open to the public. For historians, for the tourist of battlefields, for the reader concerned with the stirring events that led to independence, Decisive Battles of the American Revolution is the indispensable guide to understanding how the Continental Army defeated the forces of a mighty world power.

The battle of Marathon -- Defeat of the Athenians at Syracuse, 413 B.C. -- The battle of Arbela -- The battle of the Metaurus, 207 B.C. -- Victory of Arminius over the Roman legions under Varus, A.D. 9 -- The battle of Chalons, A.D. 451 -- The battle of Tours, A.D. 731 -- The battle of Hastings, A.D. 1066 -- Joan of Arc's victory over the English at Orleans, A.D. 1429 -- The defeat of the Spanish Armada, A.D. 1588, The battle of Blenheim, A.D. 1704, The battle of Pultowa, A.D. 1709 -- Victory of the American over Burgoyne at Saratoga, A.D. 1777 -- The battle of Valmy -- The battle of Waterloo, 1815.